The Astravahini class of
torpedo recovery vessels are a series of
naval
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
auxiliary watercraft built by
Goa Shipyard Limited
Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) is an Indian Government owned ship building company located on the West Coast of India at Vasco da Gama, Goa. It was established in 1957, originally by the colonial government of the Portuguese in India as the "Estalei ...
and P.S. & Company for the
Indian Navy. They are intended to recover practice
torpedoes and
mines, fired and laid by ships,
submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
s and
aircraft. The vessels can stow two full-sized torpedoes on deck and two on a recovery ramp.
The vessel ''A72'' sank on 6 November 2014 during a routine exercise near
Visakhapatnam after taking on water, with one sailor dead and four missing.
Ships in the class
Specification (''A71'' & ''A72'')
*Displacement: 110 tonnes
[The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World: Their Ships, Aircraft, and Systems By Eric Wertheim]
*Speed: 11 knots
*Dimension: 28.5 X 6.1 X 1.4 meters
*Engine: 2 Kirloskar MAN 12 cyl. diesels, 2 props. 720 bhp
*Crew: 13 total
See also
*
List of active Indian Navy ships
*, a catamaran-hulled torpedo recovery vessel that replaced the Astravahini class
References
External links
A-71 Decommissioned
{{Ship classes of the Indian Navy
Training ships of the Indian Navy
Auxiliary training ship classes