INS Khukri

INS "Khukri" was a Type 14 ASW frigate in service of the Indian Navy. It was sunk by a Pakistan Navy new French Daphne class submarine PNS "Hangor" at 2000hrs on 8 December 1971 during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, off the coast of Diu, Gujarat, India. This was one of two sinkings by submarine since World War II (the other, the Argentine cruiser "General Belgrano" by the British HMS "Conqueror" in the 1982 Falklands War), and remains India's biggest wartime casualty.

Incident

After commencement of hostilities on 3rd December 1971, Indian Naval radio detection equipment identified a submarine lurking in the vicinity of Diu harbour about 35 miles south-west of the port of Diu.

The 14 Squadron of the Western Fleet, "Khukri" along with sister ships, "Kirpan" and "Kuthar" (all named after types of dagger), were dispatched on a Hunter-Killer mission to destroy the submarine. There exists some controversy as to why these old ships were sent on the mission instead of newer boats, because the sonar range of these boats was half of that of the newer submarineFact|date=December 2007. One reason that may have prompted the decision was that the Indian Navy lacked sufficient numbers of airborne anti submarine planes, led the deployment of the two obsolete Blackwood class frigates. [http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_431.shtml]

"Khukri" was the slowest of the ships because she was testing an improved version of its 170/174 sonar, which required a slow speed to increase detection. This was to be its undoing.

The submarine sighted the Squadron on the evening of 8th December. It fired two homing torpedoes on a sonar approach (it being night), one of which missed "Kirpan" at 19:57Hrs. The second torpedo directed to "Khukri" struck under its magazine, and the ship sank within two minutes, according to the Pakistani submarine captain, Commander (later Vice Admiral) Ahmed Tasnim. [http://www.paksearch.com/DJ/2001/may/tasneem.html]

Casualties

Over 18 officers and 176 sailors were lost in the sinking. The captain, Mahendra Nath Mulla, opted to go down with the sinking ship. He refused to abandon ship, and passed his life-jacket to a junior officer on the ship. He was reported to be in a saluting gesture while sinking down with "Khukri". He was posthumously awarded India's second-highest military honour, the Maha Vir Chakra.

A memorial to the dead sailors exists at Diu. The memorial constitutes a full-scale model of INS "Khukri" encased in a glass house, placed atop a hillock facing the sea. The memorial was inaugurated by Vice Admiral Madhvendra Singh in his capacity as the flag officer commanding-in-chief, WNC. [http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=153894 Two-day ceremony at Navy’s Diu memorial] ]

The exact location of this memorial, at coord|20|42|10|N|70|58|37|E can be seen in Google Earth.

ee also

References

* Mankekar, D.R. "Twenty-Two Fateful Days: Pakistan Cut to Size.", New Delhi:Indian Book Co., 1972.
* Roy, Vice Admiral Mihir K. (Retd.), "War in the Indian Ocean", Lancer International,1995.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/MONITOR/ISSUE4-3/harry.html Bharat Rakshak's excellent article on the incident]