INS Sindhurakshak. An obituary

INS Sindhurakshak. An obituary from her first CO

S-63 24^th Dec 1997-14^th Aug 2013.

It is my unfortunate destiny to write this obituary under such tragic circumstances. S-63 has turned the submariners greeting of ‘One Surfacing more than the number of Dives’ on its head and plunged to the depths on 14^th Aug 2013. She took with her them, who loved her and whom she loved in return. They die young whom the Gods love is I suppose not a cliché- Sindhurakshak was a chosen one.

She was a chosen one, for she stood vigil when the country needed her most off the enemy shores, in 1999, a reassuring sentinel in the deep. I remember casting her off with my hand written patrol orders in the dead of night, with a silent prayer on my lips, and how well she performed. Quiet, stealthy and led by a fine Commanding Officer and dedicated crew she accomplished what no one had done-a deterrent to the enemy in the true sense of the word for months on end.

For 15 years she carried the hopes, aspirations and dreams of the many Officers and men who sailed her, and I am sure she helped them achieve their objectives as she did mine. I am sure all those who sailed her had their moments of despair and agony and in equal measure triumph and ecstasy as I had mine. In all this, I am sure all of us would vouch she never short changed the men who sailed her. The equation was simple –you took care of her and she took care of you; and yet this unfortunate one first and last time that equation seems to have gone so horribly wrong and that for me, as it must be for all submariners so hard to digest.

As the dawn broke yesterday, I got a call from my Navigating Officer- it just seemed like those good old days onboard when he would give the ‘shake up’ with the status. Only this time it would indeed be the last time as he told me to turn on the TV to hear the sad news. Tragedy, as they say, brings people together and this was no different as my erstwhile crew and I kept calling each other offering solace.  When I called my Engineer Officer he said Sir, “I am where you will expect me to be”. Rakshak in her own inimitable way had entwined all our lives within her pressure hull, as we connected with each other. "Sab chale gaye Sir," said my Engineer Officer standing on South Breakwater, and as she rests in the bottom a piece of me will always be there, meshed within her mangled steel.

As I pause to remember my time onboard, I re-live the vivid memory of that cold wintry morning on 24^th Dec 1997, at the Admiralty Shipyard, with   Sindhurakshak enveloped by the frozen ice floes of the River Neva, getting ready to get commissioned into the Indian Navy. As the Naval Ensign went up for the first time and the Russian Band played ‘Jana Gana Mana..’ I cherish the sense of pride and patriotism that welled up as I saluted.  I thank her for giving me that one overwhelming moment.  I feel sad I will not be able to see the Naval Ensign hauled down for the last time in the customary way. Perhaps that is what Rakshak was meant to be- Always on Patrol.

I offer my prayers to all those brave souls who lost their lives in the line of duty. May their souls rest in peace.

To  S 63 My Final Salute.

Capt Ramanujam, NM (Retd); 15^th Aug 2013

Commanding Officer Sindhurakshak 24^th Dec 1997-Dec 1998

When President Kalam fired a torpedo from the INS Sindhurakshak

When President Kalam launched a torpedo attack from the Sindhurakshak.

by Sandeep Unnithan

In 2006, President APJ Abdul Kalam became India's first  head of state and supreme commander of the armed forces to sail in a submarine. The vessel chosen for his February 13 sojourn, the INS Sindhurakshak, now lies stricken on the floor of the naval dockyard Mumbai after a tragic accident this Wednesday that claimed the lives of 18 crew.

These pictures now serve as a reminder of happier times when the People’s President spent four brief but eventful hours with the submarine and its crew.

It was a clear day at the naval dockyard in Vizag on February 13, a day after he had inspected the naval fleet off Visakhapatnam. President Kalam, then 74, dressed in blue coveralls, effortlessly climbed down the cramped 15-foot ladder into the Sindhurakshak’s steel innards. He belied concerns that he might call off the sortie after a right shoulder fracture he sustained a fortnight before.

Inside the Sindhurakshak, Kalam’s scientific temper prevailed over hunger. Displaying what one crewmember called a `phenomenal interest’, Kalam bubbled with questions about the black steel shark bought from Russia in 1997 including living conditions of its 52-man crew but only nibbled at the lavish South Indian vegetarian spread-- tamarind rice, curd rice, sambar, avial and stuffed bhindi-- laid out by her two cooks.

Kalam sat on Commander P S Bisht’s chair in the operations room and watched the submarine dive to 50 metres. He then ‘attacked’ the destroyer INS Rajput, some five nautical miles into the Bay of Bengal using a `water shot’, or a simulated torpedo. 

Two ministers of state for defence, Mr Pallam Raju and Mr Rao Inderjit Singh, the Naval Chief Admiral Arun Prakash, Vice-Admiral Sureesh Mehta, commanding-in-chief, Eastern Naval Command, accompanied the President.

After the undersea sojourn, Kalam asked the Navy to begin development of an indigenous “strategic” submarine. “Independent of whatever foreign collaboration, it is essential for the Indian Navy to launch the design, development of two types of submarines, one conventional, and the other strategic with long endurance capability,” Kalam said in the statement released to the press. “The experience during my stay on board has reinforced my perception of our submarine arm, as a professionally skilled and mentally robust fighting force,” he said.

Ministers of state for defence M Pallam Raju (L) and Rao Inderjit Singh arrive, suitably dressed.

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president Kalam with five former retired navy chiefs, then navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash and eastern naval commander Admiral Sureesh Mehta and senior and retired naval brass.

Kalam waves goodbye.

 last minute checks on the gangway. MoS’ Defence Singh and Raju can be seen on the Sindhurakshak’s sail, near the naval ensign

tugs stand by to pull the submarine out of its mooring.

gantry crane to remove the gangway.

The Sindhurakshak's crest with those of the CNS and C-in-C East.

Kalam waves as the Sindhurakshak casts off.

the crew of the Sindhurakshak watch the submarine cast away.

Cdr PS Bisht shows the President around the submarine.

An ecstatic Kalam steers the Sindhurakshak as Cdr Bisht shows him how. 

The Kashin class destroyer INS Rajput that was the target of a watershot torpedo attack launched by the President.