INS ''Jamuna'' (J16) is a hydrographic

survey ship A survey vessel is any type of ship or boat that is used for underwater surveys, usually to collect data for mapping or planning underwater construction or mineral extraction. It is a type of research vessel, and may be designed for the purpo ...

in the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...

, under the Southern Naval Command. ''Jamuna'' is equipped with a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

, a Bofors 40 mm gun, four survey

motor boats A motorboat, speedboat or powerboat is a boat that is exclusively powered by an engine. Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the internal combustion engine, the gea ...

, and two small boats. The ship has the distinction of being associated with

relief work Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and ...

in the wake of the

Gujarat earthquake The 2001 Gujarat earthquake, also known as the Bhuj earthquake, occurred on 26 January, India's 52nd Republic Day (India), Republic Day, at . The epicentre was about 9 km south-southwest of the village of Chobari in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch ...

Tsunami 2004 An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+07:00, UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of no ...

, as well as Operation Vijay during the

Kargil war The Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC). In India, the conflict is also referr ...

. ''Jamuna'' was also awarded a Mention in Dispatches.

Ship history

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 commissioned into the Naval service at

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

in 1991, ''Jamuna'' is the Indian Navy's third hydrographic survey ship of the s to have been indigenously designed and constructed. The ship is the

namesake A namesake is a person, geographic location, or other entity bearing the name of another. History The word is first attested around 1635, and probably comes from the phrase "for one's name's sake", which originates in English Bible translations ...

of , a

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

, which served in the Royal Indian Navy (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 opposin ...

. The new ''Jamuna'' is equipped with a range of surveying,

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...

al and

communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

systems. The next-generation surveying systems provided onboard include the multi-beam swath echo sounding system, differential global positioning system, motion sensors, sea gravimeter,

magnetometer A magnetometer is a device that measures magnetic field or magnetic dipole moment. Different types of magnetometers measure the direction, strength, or relative change of a magnetic field at a particular location. A compass is one such device, o ...

oceanographic sensors,

side scan sonar Side-scan sonar (also sometimes called side scan sonar, sidescan sonar, side imaging sonar, side-imaging sonar and bottom classification sonar) is a category of sonar system that is used to efficiently create an image of large areas of the sea ...

s, and an automated data logging system. These are designed to meet the stringent international/

ISO 9002 ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization. ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance * Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007 * Iso ...

digital survey accuracy standards required for the production of electronic navigation charts and publications as laid down by the

International Hydrographic Organization The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is an intergovernmental organisation representing hydrography. , the IHO comprised 98 Member States. A principal aim of the IHO is to ensure that the world's seas, oceans and navigable waters a ...

. The primary tasks of INS ''Jamuna'' include hydrographic surveys,

nautical chart A nautical chart is a graphic representation of a sea area and adjacent coastal regions. Depending on the scale of the chart, it may show depths of water and heights of land (topographic map), natural features of the seabed, details of the coa ...

preparation,

cartography Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

, and training. The ship is also equipped with ROV,

AUV An autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is a robot that travels underwater without requiring input from an operator. AUVs constitute part of a larger group of undersea systems known as unmanned underwater vehicles, a classification that includes ...

and USV, similar to other

sister ships A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

of the ''Sandhayak'' class. ''Jamuna'' is powered by two diesel engines and is capable of sustained speeds. The ship is one of the most versatile survey vessels in the world. It can undertake a variety of tasks under trying conditions. After the tsunami of 2004, INS ''Jamuna'' undertook relief operations for the people of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

when it was converted into a hospital ship.

Search for INS ''Khukri''

INS ''Jamuna'' was instrumental in locating the wreckage of , a British Type 14 (''Blackwood''-class)

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

of the

, which was the first

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster a ...

sunk in action by a submarine since World War II. The ship sunk off the

coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

of Diu,

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, India by the

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

Daphné-class submarine The ''Daphné''-class submarine was a class of the diesel-electric powered submarines designed and constructed by the French defense contractor, DCNS, for the French Navy in 1964. Marketed by the French government for the export market, t ...

on 9 December 1971 during the

Indo-Pakistani War Since the Partition of British India in 1947 and subsequent creation of the dominions of India and Pakistan, the two countries have been involved in a number of wars, conflicts, and military standoffs. A long-running dispute over Kashmir and ...

. Furthermore, it also remains the post-Independence era Indian Navy's only warship to be lost in war to date. Between 4 February and 6 February 2009, INS ''Jamuna'' was dispatched to search for ''Khukri''. The survey ship deployed its side scan sonar, to take a picture of the bottom of the sea. One of the images obtained was of a large silt-covered hump on the

seabed The seabed (also known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, and ocean bottom) is the bottom of the ocean. All floors of the ocean are known as 'seabeds'. The structure of the seabed of the global ocean is governed by plate tectonics. Most of ...

. This was located below the sea surface and close to ''Khukri''s last reported position. ''Jamuna''s magnetometer also confirmed the presence of

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

inside this hump. The object was nearly long, had a north-east-southwest orientation and seemed to be sitting on its keel with its mast sticking out of the

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel when ...

, confirming that it was the sunken ship.

Survey work

In 2013, INS ''Jamuna'' conducted a hydrographic survey off the

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

coastline The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

on the request of the

Kenyan government , image = , caption = Coat of arms of Kenya , date = 1963 , jurisdiction = Republic of Kenya , url = http://www.mygov.go.ke/ , legislature = Parliament of Kenya , meeting_place = ...

to survey Manda Bay and Kiwaiyu Bay. Subsequently, the "first updated navigational charts" of the areas were presented to Kenyan authorities in 2014 by the Chief of the Naval Staff,

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

RK Dhowan. The ship also conducted a hydrographic survey off the

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

Ship upgrade

INS ''Jamuna'' is set for refit/upgrade by Reliance Defence and Engineering as part of the Rs 300 crores, 3 naval warship refit deal the

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

won in 2016. The refit is to be carried out at a facility at

Pipavav Pipavav is located at latitude 20°54'N and longitude 71°30'E on the coast of Gujarat, India. By road it is 2 hours (85 km) from Amreli, 30 minutes (20 km) from Rajula city, 2.5 hours (130 km) from Bhavnagar on the east and 1. ...

. Apart from INS ''Jamuna'', the two other warships to be refit are

fleet tanker A replenishment oiler or replenishment tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds which can supply both fuel and dry stores during underway replenishment (UNREP) at sea. Many countries have used replenishment oilers. The ...

and

offshore patrol vessel A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval ship, naval vessel generally designed for Coastal defence and fortification, coastal defence, Border control, border security, or law ...

. The refit work is expected to be completed by April 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jamuna, INS 1989 ships Sandhayak-class survey ships Ships built in India