PNS ''Zulfiqar'' was a of 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' ...

, originally built for 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 F ...

during 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 opposin ...

as HMS ''Deveron''. ''Zulfiqar'' was damaged beyond repair by friendly fire from aircraft of the

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

(PAF) which mistook her for a missile boat 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 sig ...

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 ...

History

Following service in the Second World War, ''Deveron'' was transferred to 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. Fr ...

in 1945 and was renamed HMIS ''Dhanush''. On

Partition Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

she was 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 ...

and converted into a survey vessel, as well as being renamed ''Zulfiqar''. The conversion meant the rear 4-inch gun was removed. Her pennant number was changed from F265 to 262 in 1963. In June 1953 she attended the

Coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a coronation crown, crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the ...

Review of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

Spithead Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast. It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshire ...

.Souvenir Programme, ''Coronation Review of the Fleet, Spithead, 15th June 1953'', HMSO, Gale and Polden She was decommissioned in 1983.

Operation Trident

The

, on high alert as a result of the first missile attack (Ops: ''Trident''), raised a number of false alarms in the ensuing days about the presence of Indian Navy vessels off

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 cap ...

. One such false alarm was raised by a PIA

Fokker Friendship The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Europe ...

reconnaissance aircraft carrying naval observers, in the early hours of 6 December 1971 which reported a Pakistan Navy frigate as a missile boat of the

, in the area west of Cape Monze on the Pakistani coast. The

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

, giving air support to the Pakistan Navy at Karachi, had received the report. Clearance was given to attack by Cdre.

A. W. Bhombal Rear-Admiral Abdul Waheed Bhombal (13 October 1931 – 31 December 2008), , best known as A. W. Bhombal was a two-star rank admiral in the Pakistan Navy and the chairman of the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation from 1980 until re ...

from the Pakistan Navy. At 0645 hrs, the

F-86 The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...

jets were scrambled which strafed the vessel before it was identified as the Pakistan Navy's own frigate ''Zulfiqar''. During the aerial attack ''Zulfiqar'' was hit by more than 900 rounds of .50 caliber ammunition, killing several officers and men, with many more injured. The air attack on ''Zulfiqar'' was halted after frantic efforts by her crew to identify their ship as a Pakistan Navy vessel finally succeeded. The incident was monitored by the Indian Navy on radio and revealed the following points: * First, the incorrect identification and attack happened in spite of ''Zulfiqar''s being anchored. This showed that PAF pilots could not clearly distinguish a frigate from a missile boat. * Second, it showed the fear that the Pakistan Navy had of India's missile boats. This incident vindicated the decision to proceed with second missile attacks (Ops: ''Python''), which was being debated after a PAF attack on Okha on the night of 5/6 December 1971. It also prompted the Pakistan Navy to withdraw the Pakistan combat fleet closer to the Pakistan's shore. The shelling of ''Zulfiqar'' was a matter of interservice conflict between the

Navy 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 ...

and the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

, in which the Air Force alleged the Navy was disregarding the "sense of camaraderie". Responding to this incident, the PAF contested the claims made by the Indian Navy by holding Cdre. Bhombal responsible for giving the clearance when the Air Force's Board of Inquiry reportedly quoted: " heNavy unfortunately seems to have forgotten the sense of camaraderie and air support which was provided from the scarce resources with readiness."

References

Publications

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zulfiqar 1943 ships India–Pakistan military relations River-class frigates of the Pakistan Navy Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Friendly fire incidents

History

Operation Trident

See also

References

Publications