INS Rajput Decommissioned

The war between two or more countries takes place in three parts, the terrestrial war, the war in the water and the war in the air. The army, the Navy and the Air force of the war nations engaged with each other. The victory of India in the Ghazi attack, which took place during the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971, was quite remarkable. INS Rajput, the guided-missile destroyer of the Indian army, destroyed the fast attack submarine PNS Ghazi of the Pakistani Navy. INS Rajput, the first destroyer of the Indian Navy, was decommissioned on 21 May 2021.

INS Rajput

INS Rajput used to be a guided-missile destroyer. It was the leadership of the Rajput class of the Indian Navy. INS Rajput was commissioned in 1980 on 4th May. INS Rajput is considered to be the first destroyer of the Indian Navy. The USSR built this ship. The first commanding officer of INS Rajput was Commodore Gulab Mohanlal Hiranandani.

The BrahMos cruise missile made use of Rajput as a trial platform. In March 2007, new variants of the Prithvi-3 missiles were test-fired from Rajput. Rajput successfully tracked the Dhanush ballistic missile in a test in 2005. INS Rajput has been part of several important missions of the Indian Navy over the years. It destroyed the Pakistani Submarines during the Ghazi attack. During the Sri Lankan civil war, it assisted the Indian peacekeeping force in operation Aman. Rajput also participated in the operation Pawan, in which it performed patrolling duties on the coast of Sri Lanka. A hostage situation in the Maldives was also resolved through operation Cactus by Rajput. INS Rajput also participated in Operation Crowsnest in the Lakshadweep. However, the most important part that INS Rajput played was during the Ghazi attack.

The Ghazi Attack

India was at war with Pakistan in the year 1971. India had taken aggressive action and blasted the formidable harbour of Karachi. The harbour of Karachi was reduced to ashes within 2 days after the war was declared. The eastern Naval command pulverised the entire East Pakistan coastal installations. The eastern naval command blocked the entry of the Pakistani logistics into the eastern theatre. Even before the declaration of the war between India and Pakistan, Pakistan had deployed its attack submarine PNS Ghazi in the Bay of Bengal. This led to the Ghazi Attack. America made PNS Ghazi. The mission of PNS Ghazi was to sink INS Vikrant. Following this, INS Vikrant was made to sail to a non disclosed location. On the night of the 3rd and 4th of December in 1971, a loud explosion was heard near the neighbouring harbour of Visakhapatnam. Later it was discovered that the explosion was created by PNS Ghazi being destroyed, which later sunk to the bottom of the Ocean. PNS Ghazi had been destroyed by that charge fired at it by the Rajput guided anti-missile ship of the Indian Navy at the command of Lieutenant Commander Inder Singh Malik. This mission was considered highly risky. Lieutenant Commander Inder Singh Malik was awarded Vir Chakra for this mission.

INS Rajput Decommissioned

INS Rajput was commissioned on 4th May 1980. It was the first destroyer of the Indian Navy and was decommissioned on 21 May 2021.INS Rajput served the Indian Navy for 41 years. A ceremony was held to decommission this fighter ship at the Naval Dockyard of Visakhapatnam. Due to the covid-19 pandemic, it was only attended by in-station officers and sailors.COVID-19 protocols were strictly followed during this program. Until its decommission, 31 commanding officers have commented on the INS Rajput. Since its commission, INS Rajput has sailed more than 7,87,194 nautical miles. It is as much as going around the world 36.5 times. This distance is 3.8 times the distance between the moon and the earth. The motto of INS Rajput was “Raj Karenge Rajput”. Rajput also participated in various cyclone relief programs in 1999 and tsunami release programs in Andaman and Nicobar in 2004. The ship also helped in the HADR mission after an earthquake in Jakarta. The Rajput ship was the first ship of the Indian Navy to be affiliated with any regiment of the Indian army. The regiment with which the Rajput ship was associated was the Rajput regiment.

Conclusion:

The Navy is an important part of any country’s defence. India, whose coastline is around 7000 kilometres and shares water boundaries with many countries, has always had a strong Navy. Many ships like INS Vikrant and INS Rajput have carried out important missions for the Indian Navy. INS Rajput was the first destroyer ship of India, which commenced in the year 1980. The Ghazi attack played an important role and destroyed PNS Ghazi of the Pakistani Navy. INS Rajput was decommissioned on 21 May 2021. INS Rajput served the Indian Navy for about 41 years.