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DECEMBER 4, 2018
Karachi Harbour on Fire after attack by India, courtesy: thebetterindia.com
Engagements1
As India celebrates its 47th Navy Day today with the fascinating annual Beating Retreat and Tattoo ceremonies at the Gateway of India, we commemorate a remarkable victory in the history of Military of Independent India.
Navy Day is celebrated to mark the success of the audacious naval operation, known as Operation Trident, carried out by the Indian Navy during the 1971 Indo-Pak war. The operation was carried out on the night of Dec 4 by inflicting a ravaging attack on the Karachi port where the headquarters of the Pakistani Navy was located. Just the night before, Pakistan had attacked six Indian airfields.
It was planned that India would launch the attack at night as the Pakistani air crafts lacked night bombing capabilities. The strike team positioned itself at 250 nautical miles south of Karachi to avoid the range of Pakistani radar. The ship crews communicated in Russian, making it difficult for the Pakistani vessels to intercept the transmissions between the attacking vessels.
At around 10:40 pm, INS Nirghat attacked the Pakistani ship PNS Khaibar with its first Styx missile. A baffled Pakistani Navy assumed it to be an aircraft fire and responded with their anti-aircraft guns. PNS Khaibar transmitted the wrong position of their ship which delayed the help from their rescue teams and gave more time to the Indian strike team to attack. The vessel finally sank after another blow from the Indian side. None on the ship survived.
Two other vessels of the Pakistani Navy, PNS Muhafiz and PNS Shah Jahan were also destroyed by the Indian Navy. India suffered zero casualties during Operation Trident while inflicting gravest injuries on Pakistan. With INS Nipat, INS Nirghat, INS Veer, two submarines and a tanker, Indian Navy sank two Pakistani warships while damaging a third one. Operation Trident saw the first use of anti-ship missiles in combat in the region.
After the remarkable success of Operation Trident, Indian Navy launched another attack on the Pakistani Navy on December 8. This operation was called “Operation Python“. This time two Pakistani fleet tankers sank. The Indian Air Force then attacked the fuel and ammunition depots of Karachi. ‘Karachi burned for seven days,’ in the words of Admiral SM Nanda. The attack proved lethal for Pakistan’s economy as it reportedly destroyed more than 50% of the total fuel requirement of the Karachi zone. The loss of fuel which was estimated to be worth $ 3 billion also affected the Air Force of Pakistan.
https://www.opindia.com/2018/12/ope...torical-victory-of-indian-navy-over-pakistan/
Navy Day: When Russian-speaking Indian sailors destroyed 3 Pakistani ships
The 1971 war was a rare occasion when all three wings of the Indian military played a prominent role in the hostilities. The Indian Navy, in particular, had some of its finest hours.
HIGHLIGHTS
On December 4, 1971, the Indian Navy undertook a daring raid in Pakistani waters and sank two Pakistan Navy ships and destroyed another. A merchant ship, which was transporting ammunition, was also sunk in the attack.
The attack was a significant morale and strategic booster for Indian forces who were then in the initial days of the 1971 Indo-Pak war that ended with the liberation of Bangladesh, then East Pakistan.
The 1971 war was a rare occasion when all three wings of the Indian military -- Army, Navy and Air Force -- played a prominent role in the hostilities.
The Indian Navy engaged Pakistani ships and submarines on both sides of the Indian peninsula -- the Arabian Sea in the west and the Bay of Bengal in the east.
And, the Karachi attack was among the Navy's finest hours. By delving into the Indian Navy's official history, we can trace how the audacious attack was undertaken.
PREPARATIONS
The Indian Navy began planning a raid on the Karachi port soon after Pakistan proclaimed a national emergency on November 23, 1971. In the months before, indications had become increasingly stronger that India and Pakistan would go to war over the atrocities being committed in then East Pakistan.
By November end, when Pakistan proclaimed a national emergency, this war seemed inevitable. And so, the Indian Navy formed a strike force of three missile boats, which were small but fast warships that armed with anti-ship missile.
This strike force was placed at a naval port in Gujarat's Okha, which is located around 200 km from the port city of Karachi, as the crow flies.
