INS ''Khukri'' was a Type 14 (''Blackwood''-class)

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

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 ...

. She was sunk off the coast of Diu,

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 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

by the

Pakistan Navy The Pakistan Navy (PN) (; ''romanized'': Pākistān Bahrí'a; ) is the naval warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The Chief of the Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Com ...

submarine on 9 December 1971 during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. It was the first warship sunk in action by a submarine since

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 ...

. It is the post-independence Indian navy's only warship to have been lost in war.

Sinking

After the beginning of hostilities on 3 December 1971, Indian Naval radio detection identified a submarine lurking about southwest of Diu harbour. The 14th Frigate Squadron of the Western Fleet was dispatched to destroy the submarine. It usually consisted of five ships, ''Khukri'', , ''Kalveti, Krishna'' and ''Kuthar,'' but at the time of the incident ''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 anti-submarine aircraft. The submarine sighted the squadron on the evening of 9 December. ''Khukri'' was still not aware of the submarine's presence and continued slowly on a steady course because she was testing an improved version of the 170/174 sonar, which required a low speed to increase detection, despite the fact that moving on low speed was against Indian anti-submarine doctrine. At 19:57 ''Hangor'' fired a homing torpedo on a sonar approach at ''Kirpan''. The torpedo missed Kirpan and did not explode and was detected, causing Kirpan to turn away and fire multiple anti-submarine mortars, all of which also missed. ''Khukri'' increased its speed and turned towards the submarine, which then fired a second torpedo directed at ''Khukri''. The torpedo struck ''Khukri'' and exploded under its oil tanks. According to the Pakistani submarine captain, Commander

Ahmed Tasnim Ahmad Tasnim (; born 1935) is a retired three-star rank admiral of the Pakistan Navy who is known for his command of ''Hangor'', a submarine that sank INS Khukri on 8 December 1971 during Indo-Pakistani war of 1971, off the coast of Diu, G ...

, the ship sank within two minutes.Interview with Vice Admiral Tasneem, December 2008
/ref> Other sources claim that ''Khukri'' was struck by three torpedoes before going down. After a few minutes, ''Kirpan'' attacked ''Hangor'' with depth charges, as her anti-submarine mortars were no longer functional. All missed. ''Hangor'' then fired a final torpedo at ''Kirpan'', which Kirpan dodged before returning back. Hangor then left the area. ''Hangor'' patrolled the region for the next four days before returning safely to her berth.

Casualties

''Khukri'' is the only ship lost in combat in the history of the post-independence Indian Navy. Eighteen officers and 176 sailors were killed. The captain, Mahendra Nath Mulla, was among the casualties and is therefore the only Indian captain to go down with a vessel. He was posthumously awarded India's second-highest military honour, the

Maha Vir Chakra The Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) () is the second highest military decoration in India, after the Param Vir Chakra, and is awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea or in the air. It replaced the B ...

Remembrance

A memorial in the remembrance of this ship has been built, along the coast, in Diu. The memorial consists of a scale model of ''Khukri'' encased in a glass house, placed atop a hillock facing the sea. The memorial was inaugurated by Vice Admiral Madhvendra Singh as the flag officer commanding-in-chief.Two-day ceremony at Navy's Diu memorial

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.

Notes

References

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External links

Bharat Rakshak's article on the incident
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khukri Blackwood-class frigates of the Indian Navy Indo-Pakistani war of 1971 Shipwrecks in the Arabian Sea Ships sunk by submarines of Pakistan Maritime incidents in 1971 1956 ships Diu, India Frigates of the Cold War Ships of the Indo-Pakistani wars 20th century in Gujarat 1971 in India December 1971 in Asia Naval battles of Indo-Pakistani wars