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INS Viraat, Indian Navy's Grand Old Lady, To Retire After 30
YearS
Source:
India Today |
25 April 2017
The ship, famously known as the 'Grand Old Lady', was with the
British Royal Navy since 1959 before the Indian government bought it
for Rs 6.5 crore in 1987.
INS Viraat, Indian
Navy's flagship aircraft carrier, will retire from service today.
The aircraft carrier which holds the Guinness Record for the oldest
carrier in service was inducted into the Indian Navy on May 12,
1987.
The ship, famously
known as the 'Grand Old Lady', was with the British Royal Navy since
1959 before the Indian government bought it for Rs 6.5 crore in
1987.
ABOUT INS VIRAAT:
-
It was known
as HMS Hermes before being rechristened as INS Viraat. The motto
of INS Viraat was 'Jalamev Yasya, Balmev Tasya' (meaning - One
Who Controls the Sea is All Powerful), which was first adopted
by the great warrior king, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the
17th century as the guiding principle of his naval-military
strategy.
-
It housed
the fighters 'White Tigers' - the Sea Harriers of INAS 300,
which were decomissioned in Goa in May 2016, anti-submarine
aircraft Sea King MK42B, Sea King MK42C or Harpoons, SAR
helicopter Chetan, besides ALH Dhruv and Russian twin rotor
Kamov-31.
-
INS Viraat
played a major role in the Operation Jupiter in 1989 in Sri
Lankan Peace Keeping operations, Operation Parakram in 2001-2002
when India and Pakistan were in a stand-off post-terror strikes
on Indian Parliament, among others.
-
With a full
load displacement of 28,700 tonnes, the 226.5 metres long and
48.78 metres wide ship was manned by 150 officers and 1,500
sailors.
-
While the
final fate of the warship is yet to be decided, the Andhra
Pradesh government had announced that it will turn the warship
into a museum.
-
As per the
earlier reports, talks were underway with the Andhra Pradesh
government to convert INS Viraat, into a luxury hotel-cum-museum
after its decommissioning. The carrier is expected to berth on
the coast of Visakhapatnam by mid-2017.
-
At present,
INS Vikramaditya is the only serving aircraft carrier of the
Indian Navy and the second one, named Vikrant, is under
construction at Cochin Shipyard Ltd.
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