INS Khukri was a British Type 14 (Blackwood)

Blackwood class frigate

The Type 14, Blackwood, class were a twelve ship class of "second rate" anti-submarine warfare frigates of the Royal Navy, designed and built during the increasing threat from the Soviet Union's large fleet of submarines that roamed the Atlantic Ocean.-Design:They were designed to be cheaper and...

  frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

 of the Indian Navy

Indian Navy

The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...

. She was sunk off the coast of Diu, Gujarat, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 by the Pakistan Navy

Pakistan Navy

The Pakistan Navy is the naval warfare/service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. Pakistan's Navy is responsible for Pakistan's coastline along the Arabian Sea and the defense of important civilian harbors and military bases...

 Daphne class

Daphne class submarine

The Daphné class was a type of diesel-electric patrol submarines built in France between 1958 and 1970 for the French Navy and for export.-History:...

 submarine Hangor

PNS Hangor

PNS Hangor was a Daphné class submarine that served in the Pakistan Navy from 1970 to 2006. She was built by France, and was a type of diesel-electric submarine class. She earned renown, when during the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War, she sank the Indian Navy's ASW frigate INS Khukri with two Homing...

 on 9 December 1971 during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military conflict between India and Pakistan. Indian, Bangladeshi and international sources consider the beginning of the war to be Operation Chengiz Khan, Pakistan's December 3, 1971 pre-emptive strike on 11 Indian airbases...

. This was the first warship sunk in action by a submarine since World War II. It remains the Indian navy's only warship to be lost in war to date.

Incident

After the beginning of hostilities on 3 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 Frigate Squadron of the Western Fleet was dispatched on a hunter-killer mission to destroy the submarine. The 14 Frigate Squadron normally consisted of three ships Khukri, Kirpan and Kuthar (all named after types of dagger). But only two were involved in the incident as Kuthar's boiler room was being repaired in Bombay. 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 airborne anti-submarine

Anti-submarine weapon

An anti-submarine weapon is any one of a range of devices that are intended to act against a submarine, and its crew, to destroy the vessel or to destroy or reduce its capability as a weapon of war...

 planes.

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

The submarine sighted the Squadron on the evening of 9 December. Khukri was still not aware of the submarine's presence and continued doing slow speed 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. At 19:57 hrs Hangor fired a homing torpedo on a sonar approach at Kirpan. The torpedo failed to explode and was detected by Kirpan which turned away and fired anti-submarine mortars. Khukri increased its speed and turned towards the submarine, which then fired a second torpedo directed at Khukri. The torpedo struck Khukri and exploded after 5 minutes under its oil tanks. According to the Pakistani submarine captain, Commander (later Vice Admiral) Ahmed Tasnim

Ahmed Tasnim

Vice Admiral Ahmad Tasnim, HI, SJ , SBt, is a now-retired three-star naval officer who is most famous as the Commander of the PNS Hangor when it sunk the INS Khukri at 20:00 hrs on 8 December 1971 during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, off the coast of Diu, Gujarat, India.Vice Admiral Ahmad Tasnim,...

 the ship sank within two minutes. Other sources claim that Khukri was struck by three torpedoes before going down.

After a few minutes, Kirpan turned back to attack Hangor with depth charges, as the anti-submarine mortars of Kirpan had broken down. Hangor then fired another torpedo at Kirpan before turning away and exiting at maximum speed. Kirpan outran the torpedo and returned later with another ship, INS Katchal, to rescue the survivors from Khukri.

Casualties

To date, INS Khukri is the only ship lost in the history of the Indian Navy. Over 18 officers and 176 sailors were lost in the sinking. The captain, Mahendra Nath Mulla

Mahendra Nath Mulla

Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla, was an officer of the Indian Navy and the Captain of the INS Khukri, who went down with his ship during the 1971 war on the old tradition, "captains don't abandon their ships".He was reported to be in a saluting gesture while sinking down with Khukri...

, choose 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 to his watery grave. He was posthumously awarded India's second-highest military honour, the Maha Vir Chakra

Maha Vir Chakra

The Maha Vir Chakra is the second highest military decoration in India and is awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea or in the air. It may be awarded posthumously. Literally Maha Veer means extraordinarily brave.-Appearance:The medal is made...

.

A memorial to the dead sailors exists at Diu. 20°42′10"N 70°58′37"E The memorial constitutes a full-scale model of INS Khukri encased in a glass house, placed atop a hillock facing the sea. The memorial was inaugurated by Vice Admiral Madhvendra Singh

Madhvendra Singh

Admiral Madhvendra Singh is a former chief of Indian Navy. Singh hails from Chomu in Jaipur district of Rajasthan. His father, Major General K. Bhagwati Singh was one of the first batch of the Indian Cadets passed out of the Indian Military Academy. Singh served as the 17th Chief of Naval Staff...

as the flag officer commanding-in-chief.

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.

External links

• Bharat Rakshak's article on the incident