Navy hands over INS Khukri to Diu admn to be converted into museum
At a ceremony organised in Diu, senior officers of the Indian Navy formally handed over the possession of the INS Khukri to Praful Patel, Administrator of Union Territories of Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
3 min read
As part of developing and revitalising the Khukri Memorial, the Diu Administration had approached the Ministry of Defence in 2019 for gifting to it, for public display, a decommissioned naval vessel. (File)THE INDIAN Navy on Wednesday handed INS Khukri, the reincarnation of the warship of the same name which had played a key role in 1971 Indo-Pakistan war, to the Union Territory of Diu for public display and to be converted into a museum.
INS Khukri was the lead ship of the Indian Navy’s Khukri class corvettes and an indigenous surface-to-surface missile fitted vessel that had the distinction of being part of both, the Western and Eastern Fleets.
It was decommissioned last month after 32 years of service.
At a ceremony organised in Diu, senior officers of the Indian Navy formally handed over the possession of the INS Khukri to Praful Patel, Administrator of Union Territories of Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
“INS Khukri is of special importance to Diu and Diu has got a gift today in form of the Navy handing over a frigate of the same class. This is culmination of our honourable administrator’s efforts,” Saloni Rai, Collector of Diu said.
The collector said that the decommissioned vessel will be put on public display and will be an iconic monument.
Captained by Mahendra Nath Mulla, INS Khukri had played a key role in India’s victory in the 1971 war before it was lost after being hit by a Pakistani torpedo and sank off Diu coast on December 9, 1971.
As many as 194 Navy personnel, including Captain Mulla went down with the ship and attained martyred. However, the Indian Navy had Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders built a similar ship and the Indian Navy named it INS Khukri.
The new ship was commissioned on August 23, 1989 in Mumbai by Shri Krishna Chandra Pant, the then defence minister of India and Sudha Mulla, wife of late Capt Mahendra Nath Mulla.
After more than 32 glorious years of service to the nation and having participated in all forms of naval operations, the ship was decommissioned 23 December 2021 when the national flag, naval ensign and decommissioning pennant were lowered in the presence of Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command, a release from Press Information Bureau (PIB) said.
The Navy had then towed the second INS Khukri from Visakhapatnam to Diu and the decommissioned warship had arrived in Diu on January 14.
The valiant crew of the Khukri, including Captain Mulla, who was later on awarded Mahavir Chakra have been imortalised in the existing Khukri Memorial in Diu which features a scaled-down model of INS Khukri. The decommissioned naval ship will now be part of the memorial.
“As part of developing and revitalising the Khukri Memorial, the Diu Administration had approached the Ministry of Defence in 2019 for gifting to it, for public display, a decommissioned naval vessel. As it turned out, it was time for the second Khukri to be paid off,” the PIB release further said, adding ship is planned to be developed as a full-scale museum.
You May Like
