US Naval Officer spent 5 days onboard an Indian Navy warship, INS Delhi

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

I was reading the article and honestly I could only contain myself for about 2 sections the frist two and I said wow this must be wrong boat surely not a Navy boat , must be some tuna fish , or fishing boat or trader`s boat

I mean but if its Indian Navy boat it can be possible after all Indians are not known to be good sailors mostly men who love to ride horses and walk on two feet but can anyone provide some data on if this was a real post with reference or just some hoax

But if a US military man said it probably its true ... he did not even want to drink water on the vessel how insulting was that ?

If its not a valid post probably best to delete it otherwise some Indians will feel that we are mocking their boats

I mean that is the thing you can buy a Ferrari for a farmer but he will still use his stick to make the Ferrari move like he does to his cow

 

[Bratva]

Sorry for my offtopic comment, There is an interesting story behind a character named jack sparrow, on another pakistani forum, where he used to claim himself a half chinese, half american, later he claimed himself to be a german descent. . . . and finally he admitted his true identity latter on.

 

[lem34]

How would you know? You live in India man. Even the Japanese, Germans, Irish people were called terrorists in America once upon a time. Today, it is the turn of Muslims. No biggie. But the last thing that one would want to be called in the US is an Indian, I would rather be called a pig/dog than an Indian.

AFP: “US Diplomat Calls Indians ‘Dirty’ During Speech” | The Crescent Post

Bilalbhai you have been on this forum for so long why do you allow a few incredible Indians the next superpower (airforce with 1960 tech) to bait you. You know they are incredible thats why the west made that film called slummydogs or something to show how incredible incrdible india really was. I mean they are obsessed with pakistan you are a pakistani thats why you come on pdf in your spare time. They come here think about that. Do we go on idf-no because they ars so incredible. Back on topic let them have their moment the glory of a whitee man on their ship for 5 days wowwee thats incredible for incrdible india

 

[Kyusuibu Honbu]

INS Delhi was successful in recent anti-piracy operation so, the basic equipment must function .

http://www.defence.pk/forums/india-defence/71844-ins-delhi-thwarts-piracy-attempt-gulf-aden.html

 

[Kyusuibu Honbu]

Some info on INS Delhi

Three Delhi Class destroyers were built for the Indian Navy by Mazagon Dock based in Mumbai, under the Project 15 programme. The Delhi destroyer was designed by the Indian Navy with the detailed and production design phase carried out by Mazagon Dock. INS Delhi was commissioned in 1997, INS Mysore in June 1999 and INS Mumbai (formerly Bombay) in January 2001.

With a displacement of 6,700t, overall length of 163m and beam of 17m, the Delhi Class is the largest warship built in India. The ship is fitted with sophisticated anti-ship, anti-aircraft and anti-submarine sensor and weapon systems.

Weapons

The ship's integrated combat data system is supplied by Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) of Hyderabad.

The main gun at the bow of the ship is a 100mm gun supplied by Russia. The ship is also fitted with four six-barrel AK 650 gatling guns.

The ship is equipped with four quad launchers for the Uran anti-ship missile system. The Uran system launches the Kh-35 (Nato designation SS-N-25) antiship cruise missile, which uses an inertial guidance system to steer the missile towards the target area and an active radar homing head for terminal guidance. The minimum and maximum ranges of the missile are 5km and 130km.

The surface-to-air missile system is the Russian Shtil (SA-N-7), known by the Nato reporting name Gadfly. The missile's maximum range is 25km. It was envisaged that this would be replaced with the Trishul surface-to-air missile system, which had a range of 500m to 9km and a 15kg warhead. In December 2006, the Indian MoD stopped the research and development of Trishul and focused on developing the Barak defence missile system.

Despite a successful series of firing trials in June 2003, technical problems have put the future of the missile system in doubt.

INS Delhi, INS Mysore and INS Mumbai are fitted with the Rafael Barak point air defence missile system. Barak has an eight-cell vertical launch system and the missile command-to-line-of-sight (CLOS) radar guidance with a range from 500m to 10km. INS Mumbai is being fitted with the missile system.
"The Delhi Class is fitted with the Rafael Barak point air defence missile system."

