INS Nilgiri

History
India
Name:	INS Nilgiri
Namesake:	Nilgiri Hills
Ordered:	1964
Builder:	Mazagon Docks Ltd, Mumbai
Laid down:	October 1966
Launched:	October 1968
Commissioned:	3 June 1972
Decommissioned:	1996
Fate:	Sunk in a Sea Eagle AShM test from a carrier-launched Sea Harrier in 1997
General characteristics
Class and type:	Nilgiri-class frigate
Displacement:	2682 tons (standard) 2962 tons (full load)
Length:	113 m (371 ft)
Beam:	13 m (43 ft)
Draught:	4.3 m (14 ft)
Propulsion:	2 × 550 psi boilers 2 × 30,000 hp (22,000 kW) motors
Speed:	28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph)
Range:	4,000 nmi (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement:	267 (incl 17 officers)[1]
Sensors and processing systems:	Signaal DA05 / BEL PFN513 radar Signaal LW08 / BEL RAWL02 surface radar Signaal ZW06 / BEL RASHMI navigation radar Signaal M-45 navigation radar Westinghouse SQS-505 / Graesby 750 sonar Type 170 active attack sonar
Armament:	2 × MK.6 Vickers 115 mm guns 4 × AK-230 30 mm guns 2 × Oerlikon 20 mm guns 2 × triple ILAS 3 324 mm torpedo tubes with Whitehead A244S or the Indian NST-58 torpedoes
Aircraft carried:	1 HAL Chetak

INS Nilgiri (F33) was the lead ship of her class of frigates. Commissioned on 3 June 1972 into the Indian Navy, she was decommissioned in 1996.

INS Nilgiri was the first major warship built in India keel up. It was built at Mazagon Docks Limited, Mumbai in collaboration with Yarrow Shipbuilders, Glasgow. The collaboration involved designs of the Royal Navy's improved Type 12 general purpose frigate and technical and training support for construction of 6 vessels. The project to build Nilgiri was led by Homi Sethna and Commander (later Rear Admiral) Prakash N Gour. The success of Nilgiri led to the Indian Navy along with Mazagon Docks redesigning the last two ships of the class - INS Vindhyagiri and INS Taragiri to add the Sea King helicopter, ILAS 324 mm torpedo tubes and Bofors ASW rocket launcher.

Decommissioning

INS Nilgiri was decommissioned in 1996. She was sunk on 24 April 1997, in a test firing of a Sea Eagle anti-ship missile by a Sea Harrier Frs Mk.51 taking off from the aircraft carrier INS Viraat.

References

Naval Forces of the World, by Christopher Chant Transition to Triumph - Indian Navy 1965 to 1975, by Vice Admiral GM Hiranandani (retd)

Leander-class frigates
Royal Navy	Achilles Ajax Andromeda Apollo Arethusa Ariadne Argonaut Aurora Bacchante Charybdis Cleopatra Danae Dido Diomede Euryalus Galatea Hermione Juno Jupiter Leander Minerva Naiad Penelope Phoebe Scylla Sirius
Royal Australian Navy Part of River class	Swan Torrens
Chilean Navy Condell class	Almirante Condell Almirante Lynch Ministro Zenteno (ex-Achilles) General Baquedano (ex-Ariadne)
Indian Navy Nilgiri class	Nilgiri Himgiri Udaygiri Dunagiri Taragiri Vindhyagiri Krishna (ex-Andromeda)
Royal Netherlands Navy Van Speijk class	Van Speijk Van Galen Tjerk Hiddes Van Nes Isaac Sweers Evertsen
Royal New Zealand Navy	Canterbury Southland (ex-Dido) Waikato Wellington (ex-Bacchante)
Other operators  Ecuadorian Navy Eloy Alfaro (ex-Penelope) Eloy Alfaro (ex-Almirante Condell) Morán Valverde (ex-Danae) Morán Valverde (ex-Almirante Lynch)  Indonesian Navy Ahmad Yani class Ahmad Yani (ex-Tjerk Hiddes) Slamet Riyadi (ex-Van Speijk) Yos Sudarso (ex-Van Galen) Oswald Siahaan (ex-Van Nes) Abdul Halim Perdanakusuma (ex-Evertsen) Karel Satsuitubun (ex-Isaac Sweers)  Pakistan Navy Zulfiqar (ex-Apollo) Shamsher (ex-Diomede)
Preceded by: Rothesay class Followed by: Blackwood class
List of frigates of the Royal Navy List of frigates of the Royal Australian Navy List of frigates of the Chilean Navy List of frigates of the Indian Navy List of frigates of the Royal Netherlands Navy List of frigates of the Royal New Zealand Navy