The three missile boats were positioned there in order to familiarise the sailors and officers onboard with the waters in and around Okha.
The Karachi strike force was based out of a naval port in Okha (circled in red). Karachi is northwest to that location.
The Navy also established a "demarcating line" out in the sea. Ships of the main Western Naval Command, headquartered in Mumbai, were restricted from crossing this line. The Okha-based missile boats too were supposed to stay behind this line.
This was done in order to ensure that Indian warships did not mistakenly engage each other in violent confrontations.
Later, this strike force meant to attack the Karachi port, which housed the Pakistan Navy headquarters, was bolstered with two Petya-class corvettes and another missile boat.
The corvettes, which were slower in speed compared to the missile boats, were meant to play a secondary role by providing communication and radar support. The fourth missile boat was to serve as a backup.
WAR
"I speak to you at a moment of grave peril to our country and our people," then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi said, as she addressed the nation on All India Radio on December 3 evening.
"Some hours ago, soon after 5.30 pm on December 3, Pakistan launched a full-scale war against us," Gandhi said, referring to sneak attacks launched by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). The PAF targeted Indian Air Force (IAF) bases in Amritsar, Pathankot, Srinagar, Avantipur, Utterlai, Jodhpur, Ambala and Agra.These were pre-emptive strikes meant to forestall Indian fighter jets from attacking targets in Pakistan.
Emergency has been declared for the whole of India
- Indira Gandhi, December 3, 1971
"Today, the war in Bangladesh has become a war on India, and this imposes upon me, my government and the people of India an awesome responsibility," Gandhi said (the full transcript of her speech is available here, via New York Times/Reuters).
"Emergency has been declared for the whole of India," Gandhi said, and India and Pakistan were formally at war.
IN OKHA
Meanwhile, in Gujarat's Okha, the Indian Navy's Karachi strike force was all ready to launch its daring raid on Karachi. By the time Indira Gandhi declared an emergency on December 3 evening, it was too late to launch any kind of attack.
And so, the Indian Navy chose to wait until December 4 afternoon, when the strike force, consisting of two corvettes and four missile boats, began 'Operation Trident'. The missile boats were armed with four Styx anti-ship missiles each.
The corvettes towed three missile boats towards Karachi. The fourth missile boat, which served as a backup, remained on patrol off Gujarat's Dwarka.
One of the missile boats that was part of the Karachi strike force was INS Veer. Seen in this photo is a later generation of INS Veer. This version of INS Veer was decommissioned in 2016 (Photo: Indian Navy)
During the journey, the Indian Navy sailors and officers spoke Russian while communicating on radio. This was done in order to fool Pakistani eavesdroppers who were bound to be on the lookout for Indian movement in the northern Arabian Sea.
The corvettes towed the three missile boats to a point south of Karachi. There, the missile boatswere set loose to sail at full speed towards Karachi. The corvettes followed at a slower speed, intending to rendezvous with the missile boats at a pre-determined point.
THE ATTACK
Sometime at night, one of the missile boats, INS Nirghat, detected the movement of what the officers on board determined was a warship.
Nirghat began preparations to attack the warship and at 10.45 pm, fired one of its missiles at the ship. The missile hit the target and was followed by another missile, which struck a fatal blow to the Pakistani warship.
The warship sunk, taking with it more than 250 Pakistani sailors and officers to their watery graves. The warship was later identified as Pakistani destroyer PNS Khaibar.
Meanwhile, another of the missile boats, INS Nipat, had sighted two targets and fired a missile each at the two ships. One of the targets -- a merchant ship MV Venus Challenger, which was carrying ammunition from Vietnam to Pakistan -- sank while the other -- a destroyer, PNS Shah Jahan -- was irreparably damaged.
The INS Nipat destroyed a merchant vessel that was transporting ammunition from Vietnam to Pakistan. Seen in this photo is a later generation INS Nipat; this ship was decommissioned in 2016 (Photo: Indian Navy)
The third missile boat, INS Veer, too engaged a warship, using a single missile to sink what was later identified as PNS Muhafiz, a minesweeper of the Pakistan Navy.
