Submarine Day, Celebrating The Memory Of INS Kalvari

09 December 2020

The Indian Navy celebrated Submarine Day on Tuesday. It was on December 8 that the Indian Naval Ensign was unfurled on INS Kalvari, the first submarine to be inducted into the Indian Navy, at Riga in Latvia, the erstwhile USSR, in 1967. Kalvari is the Malayalam name for Tiger Shark, a predator in the Indian Ocean. The Kalvari was decommissioned in 1996 after 29 years of service.INS Kalvari was a diesel-electric submarine of the Foxtrot  Class from the erstwhile USSR. It was a 91.3-metre-long submarine, which carried a crew of 75. It had a surface speed of 16 knots while the submerged speed was 15 knots.

The new Kalvari

What Kind Of Submarine Was INS Kalvari?

INS Kalvari was a diesel-electric submarine of the Foxtrot Class from the erstwhile USSR. It was a 91.3-metre-long submarine, which carried a crew of 75. It had a surface speed of 16 knots while the submerged speed was 15 knots. It had a range of 32,000 km at a speed of 8 knots when on surface and a submerged range of 610 km at a speed of 10 knots. It could carry 22 torpedoes and 42 mines in lieu of torpedoes.
Commander KS Subramanian, the first Commanding Officer of INS Kalvari, brought the submarine from St Petersberg in Russia to Vishakhapatnam in India. After INS Kalvari, three more submarines — Karanj, Khanderi and Kursura — were commissioned in the Indian Navy along with submarine support vessel INS Amba. A submarine rescue ship, INS Nistar, was also commissioned in 1972.

What Kind Are The Present Kalvari Class Submarines In Indian Navy?

The Indian Navy is inducting several submarines in Kalvari Class, named after the very first submarine inducted into service. INS Kalvari, a diesel-electric submarine of Scorpene-class, was inducted into service in 2017 after having being built at the Mazagon dock in Mumbai. It has been designed by French company DCNS. INS Khanderi is the other submarine of Kalvari class currently in service. The other submarines slated to join service under this class are Vela, Karanj, Vaghir and Vaghsheer.

Courtesy: Opera News/IE