To All Indians-The 4th December is celebrated as Navy day.
To know Why this day is celebrated.Here goes my Aricle
Indian Navy in 1971.
The 1971 war was the first, and only, occasion when the Indian political leadership exhibited a proper understanding of the use of military power for achieving a clear national aim.
The Indian Navy's chance to see some action came only in 1971 December. Since East and West Pakistan were two separate geographical entities more
than 1,600 miles apart, the only way Pakistani forces in East Pakistan could be sustained was through the sea. The Indian Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, decided that the Navy would be given the strategic task of denying both East and West Pakistan access to war supplies. The aim in short was a
complete naval blockade of both parts of Pakistan. The bigger aim was of course to ensure that the conflict was not perpetuated beyond the time required to capture a chunk of East Pakistani territory.
The Indian Navy's best and biggest warship at that time was its sole aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, a carefully preserved World War II vintage carrier built in Britain.
Ideally, a task force centered around INS Vikrant should have been used to block Karachi, which at that time was West Pakistan's sole deep water port.
However, one of INS Vikrant's main boilers was out of operation and the ship could not maintain the kind of speed required for manoeuvring in a situation where the air threat would be considerable. It was decided that the INS Vikrant would be used to blockade the ports in East Pakistan, and destroy the riverine craft used by the Pakistanis there.
INS Vikrant in Action
The day war was declared, the INS Vikrant, which had been anchored off the northern-most tip of the Andaman & Nicobar chain of islands, moved towards the principal East Pakistani port, Chittagong.
The Pakistanis, having learnt that INS Vikrant was positioned in the Bay of Bengal, dispatched
one of their submarines, PNS Ghazi, to the east.
The Pakistani submarine thought it could sneak into Vizag harbour, the principal naval port in the Indian east coast. It was, however, detected and sunk before it could cause any damage.
The INS Vikrant continued unhindered. Rear Admiral(retd.) P.D. Sharma, who was then an aviator aboard the INSVikrant, recalls what it was like:
"Fighter pilots practice for years and when they finally get an opportunity to see real action, it is thrilling - it is the moment one has been waiting for all one's life. And it was so for us aboard the Vikrant on 4th December 1971."
"The first sortie was mounted against Cox's Bazaar. Eight Sea Hawks went in led by a squadron commander.
I was in the second sortie which attacked Chittagong. This was in the afternoon of the 4th because it took some time for the Vikrant to close in the range to Chittagong."
"We went in low level, pulled up and carried out repeated attacks on the airfield. In the first attack itself we inflicted considerable damage. We withdrew for the night and sailed towards the Mangla-Khulna area. Our next attacks were on those harbours.
Then we came back to Chittagong. And by the time we were through with that area, especially Chittagong harbour, Chittagong airfield and the approaches to Chittagong, the scene was something to be seen. The place had been devastated. There were ships that had turned turtle, there were half-sunk ships by the quay side, the airfield was pockmarked
with craters and no ship could even think of approaching the place."
The attack on Karachi
The most dramatic naval plan was drawn up by the Western Naval Command. It was decided that the main attack on Karachi harbour would be launched by tiny PT-15 missile boats instead of regular warships. There were several reasons for this decision.
Regular ships without air cover would be vulnerable whereas the tiny missile boats would present difficult, fast-moving targets.
Three missile boats were chosen for the mission and dispatched in the dead of night from Bombay harbour.
Leading the missile boat squadron was Commodore Babru Bahan Yadav:
"The task given to us was not easy. Our ships were little more than boats and did not have the range to go all the way to Karachi on their own steam. So
an oilier was placed about half-way to the target and we were able to refuel and carry on.
As we neared their coast, we found some of their ships patrolling the area. The boat on my left was detailed to engage the contact. That boat was the first Indian warship to fire a missile in anger. Two missiles were fired and both were direct hits. It is interesting to recall that the radar contact which was on our screen slowly diminished and then suddenly disappeared. We
