INS Mumbai is a `mini city’ with Causeway, Chor Bazaar & Chuna Bhatti

Interestingly, the latest INS Mumbai not only takes on the new name of the metropolis, she also captures the very spice and spirit of Mumbai. For example, the ship’s bridge where one gazes into the horizon is fondly called `Malabar Hill’ after the famous viewpoint in the city; while her forward part is named `Causeway’ as the sailors can take a casual stroll here on this 6700 tonne warship.

There’s more, the deadly surface-to-surface missiles (SSMs) are nicknamed `Talk of the Town’ for obvious reasons while the `hot’ engine room of the ship is called `Chuna Bhatti’! The Captain’s Cabin is `Varsha’,( the official residence of the state’s chief minister) and the skipper spends most of the time in `Mantralaya’ (operations room).

“INS Mumbai was indigenously built at the Mazagon Docks in the city, and she is naturally Mumbai’s pride; so my boys decided to creatively nickname various parts of the warship after some of the famous places in the city,” said the Commanding Officer of INS Mumbai, Captain Sanjeev Bhasin, while talking to the press after the commissioning. The ship is built at the cost of Rs 900 crore, and has a maximum speed of 32 knots.

Along with INS Mumbai, a Kora class guided missile corvette, INS Kirch, was also commissioned today.

The nicknames for various zones in INS Mumbai were mostly compiled by the marine engineering officer of the ship, Commander Ramesh Babu, who jokingly confesses to have a `congenital defect’ — his name compels him to write! “Don’t go by these cute nicknames like `Talk of the Town’, `Dhobi Talao’ (laundry/ dry cleaning room) or `Chuna Bhatti’, our warship is a deadly destroyer with hi-tech surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, air launched torpedoes, medium range gun, and also Seaking Helicopters,” said Commander Babu, who is the life of the Wardroom (probably renamed `Hanging (around) Garden’!).

While one end of the ship is called `Gateway’, the opposite end of 163 metre-long warship is called `Virar’ (the suburb at the very end of the city)and the `Sahar Airport’ is also stationed here, at the quarter deck for the take offs and landings of the Seaking Helicopters.

In a nutshell, INS Mumbai covers every patch from South Mumbai to Virar — which also includes a `Chor Bazaar’ (engineering spare parts store), `Breach Candy’ for the sick bay after the hospital where Prime Minister Vajpayee underwent surgery and `Lamington Road’ where one will find all the electronic goods from radars to sonars and everything in between.

But the Commanding Officer of INS Kirch has not really nicknamed his ship as `Mirch’ (chilli), though Commander A K Mahadevan does inform that this 1500 tonne corvette can pack in a `red hot chilli’ punch with SSMs and guns, shoulder launched missiles, and state of the art sensors and electronic warfare suit. `Kirch’ actually means a long slender sword, designed like a rapier.

For the commissioning of the two warships today, the Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Dy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, Director (ship building) Commodore H S Kang, and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of western naval command, Vice Admiral Madhvendra Singh, were also present.