The RK beach of Visakhapatnam is home to a unique monument dedicated to the city by the Naval fraternity, The Kursura Submarine Museum.
The ex-Soviet ‘FOXTROT’ class submarine served the nation for a span of 31 years from 18 December 1969 to 28 February 2001 and was part of the 1971 operations. After having been laid off she was converted into a Museum and dedicated to the Nation and has since become one of the major tourist attractions of the city.
The vision of converting the submarine into a museum was driven by the then Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command Vice Admiral Vinod Pasricha (Retd). Today the same Blueprint is being used by the Tamil Nadu government to convert Vela into a museum at Chennai.
Vice Admiral Vinod Pasricha (Retd) had been felicitated by the World Ship Trust (WST), a UK registered charity that encourages restoration and preservation of historic ships around the world. He was awarded the ‘INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD’ for his role and leadership in establishing a Naval Heritage Museum, the only one of its kind in the country, onboard the decommissioned ‘KURSURA’.
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Press Release, September 12, 2014; Image: Indian Navy