''Arnala'' class was an Indian designation for the Petya III-class vessels 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 ...

. Although these vessels were classified as frigates in the Soviet Navy, they were classified by the Indian Navy as anti-submarine

corvettes A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloop ...

due to their role and smaller size. Vessels of the class were named for Indian islands.

Operational history

and were part of the task force for Operation Trident during the

Indo-Pakistan 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 Decemb ...

. The hulls of this class were of relatively inferior quality, requiring the vessels to undergo major refit every 5 years. The Indian Navy constructed the Naval Dockyard at

Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura submarine museu ...

, primarily to service Russian vessels. But given the lack of engineering support from Russia there were inordinate delays in completing the servicing facility. This resulted in considerable delay of the second refit for , which was in poor repair and subsequently was lost at sea in storm conditions, east of Visakhapatnam on 21 August 1990.

Vessels

The corvettes of this class constituted the 31st Patrol Vessel Squadron of the Eastern Naval Command and the 32nd Patrol Vessel Squadron of the Western Naval Command.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnala-class corvette Corvette classes Corvettes of the Indian Navy India–Soviet Union relations