INS Khukri decommissioned after 32 years of service to nation

Source : The Hindu

In the presence of the chief guest Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command, the naval ensign, the national flag and the decommissioning pennant were lowered at sunset.

The Sun has finally set on INS Khukri (Pennant number 49), the first of the indigenously built missile corvettes, in Visakhapatnam on December 23 evening.

The ship was decommissioned after 32 years of service to the nation, Visakhapatanam at Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam. At the solemn ceremony, the national flag, naval ensign and the decommissioning pennant were lowered at sunset in the presence of Vice-Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Naval Command and some serving and retired former commanding officers of the ship.

The corvette was built by the Mazagaon Dock Shipbuilders and commissioned on August 23, 1989.

It had the distinction of being part of both the Western and Eastern Fleets.

During her service, the ship was commanded by 28 commanding officers and traversed a distance of over 6,44,897 nautical miles.

The ship was affiliated with the Gorkha Brigade of the Indian Army and Lt. General P. N. Ananthanarayan, president Gorkha Brigade, attended the solemn ceremony.

Legacy

INS Khukri has a legacy with the naval history of India. The first INS Khukri with pennant number 149, which was a Type 14 Blackwood-class frigate, was built by J. Samuel White in England and commissioned into the Indian Navy on July 16, 1958.

This ship was sunk off the coast of Diu, Gujarat, by the Pakistan Navy Daphné-class submarine PNS Hangor on December 9, 1971, during the India-Pakistani War of 1971.

The commanding officer of the ship Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla, had gone down with the ship in the highest tradition of the navy. He was posthumously decorated with the Maha Vir Chakra.