Eastern Naval Command (ENC) paid homage to service personnel, who had made the supreme sacrifice in the 1971 War. Vice Admiral Rajesh Pendharkar, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, ENC, placed a floral wreath, as part of Navy Day 2023, at the ‘Victory at Sea’ War Memorial on the Beach Road here on Monday.
District Collector A. Mallikarjuna, Police Commissioner A. Ravi Shankar, GVMC Commissioner C.M. Saikanth Varma, and Rear Admiral (retd) T. Sudhakar, vice president of Navy Foundation, Vizag chapter, also placed wreaths and paid homage to the service personnel, who had made the supreme sacrifice.
All the personnel of ENC rededicated themselves to the service of the country, and to protect the vast maritime boundaries and assets of the Eastern Seaboard.’
The first iteration of the Navy Day (then Royal Indian Navy) was celebrated on October 21, 1944 to commemorate the Battle of Trafalgar. Since then, Navy Day has been celebrated on different dates, attributing the celebrations to different reasons. It was during the Senior Naval Officers conference in May 1972, that the Navy Day had crystallised in its present avatar. Since then, it is being celebrated to commemorate the successful naval action in the Arabia Sea and the Bay of Bengal during the India-Pakistan War in 1971.
The Navy Week is being observed from December 1 to 7 every year, while Dec 4 is earmarked as Navy Day. Visakhapatnam holds significant importance for the Indian Navy in view of its strategic geographic location on the east coast of India, which allows for optimum response to potential threats in the Bay of Bengal. The city also played a significant role in the 1971 war, wherein the Naval Base in Visakhapatnam facilitated naval operations in the Bay of Bengal.
The Indian Navy’s then newly formed Eastern Fleet, based in Visakhapatnam, enforced a naval blockade against Pakistan. Sea Hawks flying off the deck of INS Vikrant, wreaked havoc on the key ports of East Pakistan, thereby significantly weakening the ability of West Pakistan to maintain control. Visakhapatnam Harbour was also the sites of the infamous sinking of Pakistan Navy’s most potent submarine PNS Ghazi, on the intervening night of December 3 and 4, 1971.
The Navy Day Ops-Demo is scheduled for the citizens at RK Beach on December 10, while the full dress rehearsal will be held on December 8 from 4 p.m.