The Type 15 destroyers will be modified to equip with BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles. BrahMos is developed by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) of India and the Federal State Unitary Enterprise NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM) of Russia.

The ship has a quintuple 533mm torpedo launcher which can also be used to launch SS-N-15 Starfish or possibly SS-N-16 Stallion ASW missiles. SS-N-15 has a maximum range of 50km, SS-N-16 of 120km.

The ship also has two RBU-6000 anti-submarine rocket launchers with 12 tubes. Range is 6km and the maximum engagement depth is 500m.

Helicopters

The 500m² helicopter deck is located at the stern of the ship. The ship can support two helicopters, the new Dhruv advanced light helicopter (ALH) or Chetak helicopter, by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and the AgustaWestland Sea King helicopters, primarily equipped for the air surveillance role.

The Sea Kings carry the Super Searcher radar from MEL, the H/S-12 dipping sonar from Thales Underwater Systems with an AQS-902B acoustic processor, and the Hermes electronic support measures system supplied by BAE Systems. The Sea King is also armed with mines and Sea Eagle missiles.

Countermeasures

The ship is equipped with four chaff launch systems and the Ajanta radar interceptor developed by BEL of Bangalore. The TQN-2 jamming system is supplied by the Italian company, Elettronica.
"The ship is equipped with four chaff launch systems and the Ajanta radar interceptor."

Sensors

The ship's radar suite includes Rashmi I-band navigation radar by Bharat Electronics, Russian Kite Screech and Bass Tilt H,I and J band fire control radars for the guns, Garfun B fire control radar for the Kh-35 Uran SSM, Front Dome fire control radar for the SA-N-17 SAM, RALW - LW08 air search radar operating in D-band and supplied by Bharat Electronics Ltd and Thales Nederland (formerly Signaal) and the Bharat / Thales RAWS - DA05 E-band surface search radar.

The ship's hull mounted active search sonar capability is based on the TSM2633 by Thales Underwater Systems or the APSOH by Bharat.

The Delhi Class also has a variable depth sonar, Model 15-750 developed and manufactured in India by Indal and Garden Reach.

Propulsion

The ship's propulsion is based on a combined diesel and gas CODAG system. The Russian gas turbine system is the AM-50. The KVM-18 diesel motors are supplied by Bergen and Garden Reach. The propulsion system drives two shafts and provides a maximum speed of 28kt.

http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/delhi-class-destroyers/

 

[Rafi]

I see a lot of disappointments/shock in your comments. Were there any positives? Did they have good food?
Actually, their food was excellent. They also made really good tea, too. I drank nothing but hot milk tea my entire 5 days there because I was afraid of drinking the water (I saw their reverse osmosis units, dear god).

How bad was it?
15+ years old and they looked like nobody had done any maintenance in the last 5+ years. Their ROs were in such poor shape that despite having a greater fresh water production capacity than my ship by several thousand gallons, they were still on water hours.

How do they runs things differently then the USN?
Their engineering practices were abysmal. No undershirts, no steel-toed boots - they wore sandals - no hearing protection in their engineering spaces. No lagging (sound dampening material) in any space. No electrical safety whatsoever. No operational risk management. No concept of safety of navigation. Absolutely did not adhere to rules of the road. They more or less did not have any hard-copy written procedures for any exercise or event, at all. They had no concept of the coded fleet tactical system that US coalition forces and allies utilize (they literally made it up as they went along, and when I tried to interject and explain to them how it worked, they ignored me). When I arrived onboard they thought I was a midshipman and treated me as such. I had to be frank and explain that I was a commissioned officer and that yes, I stood officer on the deck onboard my ship and was a qualified surface warfare officer. They don't entrust their people with any responsibility until they are very senior Lieutenants (O-3s) and junior Lieutenant Commanders (O-4s). At this point in the US Navy there are literally guys commanding ships, and these guys couldn't even be trusted to handle a radio circuit.

How knowledgeable did you find the officers to be?
Well, their captain was driving the ship when it came within 50ft of the stern of a USNS replenishment ship and at any given time there were multiple officers on the bridge screaming at each other. They were generally clueless and had almost zero seamanship skills. I found their enlisted guys to be far more competent than their officers on the bridge.

