Hyderabad: Indian Navy Day is celebrated on 4 December every year to commemorate the courageous attack on the Karachi harbour during the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971 by the Indian Naval Missile.
Indian Navy Day is observed in remembrance of the start of Operation Trident during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971.
The operation was conducted on the night of December 4-5 and it inflicted heavy damage on Pakistani vessels. India did not suffer any loss during the operation.
As part of the operation, the Indian Navy sank four Pakistani vessels and ravaged Karachi harbour fuel fields in Pakistan.
The Indian Navy's three warships -- INS Nipat, INS Nirghat and INS Veer -- played an important role in the attack.
Operation Trident: That is the operation that was executed in 1971 by the Indian Navy on 4th December night which led a devastating attack on the Pakistan Naval Headquarters in Karachi. In the operation first time, the anti-ship missile was used.
In the attack, the Indian Navy sank four Pakistani vessels and ravaged the Karachi harbour fuel fields, killing over 500 Pakistani Navy personnel. Three missile boats of the Indian Navy, INS Nipat, INS Nirghat and INS Veer, played a pivotal role in the attack.
Planned attack: The fleet reached 70 miles south of Karachi around 10.30 pm and was ready for combat. One of the lieutenants saw a blip on the radar, indicating an enemy vessel was closing in.
Massive action Orders to engage were given and the first missile was fired. The missile hit the vessel but it was still floating. A second round was fired the second one and sunk the ship, and it was later known the ship was Pakistani destroyer PNS Khaibar.
Heavy hit: As the Indian Navy advanced, Pakistani vessels too approached to defend the Karachi harbour, INS Veer fired its first missile onto Pakistani vessel Muhafiz, a minesweeper, sinking it with the entire crew.
Victory: In 90 minutes, Indian warships fired six missiles which resulted in sinking four enemy vessels including a cargo ship carrying ammunition and destroyed the fuel storage facility at the Karachi harbour, before successfully returning to Mumbai without a single Indian casualty.
Navy Day in India is celebrated every year to recognize the splendor, great achievements and role of the naval force to the nation. Indian Navy is the marine branch of India’s armed forces. This is led by the President of India as a Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Navy.
Father of Indian Navy
Chhatrapati Shivaji Bhosle, the Maratha emperor of the 17th century is considered as the “Father of the Indian Navy”.
Indian Navy plays a significant role in securing the marine borders of the nation as well as accelerating the international relations of India through various means like seaport visits, joint ventures, patriotic missions, calamity relief, and many others.
Modern-day Indian Navy has been transformed in order to improve the position of navy to the Indian Ocean area.
How is Navy Day celebrated
On 4th December in remembrance of the daredevil attack on the naval base of Pakistan, at Karachi.
The Western Naval Command of the Indian Navy with headquarters in Mumbai celebrate this great occasion by bringing together their ships and sailors.
For the Navy Day celebrations, Indian Navy Personnel displays their skills during a rehearsal in Mumbai on 1 December 2019. The rehearsal took place at the Gateway, the Arabian Sea in Mumbai.
The Eastern Naval Command at Visakhapatnam plans all the activities and events which are to be conducted on the Navy Day celebrations.
It starts with a wreath-laying ceremony at the war memorial (at RK Beach) and is followed by the practical demonstration to show the energy and skills of the naval submarines, ships, aircraft, and other forces.
Numerous aircraft are displayed by flying over the RK Beach which is made clean to keep away the birds in order to continue with smooth operations of the aircraft.
Major Operations
The first independent mission of the Indian Navy was against the Portuguese Navy in 1961 during the liberation of Goa.
Op Parakram: It was a major standoff between India and Pakistan in 2002. The Indian Navy was also a part of it. In this operation, 26 cadets under a Navy captain were from the Indian Navy’s side and it was the first time in Indian Defense history when cadets were part of any operation.
Op Python: It was followed after operation Trident in which Karachi port was attacked during Indo-Pak war 1971.
In this operation, the Indian Navy attacked the Pakistani ships at Karachi port managing to strike one ship of Pakistan without any loss to any of the Indian ships.
Op Talwar: Operation Talwar was planned during the Kargil war in 1999. Indian Navy prepared a blockade for the Pakistani boats near the Karachi port to stop the supply of oil and fuel.
Indian Navy also threatened to cut the trade routes of Pakistan and started patrolling in the Arabian Sea.
Later Pakistan requested India about their shortage of fuel and respective steps were taken.
Op Cactus: The operation was conducted to pacify the situation in Maldives and Sri Lanka in 1988.
It was conducted by the Armed Forces of India, where the Indian Navy was also involved actively. INS Godavari and INS Betwa were involved in the operation on the Sri Lankan coast.
Humanitarian operations
The Indian Navy has played a leading role in humanitarian operations in the Indian Ocean littorals.
Beginning with the 2004 tsunami, when 19 Indian naval ships conducted relief operations in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Maldives, the Indian Navy and Coast Guard have regularly participated in HADR missions in South Asia, West Asia and even the South China Sea, carrying out relief operations, search and rescue and emergency evacuations of people in need of urgent assistance.
Op Raahat: The operation was conducted by the Indian Armed Forces in 2015 for the evacuation of people from war-hit Yemen.
INS Sumitra was deployed to evacuate people and INS Mumbai and INS Tarkash were sent to provide protection to the vessel.
Not only Indian nationals, but foreigners were also evacuated from Yemen at the time of internal disturbance.
Operation Madad: In August 2018, severe flooding affected the south Indian state of Kerala due to unusually high rainfall during the monsoon season. It was the worst flooding in Kerala in nearly a century.
The Government of Kerala sought the Indian Navy’s assistance for carrying out "Search and Rescue" operations in low lying flooded areas of Ernakulam and Idukki districts due to the opening of Cheruthoni dam shutters and Wayanad district following heavy rains.
The Southern Naval Command terminated Operation Madad on 24 August 2018 on successful completion of rescue and relief operations.
This was the largest ever HADR operation undertaken by the SNC that lasted close to sixteen days, with a total of 16,843 persons having been rescued, of which 15670 were by boat, while 1173 had to be airlifted.
Personal and strength
As of June 2019, the Indian Navy has 67,252 personnel in service and has a fleet of 137 warships and 235 aircraft.
As of March 2018, the operational fleet consists of one aircraft carrier, one amphibious transport dock, eight landing ship tanks, eleven destroyers, fourteen frigates, one nuclear-powered attack submarine, one ballistic missile submarine, fifteen conventionally-powered attack submarines, twenty-two corvettes, one mine countermeasure vessel, four fleet tankers and various other auxiliary vessels.
