Mahendra Nath Mulla

Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla
Born	15 May 1926(1926-05-15) Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India
Died	9 December 1971(1971-12-09) (aged 45) Arabian Sea, near Maharashtra, India
Service/branch	Indian Navy
Years of service	1948-1971
Unit	INS Khukri
Battles/wars	Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
Awards	Maha Vir Chakra (posthumous)

Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla, was an officer of the Indian Navy and the Captain of the INS Khukri, who went down with his ship during the 1971 war on the old tradition, "captains don't abandon their ships".He was reported to be in a saluting gesture while sinking down with Khukri. He has remained so far the only Indian captain to go down with a vessel to his watery grave.

Personal life

He was born on 15 May 1926, in Uttar Pradesh and he was commissioned in the Indian Navy on 1 May 1948

During War

During the 1971 Indo-Pak War, Captain M.N. Mulla was commanding a task force of two ships which formed part of the Western Fleet. The task force was assigned the task of hunting & destroying enemy submarines in the North Arabian Sea. On 9 December 1971, INS Khukri of the task force was hit by torpedoes fired by an enemy submarine, about 64 km off Diu. The time was 2050 hours and the ship could not be saved. Captain Mulla decided to abandon the ship. Without regard to his personal safety he supervised the arrangements for rescue of his shipmates in a very cool, calm and methodical manner

With great presence of mind he continued to direct rescue operations even at a later stage when the ship was about to sink. He even gave his own life-saving gear to a sailor. Having directed many of his men as possible to leave the sinking ship, he went back to the bridge to see what further rescue operations could be performed. He had indeed chosen a water grave for himself. He was last seen going down with his ship.

Explanation of Bravery

"One of the survivors Commander Manu Sharma tells us of the final moments of the ship and its valiant commanding officer: 'Captain Mulla pushed Lieutenant Kundan Mall and me off the bridge. We tried to take him along with us but he refused to abandon ship, passed his life-jacket to a junior officer and ordered us to jump to safety. We both jumped into the sea from the starboard side.' Commander Sharma was swimming to safety when he caught his last glimpse of the INS Khukri: "The bow of the ship was pointing upwards at an angle of eight degrees and sinking slowly. I got a glimpse of Captain Mulla sitting on his chair and hanging on to the railing. He was still smoking a cigarette."

Captain Mulla's action and behaviour and the example he set have been in keeping with highest tradition of Military of India.For displaying conspicuous gallantry and dedication to duty, Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra, posthumously though several knowledgeable people in the armed forces have argued that this seems to have been a classic case of a Param Vir Chakra wrongfully denied.

Memorial

A memorial for the tribute to Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla and other dead sailors exists at Diu20°42′10″N 70°58′37″E / 20.70278°N 70.97694°E / 20.70278; 70.97694. 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 as the flag officer commanding-in-chief.[6]

External links

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Persondata
Name	Mulla, Mahendra Nath Captain
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	15 May 1926
Place of birth	Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India
Date of death	9 December 1971
Place of death	Arabian Sea, near Maharashtra, India