Why do you think they're so incompetent and have such crappy operations?
Well, coming within 50ft of another ship at sea is never a good sign. But, afterwards, the general consensus/excuse that they came up with during their mini-debrief was "oh well, rough seas, better luck next time" not "holy ******* ****, we parted a tensioned wire cable made of braided steel under hundreds of thousands of pounds of tension".
And wearing sandals during replenishment/helo ops/boat ops/in engineering spaces pretty much says it all. They legitimately didn't understand why I was wearing steel-toed flight deck boots.
Things like these aren't cultural differences, they are golden exhibitions of their sheer lack of common sense and seamanship.

1. Are you breaking any US Navy rules by telling us all this?
2. How did they do in the exercise? Did they get "sunk" five times or what?
3. Were there equivalent Indian Navy personnel on a US Navy ship and do you happen to know their assessment? Were they disappointed by the lack of slaves?
4. Let's say **** hits the fan. India and Pakistan (or any other country. Take your pick) are at war and the ship you were on is sent into action. Would they be an effective fighting force or are they on the bottom of the ocean before the first day of shooting?
Great AMA btw!
1. I'm not breaking any rules in telling you this.
2. It wasn't a wargame-type exercise. It was basically one big five-day photo op.
3. I only have second-hand information about the Indian equivalent that came onboard my ship, but from what I understand he was impressed by the cleanliness of the ship and amazed that we had hot running water all day...
4. Truthfully - bottom of the ocean. I would be surprised if most of their gear worked. The stuff I saw (I got a pretty extensive tour) looked like it fell straight out of the 60s and 70s and I would be genuinely flabbergasted if they got any rounds off. They could barely avoid hitting other ships in the middle of the Pacific, I doubt they'd be popping off any rounds with any amount of accuracy.

I read 'Indian Navy' and I immediately pictured a ridiculously crowded boat, with everyone living(?) in squalor. Is that at all the case?
Actually, yes. Before I came onboard I was told to bring my own roll of toilet paper, if that alludes to the conditions that they live in at all. There was actually toilet paper aboard their ship. It was thinner than one-ply, if that's possible. I might as well have been wiping my *** with my bare hand.

After a particularly wet small boat ride over to their ship, I was dying to get out of my sea water-drenched uniform and into a fresh one (unfortunately, my entire bag was completely soaked to include my shirts, underwear, spare uniform, phone, camera, and my roll of toilet paper)...
I walked into their "officer's head" (their are extremely, extremely hierarchical and classist, even from a military standpoint) and there was a good 2" of ****-water sloshing around back and forth across the deck and an obscure, probably live wire with it's end wrapped in electrical tape non-surreptitiously protruding from the wall.
They have an entire "class" of civilians onboard. I still don't know what to make of them. I think they were some sort of cheap labor, but everybody onboard referred to them as slaves. As in, they used the word "slave". Anyways, the quarters those guys lived in was awful, it was basically a big open space partitioned with a sheet. They slept on a steel deck with a simple blanket and a pillow. Good times.
Their enlisted guys didn't have it much better. Their berthing was infested with rats (a guy from my ship swore up and down that he saw a rat that was no-**** the length of his arm) and another US sailor from another ship came back covered in bed-bug sores. Dude looked like he had ******* chicken pocks.

Awesome AMA so far. I'm former US navy as well, so I can appreciate your shock and dismay at their abysmal practices.
1. What was your single biggest 'are you ******* kidding me' moment?
2. What was your biggest priority when you got back to your ship?
3. At any point did you consider trying to assume OOD for your own safety?
4. Will anyone important listen to your assessment of their battle-readiness?
Thanks in advance!
1. Have you ever seen a US ship do an unrep at sea? When we pull along side and shoot the shotline across (basically a thick piece of yarn for those who don't know) there's a nice soft tennis ball affixed to the end of it so that it'll bounce of the deck and someone can go retrieve it... the Indians shot a spear. A motherfucking spear. Like, a 16" long piece of metal with a point on the end....

