INS ''Valsura'' is a "

stone frigate A stone frigate is a naval establishment on land. 'Stone frigate' is an informal term which has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy (RN), after its use of Diamond Rock, an island off Martinique, as a 'sloop of war' to harass the First French ...

" (shore establishment) of the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

Jamnagar Jamnagar () is a city and the headquarters of Jamnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. The city lies just to the south of the Gulf of Kutch, some west of the state capital, Gandhinagar. The city was the capital of Nawanagar State, Na ...

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

. A premier technological training institution, it houses the Electrical school of the Indian Navy.

History

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a need was felt to supplement the torpedo handling and operations in India by establishing a torpedo school. Since a torpedo school required waters where torpedo running and depth charge firing could be possible, a suitable location had to be selected. Since Cochin already had multiple establishments, the P-class destroyer then in India was tasked with scouting a suitable location. ''Pathfinder'' found the sea area around Rozi island in

Nawanagar State Nawanagar was an Indian state and then a princely state in the historical Halar region, located on the southern shores of the Gulf of Kutch. It was ruled by the Jadeja Rajput dynasty and became a part of newly formed India. Its capital cit ...

. Rozi Island was already a well-known port and was connected to

by road and railway. The Jam Sahib of Nawanagar, Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji offered the Rozi Island, his 38-acre

game reserve A game reserve (also known as a game park) is a large area of land where wild animals are hunted in a controlled way for sport. If hunting is prohibited, a game reserve may be considered a nature reserve; however, the focus of a game reserve ...

, for a token rent of Re. 1 per annum. ''HMIS Valsura'' was commissioned on 15 December 1942 by the Maharani Gulab Kunverba Sahiba with

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

Sir

Claude Auchinleck Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck ( ) (21 June 1884 – 23 March 1981), was a British Indian Army commander who saw active service during the world wars. A career soldier who spent much of his militar ...

, the

Commander-in-Chief, India During the period of the Company and Crown rule in India, the Commander-in-Chief, India (often "Commander-in-Chief ''in'' or ''of'' India") was the supreme commander of the Indian Army from 1833 to 1947. The Commander-in-Chief and most of his ...

and

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

Sir Herbert Fitzherbert, the Flag Officer Commanding, Royal Indian Navy in attendance. As the torpedo school of the

Royal Indian Navy The Royal Indian Navy (RIN) was the naval force of British Raj, British India and the Dominion of India. Along with the Presidency armies, later the British Indian Army, Indian Army, and from 1932 the Royal Indian Air Force, it was one of the ...

, the establishment was modelled after the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

's torpedo school HMS Vernon in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. Commander MFB Ward was the first commanding officer of the establishment. Apart from training officers and men for torpedo duties, it also trained them on electrical duties. After the

Independence of India The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

, the torpedo school was moved to Cochin. The Jam Sahib donated another 600 acres for the expansion of the establishment. Since a separate branch for Naval Electrical Engineering was formed in the Navy, the Naval Electrical Engineering school was founded in 1948 at Valsura. On 26 January 1950, India became a republic and the name changed to ''INS Valsura''. Commander D. H. R. Dadabhoy was the first Indian commanding officer.

Today

INS Valsura today houses the electrical equipment school, electrical technology school, basic electrical school, information technology school, center for electronics engineering and the training design and evaluation cell. ''Valsura'' was awarded a Special Unit Citation in December 2001, an honour normally reserved for operational units. The base has grown into a large township with a military hospital and schools. The commanding officer of the establishment is also the station commander and is a one-star officer with the rank of Commodore.

Crest and motto

The name of the establishment was derived from the combination of two

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

words ''Vaalu'' meaning sword and ''Sorrah'' meaning fish.

Swordfish The swordfish (''Xiphias gladius''), also known as the broadbill in some countries, are large, highly migratory predatory fish characterized by a long, flat, pointed bill. They are the sole member of the Family (biology), family Xiphiidae. They ...

was chosen since the

Torpedo bomber A torpedo bomber is a military aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes. Torpedo bombers came into existence just before the World War I, First World War almost as soon as aircraft were built that were capable of carryin ...

Fairey Swordfish The Fairey Swordfish is a retired biplane torpedo bomber, designed by the Fairey Aviation Company. Originating in the early 1930s, the Swordfish, nicknamed "Stringbag", was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy. It was a ...

was named so as well as the fact that they were found in the waters off the coast of Saurashtra. The crest of the school showed a swordfish placed amidst two crossed

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

es and a mine with the Latin motto ''Valsura Semper Viret'', meaning ''Valsura shall always be victorious''. After India became a republic, in 1950, the crest was changed. The swordfish was shown leaping out from the sea with its head and a large part of its body above water, with three streaks of lightning emanating from its head. The motto was changed to ''Tasya Bhasa Sarvamidam Vibhati'' which meant ''The light that emanates from here, illuminates all'', which was taken from the

Upanishad The Upanishads (; , , ) are late Vedic and post-Vedic Sanskrit texts that "document the transition from the archaic ritualism of the Veda into new religious ideas and institutions" and the emergence of the central religious concepts of Hind ...

References

External links

INS Valsura
on the website of the

{{Indian Navy Indian Navy bases

History

Today

Crest and motto

See also

References

External links