Magar class amphibious warfare ship

The Magar class is one of the five classes of amphibious warfare ships currently in service with the Indian Navy. There are only two ships in this class: the INS Magar and the INS Gharial. The ships are named after marine animals. The design of the ships is based on the Sir Lancelot. They were built by Hindustan Ship Yard but were fitted at the Garden Reach DY. Both ships are currently in service with the Indian Navy and are stationed at the naval base in Vishakapatnam on India's east coast.

It can operate two medium-lift helicopters, which are primarily meant for "inserting" a small team of Special Forces (marine commandos). To discharge its cargo and most of the troops, it needs to be "beached" through its 'bow-door' (in the front).

INS Magar fire

On the 22nd of February 2006, at around 5 pm local time, an accidental fire ravaged the ship. It was caused while the ship was engaged in dumping life-expires ammunition and one of the boxes of ammunition caught fire. At the time of the accident the Magar was in the Bay of Bengal, around convert|40|nmi|km|-1 from Vishakapatnam. Casualties included three deaths and a further six sailors sustaining injuries. The injured were rushed to a naval hospital in Vishakapatnam by Sea King helicopter.

Ships

References

* [http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/NAVY/Magar.html/ Description of the Magar Class at Bharat Rakshak]