Thread by @mananbhattnavy

#UntoldStoryNavy by #MananBhatt of a fuelling operation gone wrong.
It was in the months of May-June 2005, #IndianNavy Ships Delhi, Trishul, Ganga and Fleet Tanker Aditya of the Western Fleet were on an Overseas Deployment (OSD) to the South Indian Ocean+

They had visited Moroni (Comoros) Durban, Cape Town (South Africa), Port Victoria (Seychelles), Port Louis (Mauritius), Reunion (France).The fleet had their last exercise with the South African Navy off Cape Town. While on the way back to our Home Port, Mumbai, INS Trishul+

, #IndianNavy ’s guided missile frigate was scheduled to take fuel from Aditya.That was a tough day for the fleet as the sea was very rough, having a Sea State of about 4-6. INS Aditya had suffered steering gear failure and ship’s MEs were steering the 24000 ton gigantic tanker+

manually from Aft Steering Post since the previous two days. Aditya’s steering gear troubles meant abeam fuelling was out of the question. Aditya, the fleet’s sailing petrol pump, in-spite of her handicap, did not have a choice to close or say no to give fuel. Therefore, Trishul+

- was advised to prepare for astern fuelling. Naval Ships sailing in the high seas top-up their fuel whilst underway at Sea from an Oil Tanker or another ship, without stopping. Known as #UNREP – Underway Replenishment or #RAS – Replenishment at Sea, is one of the most dangerous+

operations at sea. Ships can also receive ammunition & stores while ‘underway’. Sailors from across all the navies have gotten seriously injured, lost their limbs lives during #UNREP operations. In this #Thread, I will share with you memories of a few such #Operations.

The #UNREP began normally as Aditya threw a marker buoy into the sea & the receiving Ship, Trishul took station with it and pursued behind. Aditya trailed a big black fuel hose in the ocean water that was retrieved by Trishul. Immediately the Fuel hose was connected to the fuel+

coupling on Trishul’s Fox’le and the attached Spanwire was connected to a hook on the deck. There were quite a few sailors from Seaman and Engineering departments closed up on fox’le as Special Sea Duty Men for fuelling. As the sea was showing its elemental stormy side+

the span wire connected between the sender and receiver was experiencing an enormous push and pull,with Aditya and Trishul displacing 24,000 tons & 3600 tons, respectively. Trishul had just begun to receive fuel from Aditya when the span wire connected to both ships snapped from+

Trishul’s bulkhead, with a shearing sound breaking apart the base plate and throwing its fastening bolts in all the sides. The fuelling probe and receiver fell to the deck. Some of the personal on fox'le, were hit. One of them was the fuelling Petty Officer (ME). A loose flying+

bolt struck him like a bullet right in the middle of his forehead and remained lodged there. The bolt’s strike was so clean that not a single drop of blood came out of the injury. The victim fell on the deck and fainted on the spot. It was also said that the POME had sustained+

multiple fracture injuries on one of his leg as the breakaway rope also struck him. Trishul’s Kamov helicopter immediately took the Victim to Male/ Maldives. From there, a Naval Dornier airlifted him to Apollo Hospital, Chennai.

Aditya’s Steering Troubles:
Braving the rough seas and a failed steering in the middle of Indian Ocean, INS Aditya’s two mavericks Vidhu Mouvanal and Mech-III Pandurang Ashok Lad used a deck crane’s hose to make a reducer adaptor on the lathe machine in the ship’s engineering+

workshop. They then replaced the steering gear’s leaked high-pressure hose with their Jugaad hose to make the tanker’s steering gear operational again. Aditya had to reduce her speed a bit for the rest of her voyage, but they reached Mumbai safely.

After a few months, Chief Vidhu, the narrator of this story, met the victim POME at INS Angre, Mumbai. He seemed ok, in walking condition.

Story Brief: Petty Officer Mouvanal Vidhu
#RAS - #UNREP Accidents #UntoldStoriesNavy by #MananBhatt
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Sir, the command of the @indiannavy has always stood up for the men in distress.
CHME Dubey's story is a living example of the Sailors' Navy that we are.
Salute sir for standing up for the Sailor that day. And, I already feel emotional. 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳

Abeam (alongside) Replenishment is possible up to speed 16 knots. 7 to 8 knots is the max for Astern Fuelling.

For a Navy to remain Mission capable 24x7, its fleet units must be capable of remaining at sea for prolonged periods of time #UNREP ensures that

I will use some dramatic lines to elaborate the msg from Trishul's Command:
"We've never lost a man onboard this ship. We're sure as hell not gonna lose one on my watch! Failure is not an option!"
#IndianNavy

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