Effective from the same date, all British officers were compulsorily retired from the Navy and its reserve components, with Indian officers being promoted to replace British senior officers.[30] However, a number of British flag and senior officers were invited to continue serving in the RIN,[31] as only nine of the Navy's Indian commissioned officers had more than 10 years' service, with the majority of them only having served from five to eight years.[32] Rear Admiral John Talbot Savignac Hall headed the Navy as its first Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) post-Independence.[2] In January 1948, D.N. Mukherji, the first Indian officer in the RIN, became the first Indian to be promoted acting engineer captain.[33] In May 1948, Captain Ajitendu Chakraverti became the first Indian officer to be appointed to the rank of commodore.[34] When India became a republic on 26 January 1950, the Royal prefix was dropped and the name Indian Navy was officially adopted.