KARACHI IN SIGHTS
Victorious, the three missile boats then turned their sights towards Karachi. The plan was to fire a missile each at the port and return to meet the two corvettes -- INS Kiltan and INS Katchall -- which were bringing up the rear.
INS Nipat, which had on board the commander of the missile boat group, did manage to fire a missile towards Karachi. However, simultaneously the other missile boat INS Nirghat raised what later turned out to be a false alarm.
The officers on board the ship had mistaken anti-aircraft ammunition being fired from Pakistan as fighter jets. And so, the commander of the missile boats, who was onboard INS Nipat, ordered the vessels to withdraw and return to India.
A CLOSE SHAVE
Meanwhile, the corvette INS Kiltan kept sailing towards the rendezvous point where it was supposed to meet with the missile boats.
INS Kiltan had on board the commander of the entire Karachi strike force -- the commander of the missile boats technically reported to the strike force commander.
However, due to a communications failure, the strike force commander never found out that the head of the missile boats had ordered the vessels to return to Gujarat.
And so, when INS Kiltan reached the rendezvous point she was greeted by empty waters. INS Veer, one of the missile boats, was nearby since it had developed a technical problem and wasn't sailing at full speed.
This is the latest generation of INS Kiltan. This ship is currently serving in the Indian Navy (Photo: Indian Navy)
But neither knew that.
So, when INS Kiltan turned around to head back home, INS Veer mistook its mothership for an enemy warship and prepared to do what was logical: Fire a missile.
But then in a turn of great luck, INS Kiltan managed to re-establish communication and identified herself as an Indian ship, averting a catastrophe.
After an eventful night, all the ships of the Karachi strike force returned to their port in Okha. They reached in ones and twos and refuelled at the port. Then, they set sail to the Western Fleet's main port of Bombay, now Mumbai.
https://www.indiatoday.in/fyi/story/indian-navy-day-karachi-port-attack-recap-1402208-2018-12-04
Karachi Harbour on Fire after attack by India, courtesy: thebetterindia.com
Engagements1
As India celebrates its 47th Navy Day today with the fascinating annual Beating Retreat and Tattoo ceremonies at the Gateway of India, we commemorate a remarkable victory in the history of Military of Independent India.
Navy Day is celebrated to mark the success of the audacious naval operation, known as Operation Trident, carried out by the Indian Navy during the 1971 Indo-Pak war. The operation was carried out on the night of Dec 4 by inflicting a ravaging attack on the Karachi port where the headquarters of the Pakistani Navy was located. Just the night before, Pakistan had attacked six Indian airfields.
It was planned that India would launch the attack at night as the Pakistani air crafts lacked night bombing capabilities. The strike team positioned itself at 250 nautical miles south of Karachi to avoid the range of Pakistani radar. The ship crews communicated in Russian, making it difficult for the Pakistani vessels to intercept the transmissions between the attacking vessels.
At around 10:40 pm, INS Nirghat attacked the Pakistani ship PNS Khaibar with its first Styx missile. A baffled Pakistani Navy assumed it to be an aircraft fire and responded with their anti-aircraft guns. PNS Khaibar transmitted the wrong position of their ship which delayed the help from their rescue teams and gave more time to the Indian strike team to attack. The vessel finally sank after another blow from the Indian side. None on the ship survived.
Two other vessels of the Pakistani Navy, PNS Muhafiz and PNS Shah Jahan were also destroyed by the Indian Navy. India suffered zero casualties during Operation Trident while inflicting gravest injuries on Pakistan. With INS Nipat, INS Nirghat, INS Veer, two submarines and a tanker, Indian Navy sank two Pakistani warships while damaging a third one. Operation Trident saw the first use of anti-ship missiles in combat in the region.
