Born: 15th May 1926
Died: 9th Dec 1971
Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla was born on 15 May 1926, in Gorakhpur, U.P., to a well-known Kashmiri family. In January 1946, he joined the Royal Indian Navy as a cadet and went to the United Kingdom for training.
On 1st May 1948, Mulla began serving the Royal Indian Navy. On 16th September 1958, he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander. Later he was selected to attend the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington in April 1961. He was then promoted to the rank of Commander on 30th June 1964. Mahendra Nath served on the Bathurst-class Minesweeper HMIS Madras (J237) and the Hunt-class destroyer INS Gomati (D93). He also commanded the R-class destroyer INS Rana (D115) and served as the executive officer of the Black Swan-class sloop HMIS Kistna (U46). He served in the United Kingdom as the Deputy Naval Adviser to the High Commissioner of India from 1965 to 1967.

During the 1971 War, Mulla was a part of the 14th anti-submarine squadron, a task force that formed part of the Western Fleet. The squadron consisted of the INS Kirpan (F144), INS Kuthar (F146), and INS Khukri (F149). The task of hunting and destroying enemy submarines in the North Arabian Sea was given to the. On 9th December 1971, INS Khukri (his vessel), was hit by a torpedo fired by an enemy submarine. He issued orders for the ship to be deserted (empty) because it had started sinking. Captain Mahendra chose to go down with the ship in the highest heritage of the Indian Navy. He was adorned with the second-highest gallantry award “The Maha Vir Chakra”.
Captain Mahendra was counted among the superior seamen of the Navy and highly intelligent officer. The Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee released a commemorative postage stamp issued by India Post paying tribute to Captain Mahendra on 28 January 2000.
The Captain M. N. Mulla Auditorium, at Navy Nagar, Colaba in Mumbai, is named after him. A bust of Capt. Mulla stands in the foyer. The then Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Madhvendra Singh inaugurated the auditorium. An auditorium at the DSSC Wellington is also named after him.