New Delhi: The Indian Navy decommissioned INS Sindhudhvaj after serving for a glorious period of 35 years on Saturday. The discharge ceremony was held at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam. Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, who is the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command, was the chief guest at the ceremony which was attended by 15 former commanding officers including Commodore SP Singh (Retd) and 26 commissioning crew. Veterans, among others.
Sindhudhvaj, as the name suggests, was the flag bearer of indigenisation and the Indian Navy’s efforts towards achieving a self-reliant India among the Russian-built Sindhughosh-class submarines. The submarine crest depicts a gray colour nurse shark. She has several firsts to his credit including operationalisation of the indigenised sonar (USHUS), indigenous Satellite Communication System Rukmani and MSS, Inertial Navigation System and indigenous Torpedo Fire Control System.
She also successfully mated and transferred personnel with the Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel. It is the only submarine that was awarded the CNS Rolling Trophy for innovation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The traditional ceremony was held at sunset, with an overcast sky adding to the solemnity of the occasion when the Decommissioning Pennant was lowered after 35 long years.
It was inducted into the Indian Navy in the year 1987. It was sent to the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea under the Top Secret Mission. The weight of the submarine is 3076 tons and the length is 72 meters. It consists of six compartments, which house heavy combat missile launchers, homing torpedoes, and mines.