History

Navy Day India: Operation Trident and the 1971 Karachi Raid

India celebrates Navy Day on 4 December to mark Operation Trident, the night of 4-5 December 1971 when Indian missile boats Nirghat, Nipat and Veer sank PNS Kh…

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THE WAR

War reaches the sea

Pakistan's air strikes on Indian airfields, including Okha, on the evening of 3 December widened the 1971 war. The Navy planned to hit Karachi the next night.

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THE PLAN

Small boats, long reach

Missile boats Nirghat, Nipat and Veer, escorted by corvettes Kiltan and Katchall with tanker Poshak, led by Cdr Babru Bhan Yadav.

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TRIDENT

First missile hits Khaibar

INS Nirghat fired two missiles at the destroyer PNS Khaibar. She sank about 45 minutes later, south-southwest of Karachi.

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TRIDENT

Three ships down, oil ablaze

Veer sank minesweeper PNS Muhafiz. Nipat sank Venus Challenger, wrecked PNS Shah Jahan and hit Keamari oil tanks at midnight.

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PYTHON

Karachi hit again

INS Vinash, escorted by Talwar and Trishul, hit the oil farm again, sank Gulf Star and Harmattan and wrecked tanker PNS Dacca.

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THE LOSS

INS Khukri goes down

Yes. Submarine PNS Hangor torpedoed INS Khukri off Diu. 194 died, including Captain M.N. Mulla, awarded the Maha Vir Chakra.

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THE KILLERS

A Standard for the squadron

President Kovind gave the President's Standard to the 22nd Missile Vessel Squadron, heir to the 1971 'Killers'.

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NAVY DAY

From Delhi to the coast

With public demonstrations on the coast: Visakhapatnam 2022, Sindhudurg 2023, Puri 2024, Thiruvananthapuram 2025.

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NOW

Navy Day turns 55

An 85-ship fleet review in February, a new Navy chief, Admiral Krishna Swaminathan, in May, and the 55th Navy Day on 4 December.

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