War-time scenes come alive

Naval might on display at the ‘Day at sea’ organised by the ENC. In all, 1,400 schoolchildren seated on the decks of the four ships and 70 mediapersons were toasted to the naval might of the country.

Schoolchildren on board INS Jalashwa enjoying the 'Day at sea' organised by the Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday. - Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam

The Eastern Naval Command organised a ‘Day at sea’ for mediapersons and schoolchildren as part of its upcoming Navy Day celebrations, here on Tuesday.

Flag ship INS Jalashwa, India’s largest landing dock platform (LDP), was accompanied by INS Shakti, a Deepak-class fleet tanker, INS Shivalik, a multi-role stealth frigate, and INS Vibhuti, a Veer-class corvette.

In all, 1,400 schoolchildren seated on the decks of the four ships and 70 mediapersons were toasted to the naval might of the country.

The naval personnel gave a number of breathtaking on-sea operational demos, simulating real-life war-time scenario.

The demos included simulated attack by a fast interceptor craft, search-and-rescue operation by a Chetak helicopter, simulated missile launch, dunk demonstration (sonar dropping) by a Kamov helicopter, jack stay, and firing of small arms.

But what made the children scream and jump in joy was the low-level flypast by two Hawk fighter jets.

Unable to control his excitement, Nilesh, a school student, said, “I have never seen a fighter plane flypast at such a close range. I could even see the pilot inside the cockpit. But unfortunately, it flew past very fast and I was not able to take a picture.”

Another student from Sainik School, Purulia, found the jack stay and firing of small arms an exciting fare.

INS Jalashwa was headed by Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet Rear Admiral A.B. Singh.

Admiral Singh said that the ‘Day at sea’ was a precursor to the International Fleet Review, which was scheduled to be organised in February 2016.

“It is an important event for the country, as navies from all over the world have been invited to participate, and fortunately it will be held in Visakhapatnam,” he said.

Admiral Singh informed the media that the ships would be open for schoolchildren on Wednesday and Thursday and to the general public on November 22 and 23.

The main rehearsal for the operation demo will be held on December 2 and the final demo will be on December 4 at RK Beach.

On what will be the special attractions at the operation demo this year, Admiral Singh said, “As of now, the Indian Navy’s aerobatic flying team Sagar Pawan is scheduled to give a scintillating display of aerobatic flying.”