INS Khukri (F149)

For other ships with the same name, see INS Khukri.
INS Khukri underway
History
India
Name: INS Khukri[1]
Namesake: Khukri
Builder: J. Samuel White, Cowes
Laid down: 29 December 1955
Launched: 20 November 1956
Commissioned: 16 July 1958
Identification: Pennant number: F149
Fate: Torpedoed and sunk by Pakistani submarine Hangor on 9 December 1971
General characteristics
Class and type: Blackwood-class frigate[2]
Displacement: 1,180 long tons (1,200 t) full load[2]
Length: 300 ft (91 m)pp 310 ft (94 m)oa[2]
Beam: 33 ft (10 m)[2]
Draught: 15.5 ft (4.7 m)[2]
Propulsion: Y-100 plant; 2 x Babcock & Wilcox boilers, steam turbines on 1 shaft, 15,000 shp (11 MW)
Speed: 27.8 knots (51 km/h) maximum, 24.5 knots (45 km/h) sustained[2]
Range: 5,200 nautical miles (9,630 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h)
Complement: 150[2]
Sensors and
processing systems:
  • Radar Type 974 navigation
  • Sonar Type 174 search
  • Sonar Type 162 target classification
  • Sonar Type 170 targeting
Armament:

INS Khukri was a British Type 14 (Blackwood-class) frigate of the Indian Navy. She was sunk off the coast of Diu, Gujarat, India by the Pakistan Navy Daphné-class submarine Hangor on 9 December 1971 during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. This was the first warship sunk in action by a submarine since World War II. It remains the post-Independence Indian navy's only warship to be lost in war to date.[2][3]

Sinking of INS Khukri
Part of the Naval Conflict of Indo-Pakistan War of 1971
Date9 December 1971
LocationArabian sea
Result Khukri sunk[2]
Belligerents

 Pakistan

 Pakistan Navy

 India

 Indian Navy
Commanders and leaders
Commander Ahmed Tasnim Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla †
Strength
PNS Hangor (submarine) INS Khukri (frigate)
INS Kirpan (frigate)
Casualties and losses
None INS Khukri sunk[2]
194 killed[4]

Incident

After the beginning of hostilities on 3 December 1971, Indian Naval radio detection equipment identified a submarine lurking about 35 miles (56 km) south-west of Diu harbour. The 14th Frigate Squadron of the Western Fleet was dispatched to destroy the submarine.[2] It normally consisted five ships Khukri, Kirpan , Kalveti, Krishna and Kuthar, but at the time of the incident Kuthar's boiler room was being repaired in Bombay.[2] 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.[5]

In the early hours of 9 December, Hangor picked up two sonar contacts in the area.[2] The sonar and radar transmissions identified them as warships but Hangor failed to intercept them and lost contact when the range increased.[2]

The submarine sighted the squadron on the evening of 9 December. Khukri was still not aware of the submarine's presence[6] and continued slowly on a steady course because she was testing an improved version of the 170/174 sonar, which required a slow speed to increase detection, despite the fact that moving on slow speed was against Indian anti-submarine doctrine.[2] At 19:57 Hangor fired a homing torpedo on a sonar approach at Kirpan.[2] The torpedo failed to explode[6][7] and was detected by Kirpan which turned away and fired anti-submarine mortars.[2] Khukri increased its speed and turned towards the submarine, which then fired a second torpedo directed at Khukri.[2] The torpedo struck Khukri and exploded under its oil tanks.[2][6] According to the Pakistani submarine captain, Commander Ahmed Tasnim, the ship sank within two minutes.[7] Other sources claim that Khukri was struck by three torpedoes before going down.[8]

After a few minutes, Kirpan turned back to attack Hangor with depth charges, as her anti-submarine mortars had broken down.[2] Hangor then fired another torpedo at Kirpan before turning away. the torpedo struck Kirpan in the rear hull heavily damaging it while Hangor exited at maximum speed.[2][6] Kirpan had to be towed with another ship, Katchal to bring it back to home'.[2] Hangor patrolled the region for the next four days before returning safely to her berth.

Casualties

To date, Khukri is the only ship lost in combat in the history of the Indian Navy.[2][3][9] Over 18 officers and 176 sailors were lost in the sinking.[3][9] The captain, Mahendra Nath Mulla, chose to go down with the sinking ship. He refused to abandon ship, and passed his life-jacket to a junior officer. He has remained so far the only Indian captain to go down with a vessel.[3][9] He was posthumously awarded India's second-highest military honour, the Maha Vir Chakra.[3][9]

A memorial to the dead sailors exists at Diu. 20°42′10″N 70°58′37″E / 20.70278°N 70.97694°E / 20.70278; 70.97694 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 as the flag officer commanding-in-chief.[4]

Model of Khukri at the INS Khukri memorial, Diu
INS Khukri memorial, Diu

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.[10]

Notes

  1. ↑ Blackman, Raymond VB (ed.). Jane's Fighting Ships, 1961-62. Sampson Low, Marston & Co Ltd. p. 114.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 "The Sinking of INS Khukri". Society of Twentieth Century Wargamers Journal. russellphillipsbooks. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Archived 13 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. 1 2 Two-day ceremony at Navy’s Diu memorial Archived 25 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ Indian-Subcontinent Database Archived 10 July 2006 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Harry, B. "Loss of the INS Khukri". Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  7. 1 2 Interview with Vice Admiral Tasneem, December 2008
  8. ↑ Friedman, Norman (1984). Submarine design and development. Conway Maritime, p. 188
  9. 1 2 3 4 Wattal, Ameeta Mulla (9 December 2010). "Why they chose to go down with the ship?". OjNewsCom. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  10. ↑ Sura, Ajay (7 January 2011). "Khukri sinking: Probe officer terms row 'silly fiction'". Times of India. Retrieved 7 June 2015.

References

Coordinates: 20°16′38″N 70°59′37″E / 20.27722°N 70.99361°E / 20.27722; 70.99361

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