Mumbai: The Indian Navy would like to see the INS Viraat , the world’s longest serving warship, as a marine museum or a diving site, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba said at the Naval Dockyard this evening. Admiral Lanba was speaking to reporters after the decommissioning of the Indian Navy’s flagship.
As the sun set over the Arabian sea, the aircraft carrier was decommissioned amid cries of ‘ Nausena ka samraat, Viraat, Viraat, Viraat ’. In the distance, the Naval band played a slow version of ‘ Saare jahan se achcha ’ as the INAS 321 and the INAS 330 helicopters flew overhead in a final tribute. Soon after the Naval Ensign and Commissioning Pennant were lowered one last time, the Commanding Officer presented a final report to the Chief of Naval Staff.
“Our hearts are filled with mixed emotions of sorrow and accomplishment,” Admiral Lanba said at the ceremony, “Sorrow, because it is the end of an epic journey of a remarkable ship in a fine navy of the world.” Among the accomplishments, he listed the fact that all Commanding Officers of “the flag bearer of the Indian Navy for three decades” rose to being five Chiefs of Naval Staff and 16 Commanders in Chief. The ship also produced 17 Fleet Commanders, 19 Vice Admirals, 22 Rear Admirals and 46 Flag Officers, including those of the Royal Navy. INS Viraat served in the British Navy as the HMS Hermes from November 1959 to April 1984.
INS Viraat , he said, played a major role in the Sri Lankan Peace Keeping operation, named ‘Operation Jupiter’, in 1989 after which she was affiliated with the Garhwal Rifles and Scouts of the Indian Army in 1990. Another major participation was in Operation Parakram in 2001-2002, where India and Pakistan were engaged in a standoff after the Parliament terror attack. The aircraft carrier had won the Falklands War against Argentina in 1982 for the Royal British Navy.
The Defence Ministry wrote to all coastal States for suggestions on converting INS Viraat into a museum, but only Andhra Pradesh sent in a reply, said Admiral Lanba. On whether Bajaj Auto had come forward with a proposal [the company had used decommissioned aircraft carrier INS Vikrant ’s parts for its limited edition two-wheeler], Admiral Lanba said he had not heard of any such proposal.
Commanding Officer Captain Puneet Chadha said in his culmination speech that the ship had spent 2,238 days at sea, with various aircraft clocking more than 22,622 flying hours in the past three decades. The motto of INS Viraat , ‘ Jalamev Yasya, Balamev Tasya ’ (One who controls the sea is all-powerful), reflects the role she discharged in furthering the nation’s maritime goals, he said. The decommissioning ceremony was attended by personnel who have served on the INS Viraat , and included some of the officers and men from the United Kingdom. For most of them, it was an evening filled with nostalgia and memories on board the vessel during the Falklands War. Andy Trish, who served as a Naval Airman on the ship during that war, joined as a 17-year-old but boarded it at 18. He celebrated his 19th birthday at the Falkland Islands.
As the evening came to a close, a Naval Airman who served on the ship from 1981 to 1982 was overheard telling his colleague, “I’m a grown man now, and I shouldn’t perhaps be saying this, but I had tears in my eyes when they played the Last Post.” His colleague recalled his days on the ship. “We were all very young then.” Among the 22,000 men commissioned on the ship, only 20 had made it from the UK, he said. “My best memory is that it brought me back home to my parents from the war, safe!”