After the remarkable success of Operation Trident, Indian Navy launched another attack on the Pakistani Navy on December 8. This operation was called “Operation Python“. This time two Pakistani fleet tankers sank. The Indian Air Force then attacked the fuel and ammunition depots of Karachi. ‘Karachi burned for seven days,’ in the words of Admiral SM Nanda. The attack proved lethal for Pakistan’s economy as it reportedly destroyed more than 50% of the total fuel requirement of the Karachi zone. The loss of fuel which was estimated to be worth $ 3 billion also affected the Air Force of Pakistan.
https://www.opindia.com/2018/12/ope...torical-victory-of-indian-navy-over-pakistan/
Navy Day: When Russian-speaking Indian sailors destroyed 3 Pakistani ships
The 1971 war was a rare occasion when all three wings of the Indian military played a prominent role in the hostilities. The Indian Navy, in particular, had some of its finest hours.
HIGHLIGHTS
- On December 4, 1971, the Indian Navy launched an audacious attack in Pakistani waters
- During the mission, the Indian sailors communicated in Russian to evade detection
- December 4 is celebrated as Navy Day every year
On December 4, 1971, the Indian Navy undertook a daring raid in Pakistani waters and sank two Pakistan Navy ships and destroyed another. A merchant ship, which was transporting ammunition, was also sunk in the attack.
The attack was a significant morale and strategic booster for Indian forces who were then in the initial days of the 1971 Indo-Pak war that ended with the liberation of Bangladesh, then East Pakistan.
The 1971 war was a rare occasion when all three wings of the Indian military -- Army, Navy and Air Force -- played a prominent role in the hostilities.
The Indian Navy engaged Pakistani ships and submarines on both sides of the Indian peninsula -- the Arabian Sea in the west and the Bay of Bengal in the east.
And, the Karachi attack was among the Navy's finest hours. By delving into the Indian Navy's official history, we can trace how the audacious attack was undertaken.
PREPARATIONS
The Indian Navy began planning a raid on the Karachi port soon after Pakistan proclaimed a national emergency on November 23, 1971. In the months before, indications had become increasingly stronger that India and Pakistan would go to war over the atrocities being committed in then East Pakistan.
By November end, when Pakistan proclaimed a national emergency, this war seemed inevitable. And so, the Indian Navy formed a strike force of three missile boats, which were small but fast warships that armed with anti-ship missile.
This strike force was placed at a naval port in Gujarat's Okha, which is located around 200 km from the port city of Karachi, as the crow flies.
The three missile boats were positioned there in order to familiarise the sailors and officers onboard with the waters in and around Okha.
The Karachi strike force was based out of a naval port in Okha (circled in red). Karachi is northwest to that location.
The Navy also established a "demarcating line" out in the sea. Ships of the main Western Naval Command, headquartered in Mumbai, were restricted from crossing this line. The Okha-based missile boats too were supposed to stay behind this line.
This was done in order to ensure that Indian warships did not mistakenly engage each other in violent confrontations.
Later, this strike force meant to attack the Karachi port, which housed the Pakistan Navy headquarters, was bolstered with two Petya-class corvettes and another missile boat.
The corvettes, which were slower in speed compared to the missile boats, were meant to play a secondary role by providing communication and radar support. The fourth missile boat was to serve as a backup.
WAR
"I speak to you at a moment of grave peril to our country and our people," then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi said, as she addressed the nation on All India Radio on December 3 evening.
"Some hours ago, soon after 5.30 pm on December 3, Pakistan launched a full-scale war against us," Gandhi said, referring to sneak attacks launched by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). The PAF targeted Indian Air Force (IAF) bases in Amritsar, Pathankot, Srinagar, Avantipur, Utterlai, Jodhpur, Ambala and Agra.These were pre-emptive strikes meant to forestall Indian fighter jets from attacking targets in Pakistan.
Emergency has been declared for the whole of India
- Indira Gandhi, December 3, 1971
"Today, the war in Bangladesh has become a war on India, and this imposes upon me, my government and the people of India an awesome responsibility," Gandhi said (the full transcript of her speech is available here, via New York Times/Reuters).
"Emergency has been declared for the whole of India," Gandhi said, and India and Pakistan were formally at war.
IN OKHA
Meanwhile, in Gujarat's Okha, the Indian Navy's Karachi strike force was all ready to launch its daring raid on Karachi. By the time Indira Gandhi declared an emergency on December 3 evening, it was too late to launch any kind of attack.
