AFVOA Newletter August 2020

Section 5 - Memoirs CV 2 No. 02 / 2020 Page 74 of 237 the time then for the ship to pack up and set sail. Our ship was to pay a goodwill visit to Swetenham, a Malaysian port on its west coast adjoining the Andaman Sea. We left Mumbai in the beginning of August, and circling around Sri Lanka we went to Port Blair. From there sailed southeast. It was probably around 9 pm on 28th August when we raised the lights of Port Swetenham. After 55 years, I do not vouch for the accuracy of the date. One hour later, we would get closer to the port and cast anchor for the night. Early in the morning, the pilot would arrive and board our ship to take her safely to her berth. And then like a flash of lightning, our goodwill visit vanished from the sky! A communication sailor rushed to the bridge and handed over a signal from NHQ to the Captain. It was unclassified and was read aloud by the Captain. It simply said, “We are at war with Pakistan.” There was stunned silence all around the bridge. As the Captain was ready to talk to his officers, a second signalman rushed with another signal which canceled the previous one. So, we were not at war with Pakistan. Apparently, someone in NHQ was a little more exuberant to issue the first signal notifying war. For the government then, in international diplomacy political correctness was of paramount importance. That probably was the reason for the subsequent hasty retreat fromwar. We never came to knowwhich naval officer paid for that political blunder! A few minutes later, a classified signal was received by the ship. Our goodwill visit was canceled. We were ordered to sail back and carry out patrolling near Nicobar Islands. We had a host of problems. As we were scheduled to enter the harbor the next morning, we had emptied our stock of fresh provisions and fresh water. Fresh provisions and water are always delivered to the ship on arrival at the port of call. To reach the patrolling area would take another four days and the patrolling might last for ten or fifteen days. How could the men go hungry and thirsty for twenty days? The Captain took a bold step. Since it was widely known that our ship was in the vicinity of Swetenham, there was no loss of secrecy by breaking the radio silence. He signaled to NHQ for permission to proceed to Port Blair first to take fresh provisions and fresh water. Permission was granted immediately. The ship turned towards Port Blair. It was estimated that we would take four and a half days to reach Port Blair. The ship makes some fresh water from sea water. But that is required for boilers to make steam. All that the ship had in its store was wheat flour, some rice, tinned potato, canned kidney beans, and tinned fish. That is what we got for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next four days. What about water? That was one commodity that was strictly