Ship classes of the Indian Navy
Aircraft carriers	Vikrant (Majestic) Viraat (Centaur) Vikramaditya (Kiev) Vikrant *
Destroyers	Rajput Delhi Kolkata Visakhapatnam *
Frigates	Nilgiri Godavari Brahmaputra Talwar Shivalik Project 17A *
Corvettes	Arnala Veer Abhay Khukri Kora Kamorta Abhay-class replacement *
Nuclear submarines	Attack Charlie + Akula-II Indian SSN * Ballistic Missile Arihant *
Conventional submarines	Kalvari (1967) + Vela + Sindhughosh Shishumar Kalvari * Project 75I *
Midget submarines	Indian Navy Swimmer Delivery Vehicle *
Amphibious warfare ships	Kumbhir Magar Shardul Jalashwa Indian MRSV *
Research and survey vessels	Makar Sandhayak Sagardhwani
Patrol craft	Seaward Sukanya Super Dvora Mk II Trinkat Bangaram Car Nicobar Saryu
Minesweeper	Pondicherry
Replenishment ship	Deepak Komandarm Fedko Aditya Ambika
Tugboats	Anand Anjan Arga Balram Bhim Gaj Madan Singh
Ferries	GSL Manoram Shalimar *
Barges	Poshak Vipul * Modest * Corporated * Hooghly *
Training	Tir ABG-class Cadet Training Ship
+ Decommissioned * Under construction/procurement ** Proposed/Design phase List of active Indian Navy ships Submarines of the Indian Navy List of ships of the Indian Navy

Frigates of the Indian Navy
Commissioned ships	Shivalik class Shivalik Satpura Sahyadri Talwar class Talwar (F40) Trishul (F43) Tabar Teg Tarkash Trikand Brahmaputra class Brahmaputra (F31) Betwa (F39) Beas (F37) Godavari class Ganga Gomati
Decommissioned ships	Frigates River class HMIS Tamar HMIS Neza HMIS Dhanush[lower-alpha 1] HMIS Shamsher[lower-alpha 2] HMIS Kukri[lower-alpha 3] HMIS Bengal[lower-alpha 4] HMIS Hooghly[lower-alpha 5] HMIS Tir[lower-alpha 6] Blackwood class Khukri Kirpan[lower-alpha 7] Kuthar[lower-alpha 8] Whitby class Talwar (F140) Trishul (F143) Leopard class Brahmaputra (1958) Beas (1960) Betwa (1960) Nilgiri class Nilgiri Himgiri Udaygiri Dunagiri Vindhyagiri Taragiri Leander class Krishna Godavari class Godavari Sloops (later reclassified as frigates) Anchusa class HMIS Elphinstone P class HMIS Baluchi HMIS Pathan Grimsby class HMIS Indus Aubretia class HMIS Cornwallis Black Swan class HMIS Narbada[lower-alpha 9] HMIS Godaveri[lower-alpha 10] HMIS Cauvery[lower-alpha 11] HMIS Sutlej[lower-alpha 12] HMIS Jumna[lower-alpha 13] HMIS Kistna[lower-alpha 14] Hastings class HMIS Hindustan[lower-alpha 15] Other sloops HMIS Clive HMIS Lawrence
Future ships	Project 17A class 7 ships planned (Names to be declared)
Footnotes ↑ Transferred to Pakistan post-partition and served as PNS Dhanush. ↑ Transferred to Pakistan post-partition and served as PNS Shamsher. ↑ Renamed as INS Kukri post republic. ↑ Renamed as INS Bengal post republic. ↑ Renamed as INS Hooghly post republic. ↑ Renamed as INS Tir post republic. ↑ Transferred to Indian Coast Guard in 1978. ↑ Transferred to Indian Coast Guard in 1978. ↑ Transferred to Pakistan post-partition and served as PNS Jhelum. ↑ Transferred to Pakistan post-partition and served as PNS Sind. ↑ Renamed as INS Kaveri post republic. ↑ Renamed as INS Sutlej post republic. ↑ Renamed as INS Jumuna post republic. ↑ Renamed as INS Krisna post republic. ↑ Transferred to Pakistan post-partition and served as PNS Karsaz.