India’s first indigenous missile corvette decommissioned

INS Khukri, the Indian Navy’s first indigenously built missile corvette, was decommissioned after 32 years of service on 23 December 2021. 

As informed, the ship’s decommissioning ceremony was held at Visakhapatnam wherein the national flag, naval ensign, and the decommissioning pennant were lowered in the presence of Vice-Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta.

The corvette was built by the Mazagaon Dock Shipbuilders on 23 August 1989 and had the distinction of being part of both the Western and Eastern Fleets. The ship was commissioned in Mumbai by Shri Krishna Chandra Pant, with Commander (now Vice Admiral Retired) Sanjeev Bhasin as its first Commanding Officer.

During its service, the ship was commanded by 28 commanding officers and traversed a distance of over 6,44,897 nautical miles, which is equivalent to navigating around the world 30 times or 3 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon, according to the navy.

The ship was affiliated with the Gorkha Brigade of the Indian Army and Lt General PN Ananthanarayan, SM, President Gorkha Brigade, attended the ceremony.

The Khukri-class corvette is a class of corvettes intended to replace the ageing Petya II-class corvettes of the Indian Navy. The first two were ordered in December 1983 and the remaining in 1985.

To remind, the Indian Navy has recently commissioned two new vessels,  the first Project 15B guided-missile destroyer Visakhapatnam and the fourth submarine of Project-75, Kalvari-class submarine INS Vela.