2. Biggest priority was showering. I hadn't showered properly in almost 5 days, and all of my uniforms reeked of seawater.

3. I wouldn't dare try and assume the deck like that. Even on a US ship that would be extremely, extremely out of line. On a foreign Navy ship? **** it, I can swim... Honestly though, when they passed under (50 feet from) the replenishment ship, I was generally afraid they were going to collide. 50ft at sea is extremely, extremely close. I had to leave the bridge after that ****, I just couldn't stomach it anymore.

4. And yes, I wrote up a full-debrief afterwards that was read by my CO/XO and presumably ISIC.

On an arbitrary scale from 1-10, 1 being full retard and ten being space marine quality training and efficiency, how would you rate their sailors quality?
3, at best. They had some marginally competent folks, but for every one person who was half-competent, there were 4 other guys just standing around looking clueless.

Why do you think this is? Are those guys not trained? Are their ships "overstaffed"?
I have staff in India and find that there is a tendency to do nothing when they are unsure of something, instead of coming to me and asking for an explanation.
They were great at doing the same things over and over again, but when I simply asked for an outcome and expected them to figure out HOW to do it, they were stumped.
Well, considering how undermanned US ships are at the moment (our CRUDES - crusiers/destroyers) are, on average, missing about 20-30 people give or take - destroyers more so.... I would say that it's a fault in their training, because they have more than enough people running around not doing anything of particular use.
And I agree. These guys were having issues breaking/generating a fairly widely used NATO standard fleet tactical code system that we use among allied nations and I was trying (in vain) to show them how to say what they wanted to say. I literally wrote out word for word what they needed to pass over the rt circuit and they still refused to believe that I was correct...and continued passing incomprehensible gibberish over the airwaves..

NROTC Midshipman here. I didn't know CRUDES were undermanned – why is that? Also, what rank are you? Ship? How do I not suck as an officer?
CRUDES are very undermanned. USS LASTSHIP (flight I DDG) was at 262 when I left. The ships were built for about 315. Cruisers weren't quite as bad, but they're still lacking people as well.
I'm a LTJG. Won't tell you what ship I was on, just know that it's a DDG out of Yoko.
As for how to not suck as an officer? LISTEN TO YOUR CHIEF, YOUR FIRST CLASS, AND YOUR ****-HOT SECOND CLASSES. Always trust your people until they give you a reason not to.

Thanks for the AMA. Did you or any other USNS staff point out these obvious failings to your counterparts? Or was it all just for show and you were basically told to endure.
Oh, the USNS released a full sitrep (situation report) afterwards. And I absolutely told my chain of command about all of this stuff. There is a very specific process that we go through upon returning from any foreign Navy ship. Basically, we sit down and chronicle our entire experience.

Do you think the Indian navy will take any of this advice to heart? DO they actually want to improve? Or will they just brush it off or even be offended that you are insulting their capabilities?
The latter. They pretty much wrote off every piece of advice that I humbly gave them in my time onboard.

Were there sensitive areas onboard the Indian ship you weren't allowed to enter? And vice versa, were the Indian exchange officers allowed to see the US ships in their entirety?
I saw some, but not all of their fire control spaces. I saw their "ops room" - basically their version of the Combat Information Center. However, I would guarantee that I didn't see everything that there was to see.
And no Ally really truly ever sees every space on a US ship. There are spaces on our ships that even 99% of the ships crew isn't allowed to see. And that's all I have to say about that.

What is your opinion about their war capability?
Truthfully, after touring their ship extensively I would be very much surprised if the majority of their armament even successfully fired, let along hit anything.

How much of the poor conditions do you think can be attributed to poor funding/resources as opposed to the service not giving a ****?
90% of it was the service not giving a ****. Their wardroom (where the officers ate/hung out) was EXTREMELY nice, clean, well-decorated, had a fully-stocked bar with and nice oil pantings and other contemporary decor...but the rest of the ship was a complete and utter pigsty.

