The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Visakhapatnam News : Thousands witness rehearsal

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Wednesday, Dec 03, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

Thousands witness rehearsal

Staff Reporter

Marcos blast ‘enemy oil installation’ in a lightning attack

Skydiving from 6,000 feet one of the events on Navy Day, on December 4
Helicopter team ‘Sarang’ to enthral spectators

— Photo: K.R. Deepak

Top guns: Marine commandos slithering down the rope from a naval helicopter on a naval warship at Ramakrishna Beach during the full-dress rehearsals for Navy Day in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.

VISAKHAPATNAM: A large group of people gathered at the Ramakrishna Beach to witness the different facets of Indian Navy’s operational prowess as Eastern Naval Command (ENC) conducted the full-dress rehearsal for the Navy Day in a meticulous manner here on Tuesday.

Navy Day is observed on December 4 to commemorate a deadly attack on Karachi Harbour by the Indian Navy’s missile boats during Indo-Pak war in 1971.

Naval exercises

The rehearsal started with a series of naval exercises wherein various warships of the Indian Navy took part.

As part of the rehearsals, manoeuvres by destroyers, corvettes, fast attack craft and landing ships, beach assault by Marine Commandos, sky diving, close range anti-aircraft firing, band performance, formation anchoring and a host of exercises were demonstrated.

An ‘enemy oil installation’ was blasted by the Marine Commandos (Marcos) in a lightning attack raising a huge ball of fire in the Bay of Bengal. The Navy Band later rehearsed the ‘Beating the Retreat’. Visitors were thrilled to see the breathtaking feat of a helicopter carrying commandos hanging on to a rope.

Fly past

The Navy Day programme on December 4 will start from 4 p.m. The Operational Prowess Demonstration will include fly past by Chetak, Dornier and Russian-built Kamov 28 helicopters, fireworks and illumination.

In all 20 ships, 16 aircrafts and one submarine will participate in the exercises. Four ships will be illuminated and anchored along the beach.

The highlights of the programme will be a demonstration by the skydiving team of the Indian Navy. The six-member team will jump down from a height of 6,000 feet from a Dornier aircraft and freefall till 3,000 feet before deploying the parachute.

Two of the skydivers will fly the national and the naval flag while one skydiver will descend on the dais and present a coffee table book to the Governor of AP Narayan Dutt Tiwari who will be the chief guest on the occasion.

Aerial stunts

More surprises await the visitors in the form of a scintillating air show by Sarang – the helicopter display team of the Indian Air Force.

The Indian Air Force’s helicopter display team will, for the first time, participate in the Navy Day celebrations in Vizag.

The four-chopper team presented some awe-inspiring aerial stunts during the rehearsals on Tuesday by demonstrating a series of aerial formations.

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