INS ''Nilgiri'' (F33) was the lead ship of her class of

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 ...

s. Commissioned on 3 June 1972 into 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 decommissioned in 1996. INS ''Nilgiri'' was the first major warship built in India keel up, with a displacement ~20x that of an Ajay class patrol vessel. INS Nilgiri was built at Mazagon Docks Limited,

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

in collaboration with Yarrow Shipbuilders,

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. The collaboration involved designs of 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 improved Type 12 general purpose

and technical and training support for construction of 6 vessels. The project to build ''Nilgiri'' was led by Homi Sethna and Commander (later Rear Admiral) Prakash N Gour. The success of ''Nilgiri'' led to the Indian Navy along with Mazagon Docks redesigning the last two ships of the class – and to add the Sea King helicopter, ILAS 324 mm torpedo tubes and Bofors ASW rocket launcher. The ship was fitted with the Agouti system to minimize propeller

cavitation Cavitation in fluid mechanics and engineering normally is the phenomenon in which the static pressure of a liquid reduces to below the liquid's vapor pressure, leading to the formation of small vapor-filled cavities in the liquid. When sub ...

noise.

Decommissioning

INS ''Nilgiri'' was decommissioned in 1996. She was sunk on 24 April 1997, in a test firing of a

Sea Eagle A sea eagle or fish eagle (also called erne or ern, mostly in reference to the white-tailed eagle) is any of the birds of prey in the subfamily Haliaeetinae of the bird of prey family Accipitridae. Ten extant species exist, currently described w ...

anti-ship missile by a Sea Harrier Frs Mk.51 taking off from the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

References

Nilgiri-class frigates (1972) Frigates of the Indian Navy 1968 ships Frigates of the Cold War {{India-mil-stub