As a sailor....I'm so sorry sir! How the **** did you end up with such shitty orders though?
I bet a deployment on a big deck is looking mighty fine after this!
It's all good. I enjoyed 7th Fleet and my time on a FDNF DDG taught me a LOT. I'm not a SWO anymore (I lat transferred to IP - part of the IDC community) but I grew a lot as a person, and professionally, out in Yoko... I actually chose to go out there. I'd love to go back for shore duty, but I'd never go back to 7th Fleet for sea duty, ever.

That's a lot of acronyms. Any help for us rookies?
FDNF - Forward Deployed Naval Forces - this is how we refer to the US Navy's 7th Fleet, stationed in Yokosuka, Japan, because they are permanently forward deployed outside of the US.
DDG - The hull code for the kind of ship I was on - an Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer.
SWO - Surface Warfare Officer - what I used to be.
IP - Information Professional - what I am now (basically network security/networking management).

How did the Indian officers visiting U.S. ships react?
From what I remember, they sent a Chief Petty Officer (E-7) equivalent over to our ship, an engineering type. From what everybody back on my ship told me (after I got back, of course), they guy walked through our ship and engineering spaces and was amazed at how clean everything was and, ironically, that we had hot running water all day.

How good was the curry?
Pretty much all of their food was really good, but then again, I'm a big fan of Indian cuisine. They were all actually pretty surprised that I readily ate whatever they put in front of me. I ate the **** out of whatever they served my entire time there.

How did you wind up being on board the ship? How were you rescued?
Well, I wasn't stranded or anything, so there wasn't a "rescue" per se. Basically, whenever the US does any sort of multi-naval exercise with other nations, it is pretty common that we exchange a few people from each ship as sort of a naval-cultural exchange. In this case, I was sent from a US Navy destroyer based out of Japan to the INS Delhi - the Indian Navy's flagship as part of an exercise that took place last March.
As for how I got there, we did a fairly massive passenger exchange that consisted of about 5-6 ships pulling up in basically a big circle within about 500 yards of one another and then we all dropped our small boats in the water, exchanges passengers, and that was that. It was a particularly choppy day at sea and most of us were sufficiently soaked.

Holy crap, that was their FLAGSHIP?
They had a 2-star admiral embarked...lol.

I know nada about the Indian navy, but I thought their armed forces were pretty professional. Can you prove your identity?
http://i.imgur.com/AYdIZ.jpg

Describe some of the smells?
The ship generally smelled "old". I dunno if you have every been on a ship - namely a warship - before, but this one smelled like it was ******* from the inside out. Rust, decaying paint, dirty spaces, mechanical fumes...it generally smelled musty, I guess is the best way to describe it. Imagine if you farted in a vacuum and then immediately sealed the door, and then you opened said door 10 years later...that's what their ship smelled like pretty consistently.

Wow this guy has exposed the indian navy pretty thoroughly.

 

[Donatello]

HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHAHAHA!


So sad....i hope their new destroyers fare better!

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

Now now ppl don't get carried away , its one thing to criticize navy for not having water plant and uniform its completely other to change topic - lets just keep things civilized

I think the document is self explanatory that the US Naval Officer did not even wanted to drink water in Indian Ship that's how bad he thought it was if I was the Captain on the Ship I would have made that US officer walk the plank pirate style but I guess Indian officers did not notice it

They probably thought the US officer loves their ship while deep in his heart he thought it was a tuna fish boat

I wonder what did the Indian Navy said in response to this article

I am just happy that he did not check the milk refrigerator - probably their was a cow sitting on ice cubes

 

[53fd]

For those who are interested:

reddit.com is owned by Condé Nast Publications, who have their headquarters in New York. Its CEO is Charles Downstead, so it is not a Pakistani website.

