HMIS ''Hindustan'' (L80) was a (also known as ''Hastings'' class) sloop which served in the

Royal Indian Navy The Royal Indian Navy (RIN) was the naval force of British India and the Dominion of India. Along with the Presidency armies, later the Indian Army, and from 1932 the Royal Indian Air Force, it was one of the Armed Forces of British India. F ...

(RIN) during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Her pennant number was changed to U80 in 1940. ''Hindustan'' was transferred to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

in 1948 after the

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

, and eventually renamed PNS ''Karsaz''. She was decommissioned from the Pakistan Navy in 1960.

Construction and design

HMIS ''Hindustan'' was laid down at the

Swan Hunter Swan Hunter, formerly known as Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, is a shipbuilding design, engineering, and management company, based in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, England. At its apex, the company represented the combined forces of three powe ...

shipyard in

Wallsend Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This f ...

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newc ...

England on 4 September 1929, was launched on 12 May 1930 and completed on 10 October 1930,Hague 1993, p. 31. commissioning into the

Royal Indian Marine Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a c ...

. ''Hindustan'' was built to a modified and longer version of the design. Her hull was

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...

, with a beam of and a draught of .

Displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics * Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

was standard. She was powered by geared steam turbines fed by two Admiralty 3-drum boilers, driving two shafts and rated at , sufficient to drive the ship to a speed of . The ship had a complement of 119 officers and men.Campbell 1980 p. 56. The ship's main armament consisted of two 4-inch (102 mm) QF Mk IV guns. Unlike in the ''Hastings'' class, which had one 4-inch gun in an anti-aircraft mount, both guns were in Low-Angle mountings only suitable for use against surface targets. In addition four 3-pounder (47 mm) saluting guns were carried.Collins 1964, p. 13.

Service history

Following the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, ''Hindustan'' was deployed to the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...

, patrolling the

Straits of Hormuz The Strait of Hormuz ( fa, تنگه هرمز ''Tangeh-ye Hormoz'' ar, مَضيق هُرمُز ''Maḍīq Hurmuz'') is a strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the o ...

and operating as part of the

East Indies Station The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' was ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

.Collins 1964, p. 33. In August 1940, Italy invaded British Somaliland, and ''Hindustan'' was deployed to

Berbera Berbera (; so, Barbara, ar, بربرة) is the capital of the Sahil region of Somaliland and is the main sea port of the country. Berbera is a coastal city and was the former capital of the British Somaliland protectorate before Hargeisa. It ...

, landing three of her 3-pounder guns to aid the defences, and covering the evacuation of Commonwealth forces from Berbera from 15 to 19 September.Collins 1964, pp. 39–40. ''Hindustan'' was then refitted at Bombay (now

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

), being fitted with

Sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

, previous plans to re-arm her with anti-aircraft 4-inch guns being abandoned.Collins 1964, pp. 11, 14, 34. During World War II, she was a part of the

Eastern Fleet Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways * Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air ...

. She escorted numerous convoys in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

and the

between 1942-45. She also supported various amphibious landings of the British Indian Army and the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

, Malaya, etc. In April 1945, with , , and , ''Hindustan'' supported the amphibious landings of the Indian and British Armies in Rangoon, as a part of

Operation Dracula Operation Dracula was a World War II-airborne and amphibious attack on Rangoon by British and Anglo-Indian forces during the Burma Campaign. The plan was first proposed in mid-1944 when the Allied South East Asia Command was preparing to reoccu ...

. During the Royal Indian Navy mutiny – also known as Royal Indian Navy revolt – of February 1946 ''Hindustan'' was berthed at

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

, and occupied by mutineers. When ordered to debark the mutineers refused, but finally surrendered after a brief firefight with the

15th (King's) Parachute Battalion The 15th (Scottish Volunteer) Parachute Battalion was an airborne infantry battalion of the Parachute Regiment, originally raised as 15th (King's) Parachute Battalion by the British Army in World War II. The 15th Parachute Battalion was formed i ...

, supported by four 75mm pack howitzers of C Troop, 159 Parachute Light Regiment, Royal Artillery. At the time of

, ''Hindustan'' was among the vessels transferred to the

Royal Pakistan Navy ur, ہمارے لیے اللّٰہ کافی ہے اور وہ بہترین کارساز ہے۔ English: Allah is Sufficient for us - and what an excellent (reliable) Trustee (of affairs) is He!(''Qur'an, 3:173'') , type ...

in 1948, being renamed ''Karsaz''.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hindustan (L80) 1930 ships Ships built by Swan Hunter Hastings-class sloops of the Royal Indian Navy India–Pakistan military relations Hastings-class sloops of the Pakistan Navy