INS ''Khukri'' was a Type 14 (''Blackwood''-class) frigate of 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 si ...

. She was sunk off the coast 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 India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

by the Pakistan Navy submarine on 9 December 1971 during the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decem ...

. This was the first warship sunk in action by a submarine since

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 ...

. It remains the post-Independence Indian navy's only warship to be lost in war.

Sinking

After the beginning of hostilities on 3 December 1971, Indian Naval radio detection equipment identified a submarine lurking about south-west of Diu harbour. The 14th Frigate Squadron of the Western Fleet was dispatched to destroy the submarine. It normally consisted of five ships, ''Khukri'', , ''Kalveti, Krishna'' and ''Kuthar,'' but at the time of the incident ''Kuthar''s boiler room was being repaired in Bombay. One reason that may have prompted the decision to deploy two obsolete ''Blackwood''-class frigates against a modern ''Daphne''-class submarine was that the Indian Navy lacked sufficient numbers of anti-submarine aircraft. The submarine sighted the squadron on the evening of 9 December. ''Khukri'' was still not aware of the submarine's presence and continued slowly on a steady course because she was testing an improved version of the 170/174 sonar, which required a low speed to increase detection, despite the fact that moving on low speed was against Indian anti-submarine doctrine. At 19:57 ''Hangor'' fired a homing torpedo on a sonar approach at ''Kirpan''. The torpedo did not explode and was detected by ''Kirpan'' which turned away and fired anti-submarine mortars. ''Khukri'' increased its speed and turned towards the submarine, which then fired a second torpedo directed at ''Khukri''. The torpedo struck ''Khukri'' and exploded under its oil tanks. According to the Pakistani submarine captain, Commander

Ahmed Tasnim Vice-Admiral Ahmad Tasnim ( ur, ; born 1935) is a retired three-star rank admiral in the Pakistan Navy who is notable for his command of the ''Hangor'', a submarine, that sank the INS Khukri on 8 December 1971 during the third war with ...

, the ship sank within two minutes.Interview with Vice Admiral Tasneem, December 2008
/ref> Other sources claim that ''Khukri'' was struck by three torpedoes before going down. After a few minutes, ''Kirpan'' attacked ''Hangor'' with depth charges, as her anti-submarine mortars were no long functional. ''Hangor'' then fired a final torpedo at ''Kirpan'' before leaving the area. ''Hangor'' patrolled the region for the next four days before returning safely to her berth.

Casualties

''Khukri'' is the only ship lost in combat in the history of the Indian Navy.
Eighteen officers and 176 other sailors were killed. The captain,

Mahendra Nath Mulla Captain (Indian Navy), Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla, Maha Vir Chakra, MVC (15 May 1926 – 9 December 1971) was an officer of the Indian Navy. As the Commanding Officer of , he chose to go The captain goes down with the ship, down with his ship ...

, was among the casualties and is the only Indian captain to go down with a vessel as INS Khukri is the only warship of Indian navy lost in combat. He was posthumously awarded India's second-highest military honour, the

Maha Vir Chakra The Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) () is the second highest military decoration in India, after the Param Vir Chakra, and is awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea or in the air. It replaced the B ...

. There is a memorial to the sailors in Diu. The memorial consists of a scale model of ''Khukri'' encased in a glass house, placed atop a hillock facing the sea. The memorial was inaugurated by Vice Admiral

Madhvendra Singh Admiral Madhvendra Singh, PVSM, AVSM, ADC was Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy between 29 December 2001 and his retirement from service on 31 July 2004. He had by that date completed over 41 years of service. He was also the Chairman of ...

as the flag officer commanding-in-chief.Two-day ceremony at Navy’s Diu memorial
Unidentified Indonesian ship at full steam, Jalesveva Jayamahe, p57

Unidentified Indonesian ship at full steam, Jalesveva Jayamahe, p57

Model of INS Khukri at memorial of the ship, 2012

Engraved stone about INS Khukri at the ship's memorial

Controversy

Responsibility for errors by Indian naval officers related to the sinking has caused some controversy. The naval officer who led the inquiry into the sinking, Benoy Bhushan, has claimed that India's official naval history invented fictional accounts to cover up bungling and a surviving sailor from the frigate, Chanchal Singh Gill, has called for an investigation and withdrawal of gallantry awards to negligent officers in the squadron.

Notes

References

* * *

External links