NAVY DAY - 4TH OF DEC

ATTACK ON KARACHI HARBOUR BY INDIAN NAVY 4TH OF DEC 1971

NAVY DAY COMMEMORATES THE DARING ATTACK ON KARACHI HARBOUR BY THREE VIDYUT CLASS MISSILE BOATS OF WESTERN NAVAL COMMAND ON 04 DECEMBER 1971". EXTRACTS FROM WIKIPEDIA:

A strike Group  of the three Vidyut-class missile boats: INS Nipat, INS Nirghat  and INS Veer, each armed with four Soviet made SS-N-2B Styx surface-to-surface missiles with a range
of 40 nautical miles (74 km; 46 mi), two Arnala-class anti-submarin e corvettes: INS Kiltan and IN S Katchall, and a fleet tanker, INS Poshak conducted  the attack. The group was under the command of Commander Babru Bhan Yadav, the commanding officer of the 25th Missile Boat Squadron.

On 4 December, the strike group reached 250 nautical miles (460 km; 290 mi) (nmi) south off the coast of Karachi, and maintained its position during the day, outside the surveillance range of the Pakistan Air Force. As Pakistani aircraft did not possess night-bombing capabilities, it was planned that the attack would take place between dusk and dawn.^[4] At 10.30 pm Pakistan Standard Time (PKT), the Indian task group moved 180 nmi (330 km; 210 mi) from its position towards the south of Karachi. Soon Pakistani targets, identified as warships, were detected 70 nmi (130 km; 81 mi) to the northwest and northeast of the Indian warships.^[3]

INS Nirghat sailed forward in a northwesterly direction and fired its first Styx missile at PNS Khaibar, a Pakistani Battle-class destroy er. Khaibar, assuming it was a missile from Indian aircraft, engaged its anti-aircraft systems. The missile hit the starboard side of the ship, exploding below the galley in the electrician's mess deck at 10.45 pm (PKT). This led to an explosion in the first boiler room. Subsequently the ship lost propulsion, and was flooded with smoke. An emergency signal that read: "Enemy aircraft attacked in position 020 FF 20. No. 1 boiler hit. Ship stopped", was sent to Pakistan Naval Headquarters (PNHQ). Due to the chaos created by the explosion, the signal contained the wrong coordinates of the ship's position. This delayed rescue teams from reaching its location. Observing that the ship was still afloat, Nirghat fired its second missile hitting Khaibar in the second boiler room on the ship's starboard side, eventually sinking the ship^[3] and killing 222 sailors.^[5]

After verifying two targets in the area northwest of Karachi, at 11.00 pm (PKT), INS Nipat fired two Styx missiles – one each at cargo vessel MV Venus Challenger and its escort PNS Shah Jahan, a C-class destroyer. Venus Challenger, carrying ammunition for the Pakistani forces, exploded immediately after the missile hit, and eventually sank 23 nmi (43 km; 26 mi) south of Karachi. The other missile targeted Shah Jahan and damaged the ship very badly. At 11.20 pm (PKT), PNS Muhafiz, an Adjutant-class minesweeper, was targeted by INS Veer. A missile was fired and Muhafiz was struck on the port side, abaft the bridge.^[3] It sank immediately before it could send a signal to the PNHQ,^[3] killing 33 sailors.^[5]

Meanwhile, INS Nipat continued towards Karachi and targeted the Kemari oil storage tanks, placing itself 14 nmi (26 km; 16 mi) south of the Karachi harbour. Of the two missiles launched, one misfired, and the other hit the oil tanks. The tanks burned and were destroyed completely, causing a shortage of fuel for the Pakistan Navy. The task force returned to the nearest Indian ports.^[3]

Soon the PNHQ deployed rescue teams on patrol vessels to recover the survivors of Khaibar. As Muhafiz sank before it could transmit, the Pakistanis knew the fate of ship from its few survivors, who were recovered when the patrol vessel steered towards the ship's burning flotsam.

 Cdr BB Yadav was awarded the MVC .  Lieutenant Commanders Bahadur Nariman Kavina, Inderjit Sharma, and O P Mehra, the commanding officers of INS Nipat, INS Nirghat, and INS Veer respectively and Master Chief Petty Officer  M. N. Sangal of INS Nirghat were awarded the VrC. Capt. Bahadur Nariman Kavina VrC, incidentally passed away in Adelaide very recently where he was visiting his son. 

ALL WOMEN TEAM - INDIAN NAVY

Note ; We thank Col Manohar Ramtri for sharing the write up on the Navy Day

   (  WE WILL BE TOO HAPPY TO ADD MORE WRITE UPS HERE FROM ANY OF OUR MEMBERS. PLEASE MAIL THEM TO MGR.SIGS@GMAIL.COM)

A Navy Telefilm of 20 minutes duration will be telecast at 2130 h on 04 Dec 17 (English on Doordarshan India and Hindi on Doordarshan National). Promos will be telecast on 03 Dec 17. Request wide publicity.

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