INS Khukri decommissioned after 32 years of service
INS Khukri, the first of the indigenously built Missile Corvettes, was decommissioned after 32 years of glorious service to the nation on Thursday.
image for illustrative purpose
Visakhapatnam: INS Khukri, the first of the indigenously built Missile Corvettes, was decommissioned after 32 years of glorious service to the nation on Thursday.
The solemn ceremony was held in Visakhapatnam wherein the national flag, naval ensign and the decommissioning pennant were lowered at sunset in the presence of Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command.
The Vice Admiral was the chief guest for the ceremony. A few serving and retired former commanding officers of the ship were also present.
The corvette was built by the Mazagaon Dock Shipbuilders on August 23,1989 and had the distinction of being part of both the Western and Eastern Fleets.
The ship was commissioned in Mumbai by Krishna Chandra Pant, the then Defence Minister and Sudha Mulla, wife of late Capt. Mahendra Nath Mulla, MVC with Commander (now Vice Admiral retired) Sanjeev Bhasin as her first Commanding Officer.
During her service, the ship was commanded by 28 Commanding Officers and traversed a distance of over 6,44,897 nautical miles, which is equivalent to navigating around the world 30 times or 3 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon.
According press release, the ship was affiliated with the Gorkha Brigade of the Indian Army and Lt. General PN Ananthanarayan, President Gorkha Brigade, attended the solemn ceremony.
