Article Posted on : - Dec 27, 2021

Missile corvette INS Khukri being decommissioned. Photo: Indian Navy

NEW DELHI (PTI): Indian Navy Ship (INS) Khukri, the first of the indigenously-built missile corvettes, has been decommissioned after 32 years of service, the Defence Ministry said.

A solemn ceremony was held at Visakhapatnam on December 23 wherein the national flag, naval ensign, and the decommissioning pennant were lowered at sunset, the Ministry's statement mentioned.

Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Naval Command, and some serving and retired commanding officers of the ship were also present at the ceremony, it noted.

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

The corvette was built by the Mazagaon Dock Shipbuilders on August 23, 1989, and had the distinction of being part of both the western and eastern fleets, it noted.

During her service, the ship was commanded by 28 officers and traversed a distance of over 6,44,897 nautical miles, which is equivalent to navigating around the world 30 times or three times the distance between the earth and the moon, the statement said.