And so, the Indian Navy chose to wait until December 4 afternoon, when the strike force, consisting of two corvettes and four missile boats, began 'Operation Trident'. The missile boats were armed with four Styx anti-ship missiles each.
The corvettes towed three missile boats towards Karachi. The fourth missile boat, which served as a backup, remained on patrol off Gujarat's Dwarka.
One of the missile boats that was part of the Karachi strike force was INS Veer. Seen in this photo is a later generation of INS Veer. This version of INS Veer was decommissioned in 2016 (Photo: Indian Navy)
During the journey, the Indian Navy sailors and officers spoke Russian while communicating on radio. This was done in order to fool Pakistani eavesdroppers who were bound to be on the lookout for Indian movement in the northern Arabian Sea.
The corvettes towed the three missile boats to a point south of Karachi. There, the missile boatswere set loose to sail at full speed towards Karachi. The corvettes followed at a slower speed, intending to rendezvous with the missile boats at a pre-determined point.
THE ATTACK
Sometime at night, one of the missile boats, INS Nirghat, detected the movement of what the officers on board determined was a warship.
Nirghat began preparations to attack the warship and at 10.45 pm, fired one of its missiles at the ship. The missile hit the target and was followed by another missile, which struck a fatal blow to the Pakistani warship.
The warship sunk, taking with it more than 250 Pakistani sailors and officers to their watery graves. The warship was later identified as Pakistani destroyer PNS Khaibar.
Meanwhile, another of the missile boats, INS Nipat, had sighted two targets and fired a missile each at the two ships. One of the targets -- a merchant ship MV Venus Challenger, which was carrying ammunition from Vietnam to Pakistan -- sank while the other -- a destroyer, PNS Shah Jahan -- was irreparably damaged.
The INS Nipat destroyed a merchant vessel that was transporting ammunition from Vietnam to Pakistan. Seen in this photo is a later generation INS Nipat; this ship was decommissioned in 2016 (Photo: Indian Navy)
The third missile boat, INS Veer, too engaged a warship, using a single missile to sink what was later identified as PNS Muhafiz, a minesweeper of the Pakistan Navy.
KARACHI IN SIGHTS
Victorious, the three missile boats then turned their sights towards Karachi. The plan was to fire a missile each at the port and return to meet the two corvettes -- INS Kiltan and INS Katchall -- which were bringing up the rear.
INS Nipat, which had on board the commander of the missile boat group, did manage to fire a missile towards Karachi. However, simultaneously the other missile boat INS Nirghat raised what later turned out to be a false alarm.
The officers on board the ship had mistaken anti-aircraft ammunition being fired from Pakistan as fighter jets. And so, the commander of the missile boats, who was onboard INS Nipat, ordered the vessels to withdraw and return to India.
A CLOSE SHAVE
Meanwhile, the corvette INS Kiltan kept sailing towards the rendezvous point where it was supposed to meet with the missile boats.
INS Kiltan had on board the commander of the entire Karachi strike force -- the commander of the missile boats technically reported to the strike force commander.
However, due to a communications failure, the strike force commander never found out that the head of the missile boats had ordered the vessels to return to Gujarat.
And so, when INS Kiltan reached the rendezvous point she was greeted by empty waters. INS Veer, one of the missile boats, was nearby since it had developed a technical problem and wasn't sailing at full speed.
This is the latest generation of INS Kiltan. This ship is currently serving in the Indian Navy (Photo: Indian Navy)
But neither knew that.
So, when INS Kiltan turned around to head back home, INS Veer mistook its mothership for an enemy warship and prepared to do what was logical: Fire a missile.
But then in a turn of great luck, INS Kiltan managed to re-establish communication and identified herself as an Indian ship, averting a catastrophe.
After an eventful night, all the ships of the Karachi strike force returned to their port in Okha. They reached in ones and twos and refuelled at the port. Then, they set sail to the Western Fleet's main port of Bombay, now Mumbai.
https://www.indiatoday.in/fyi/story/indian-navy-day-karachi-port-attack-recap-1402208-2018-12-04
