Thread by @mananbhattnavy

Let's remember and pay homage to the 194 Braves of #INSKhukri
In December 1971, India and Pakistan were at war. The war was fought on two fronts; on the western front in the Arabian Sea and on the eastern front in the Bay of Bengal.

A #Thread on #Khukri

On 9 December 1971, Khukri was sailing in the Arabian Sea off the Gujarat Coast in company with another warship INS Kirpan; also an antisubmarine warship. The two frigates were on antisubmarine duties. Pakistani submarines were suspected of having been deployed at Arabian sea.

A few days earlier, the submarine detection instruments on board INS Khukri had detected a submarine and fired a mortar against the underwater contact. This area of the Arabian Sea was somewhat halfway between Karachi and Mumbai.  Pakistan navy was mostly based in Karachi port.

On 09 Dec at about 8:45 pm, Khukri came under an attack from a submarine, (later identified as PNS Hangor) unknown to Khukri,was lurking underwater. In the span of a few minutes Hangor fired three torpedoes, one after another, targeting Khukri & scoring direct hits.

Khukri was fatally damaged and stood no chance of staying afloat and surviving. The first torpedo struck her astern. The second hit her in mid-ship below waterline & damaged ship’s main boiler, main engines, machineries & the compartments housing them.

The ship lost her propulsion and all electrical power instantaneously. The entire ship was plunged into pitch black darkness.
3.Unknown to the badly injured and incapacitated warship, she was to receive the third, final and fatal blow. It did not take long to arrive.

The third torpedo hit was on the front of the ship. The three successive blows had struck Khukri rapidly and ferociously within moments of each other. With the darkness that had engulfed all parts of the ship,Khukri’s ship’s company stood little chance to abandon ship.

The ship began to take in seawater immediately after the first hit. It was just after the evening meals. Most of her ship’s company was in their messes or at their duty stations,including the engine room, the boiler room and other machinery and equipment spaces on lower decks.

They didn't get a chance to reach the top decks. The events occurred too rapidly and also because the lower decks were plunged into total darkness, there wasn't any escape for the sailors & zero chance of survival.

Sea began to enter d ship immediately after the first torpedo hit. The torpedo had plunged deep into her & exploded, blowing a hole into her stern. Many were thrown out of the ship by the force of the explosion and then the seawater entering the ship, lifting them off their feet

and floating them and carrying them as it willed.The second and the third torpedoes followed in quick succession, hitting her and worsening the already bad situation. The ship lost her upright balance and she started to list. The men were bodily swept away n thrown by d seawater

entering the listing ship. The sea was entering the ship, filling her in, making her heavier n increasing with each passing moment her list n sink. Within minutes, the ship went down plunging to her watery grave stern first.

There were only a handful fortunate that night who got swept away from the ship. They survived to tell us the tale of their brothers and the mighty ship.

The Ship's CO Capt. MN Mulla went down with his ship, he was awarded the Mahavir Chakra(P).

Some of the survivors were able to climb aboard a life raft. They spent the night in the open sea and were rescued by INS Kirpan at dawn the next morning.

Jai Hind.

Here is the list of the fallen men of #INSKhukri

Memorial of Mehema Singh POME Indian Navy who laid down his life on board warship Khukri during 1971 Indo-Pak war on 9 Dec. He is survived by his wife and two sons.