INS Vajrabahu is an

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 ...

submarine base A submarine base is a military base that shelters submarines and their personnel. Examples of present-day submarine bases include HMNB Clyde, Île Longue (the base for France's Force océanique stratégique), Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, N ...

of the

Western Naval Command The Western Naval Command is one of the three command–level formations of the Indian Navy. It is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. As the senior–most of the three formations, the command is responsible for the all naval forces in the A ...

located near

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 ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. It was commissioned on 1 February 1996.

History

After the Indian Navy acquired the Vela class submarines in 1973 from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, the submarine base operated from temporary facilities in Mumbai. The base hosted the office of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Submarines (SM), 9th submarine squadron (who was initially the ''ex-officio'' Commanding Officer of the submarine depot ship, INS Amba. The facilities for the submarine base continued to expand over time. A submarine base complex (SMBC) was commissioned on 22 August 1987 as A-14 building by the then Chief of the Naval Staff

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 ...

R. H. Tahiliani in Mumbai for the submarine fleet of the Western Naval Command. This operations base was expanded to include submarine support facilities and commissioned as INS Vajrabahu on 1 February 1996 by

Vijai Singh Shekhawat. In the ensuing years, a Submarine Motion Control Simulator, Attack Simulator and a water tower building were added to the base.

Objective

The base operates and maintains a sizable part of the Submarine Arm of the Indian Navy by providing material and logistic support to the Sindhughosh-class and Shishumar-class submarines based in Mumbai. The 12th submarine squadron, composed of Sindhughosh-class, was established in March 1990 and the 10th submarine squadron, composed of four Shishumar-class, was established in February 1992. It also has a non-dieted sick bay and handles preparation and maintenance of individual escape suits for submarine personnel. INS Vajrabahu is the seat of the Commodore Commanding Submarines (West) (COMCOS (W)). The COMCOS is also the

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of the base.

References

{{coord, 18, 55, 34.428, N, 72, 50, 11.5434, E, scale:10000_region:IN, display=title Vajrabahu

History

Objective

See also

References