The person who wrote this article was not a Pakistani blogger, because he wrote this as a part of the "IAMAFamousArchive", which asks the writer to confirm & verify their identity by giving substantial proof:

Some details about the IAMA Verification System:

Verification System
Before beginning your IAmA, please gather any proof necessary to confirm your identity and your claims. Put that proof in the text of your IAmA, for all users to see. If you do not post proof, users will be skeptical about your IAMA, and you might be asked for verification. If you do not provide any proof within a reasonable amount of time, moderators can remove your post. In very rare circumstances, if your proof is absolutely confidential, you can message proof to the moderators and we will simply leave a comment confirming that proof has been given.
Verification will only be completed for posts the moderators feel need it or would benefit from it. It is not required for all posts.
Post what you are, have people ask you about yourself. Obvious nonsense will be deleted; this is defined by the moderators and up to the discretion of the moderators, and it will be enforced.
Asking for money for yourself will get you banned.
IAmA=I Am A
AMA=Ask Me Anything
You don't have to always be polite, but mindless insults are subject to moderation.
Celebrity/Famous People IAmA Archive
If your post is likely to simply garner sympathy and not questions, please post in /r/MakeMeFeelBetter
If your post is based solely on where you live, please direct it to /r/ILiveIn
If you have a lead on someone you'd like to do an IAmA, contact hueypriest, who can coordinate and promote the interview. If you would like to do an IAmA Request, only post serious requests; if you cannot think of 5 good questions to ask the person, then it is not a serious request. Second, reasonable requests only. Most celebrities don’t read Reddit and would never see your request, so unless you have a specific reason to think that they would be willing to do an IAmA, a request is unnecessary. Finally: search for the request first. Odds are, it has already been requested.
How To and FAQs - We're still working on this, though.

IAmA US Naval Officer who spent 5 days onboard an Indian Navy warship, INS Delhi. AMA. : IAmA

 

[CardSharp]

For those who are interested:

reddit.com is owned by Condé Nast Publications, who have their headquarters in New York. Its CEO is Charles Downstead, so it is not a Pakistani website.

Given the corroboration by other US navy personnel in the comment section, I don't think anyone could doubt the source is genuine.

 

[fd24]

Yeah you surely will. Thanks to the selective moderation policy on this forum. Why else would bigots like Rafi or Bilal not get bans?

I feel the moderators behaved in an appropriate manner. If you view the posts i think its obvious your friend went too far. One can also say that on any other defence forum this much lee way wouldnt be shown as on PDF. I think its a fair policy. In the past Bilal has been banned and im sure others will follow too if they step over the mark. It doesnt matter which flag they fly. If they push things too far they will ultimately pay the consequences. Nite the brownguy

 

[kobiraaz]

Yeah you surely will. Thanks to the selective moderation policy on this forum. Why else would bigots like Rafi or Bilal not get bans?

His ban is justified. He was constantly attacking pakistanis indicating them suicide bombers which is off topic and punishable. Pakistanis were talking on topic... Try to write on news papers to let your nation know present situation of your navy... China will blow you any day with such condition and you guys were thinking to take the rivalry to vietnam. Funny!h condition and you guys were thinking to take the rivalry to vietnam. Funny!

---------- Post added at 04:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:45 AM ----------

At the topic of indian inferiority complex, just an example.95% of Pakistani restaurants brand themselves as "Indian restaurants in western countries. So much for us having an inferiority complex. Deal with your identity crisis first.

Indian food means food of indian sub continent.

 

[fd24]

I think that says it all and if anyone wants to defend CaptainJackSparrows posts then they are well entitled to. I find them insulting. In the same way if anyone talks nonsense about another nation or makes constant attack on any person i will behave in the same manner.

 

[S.M.R]

Describe some of the smells?
The ship generally smelled "old". I dunno if you have every been on a ship -
namely a warship - before, but this one smelled like it was ******* from
the inside out. Rust, decaying paint, dirty spaces, mechanical fumes...it
generally smelled musty, I guess is the best way to describe it. Imagine if
you farted in a vacuum and then immediately sealed the door, and then
you opened said door 10 years later...that's what their ship smelled like pretty consistently.


WTF ly smelled musty, I guess is the best way to describe it. Imagine if
you farted in a vacuum and then immediately sealed the door, and then
you opened said door 10 years later...that's what their ship smelled like pretty consistently.[/b]


WTF

 

[thebrownguy]

I think that says it all and if anyone wants to defend CaptainJackSparrows posts then they are well entitled to. I find them insulting. In the same way if anyone talks nonsense about another nation or makes constant attack on aoerson i will behave in the same manner.

In no manner i defended him. Pls read my post sir. And i share your sentiment too. That is why i put forth my view in the first place.