INS Khukri (F149)
INS Khukri was an old Type 14 ASW (Anti-submarine Warfare) frigate in the Indian Navy. It was sunk by a Pakistan Navy new French Daphne class submarine PNS Hangor at 2000hrs on 8 December 1971 during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, off the coast of Diu, Gujarat, India. This was one of 2 submarine kills since World War II (the other was the sinking of the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano by the British nuclear-powered submarine HMS Conqueror in the 1982 Falklands war), and remains India's biggest wartime casualty.
Incident
After commencement of hostilities on 3rd December 1971, Indian Naval radio detection equipment identified a submarine lurking in the vicinity of Diu harbour about 35 miles south-west of the port of Diu.
The 14 Squadron of the Western Fleet, Khukri along with sister ships, Kirpan and Kuthar (all named after types of dagger), were dispatched on a Hunter-Killer mission to destroy the submarine. There exists some controversy as to why these old ships were sent on the mission instead of newer boats, because the sonar range of these boats was half of that of the newer submarine. One reason that may have prompted the decision was that the Indian Navy lacked sufficient numbers of airborne anti submarine planes, led the deployment of the two obsolete Blackwood class frigates.[1]
Khukri was the slowest of the ships because she was testing an improved version of its 170/174 sonar, which required a slow speed to increase detection. This was to be its undoing.
The submarine sighted the Squadron on the evening of 8th December. It fired two homing torpedoes on a sonar approach (it being night), one of which missed Kirpan at 1957hrs. The second torpedo directed to Khukri struck under its magazine, and the ship sank within two minutes, according to the Pakistani submarine captain, Commander (later Vice Admiral) Ahmed Tasnim. [2]
Casualties
Over 18 officers and 176 sailors were lost in the sinking. The Captain of the ship, Mahendra Nath Mulla, opted to go down with the sinking ship. For this he was posthumously awarded India's second-highest military honour, the Maha Vir Chakra.
A memorial to the dead sailors exists at Diu.
Officers
- Squadron Commander Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla, MVC (Post.)
- Lt. Cmdr Joginder Krishen Suri, Second-in-command
- Lt. V.K Jain, Electrical Officer
References
- Mankekar, D.R. Twenty-Two Fateful Days: Pakistan Cut to Size., New Delhi:Indian Book Co., 1972.
- Roy, Vice Admiral Mihir K. (Retd.), War in the Indian Ocean, Lancer International,1995.