AFOVA New Letter 2 of Year 2021

Section 7 – Panorama CV 2 No. 02 / 2021 Page 234 of 332 Navy will find difficult to live down for ever. That they even undertook the unimaginable act of de-ammunitioning their ships, to prevent catastrophic damage in the event of continued attacks from the Indian Navy, is a badge of eternal shame. The Indian Navy had ensured that Pakistan on the western front, was going to stay quiet. No wonder, the Pak Navy website is silent on these events to this day. Sunrise in the East India’s Eastern seaboard witnessed a different set of glorious events. First, was the stupendous achievements of the World War 2 vintage INS Vikrant. This 19000 Tonne Aircraft Carrier, launched in 1945 as HMS Hercules, laid up in suspended animation till bought by India in 1957 and commissioned in 1961, was destined to see action only 28 years after her keel was laid in 1943. This long wait was worth it. Right at the beginning of the war, as the Pakistan Navy was beginning to understand the catastrophe that had befallen them at Karachi, their ports in the East, viz., Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar, were destroyed by marauding Sea Hawks from Vikrant. This favour was also soon extended to other riverine ports and craft in water, virtually paralysing the only avenue the Pakistani armed forces had, for logistic support and in an emergency, escape. This time around, Alize aircraft from Vikrant too joined the Sea Hawks. Thereafter, Vikrant, her aircraft and other Indian Naval ships enforced a strict blockade off the coast that Pakistani forces had no option but to surrender to India in massive numbers. This was classical Aircraft Carrier action, albeit on a smaller scale when compared to the carrier battles of the Pacific. By the end of WW II, Aircraft Carriers had been catapulted to the top position for waging war at sea, pushing Battleships off their pedestal. Therefore the British had recommended Aircraft Carriers for the new born Indian Navy. It is a matter of eternal pride that despite the bewildering challenges India faced in rising up from where she had fallen to, and the associated budgetary pressures, that Aircraft Carriers stayed in our Naval plans and that we actually acquired one. This decision received its rewards on the Eastern seaboard. There is an epochal event that happened on the Eastern seaboard, which, for some reason, hasn’t received the recognition it deserves. That, was the virtual birth of the Indian Navy’s Special Operations branch, known today, as MARCOS. While sabotage, underwater demolition, covert action behind enemy lines for Intelligence gathering etc in some form or the other have been a part of armed conflicts since time immemorial, INS Vikrant