AFVOA Newsletter 03 of 2020

Section 5 - Memoirs CV 2 No. 03 / 2020 Page 149 of 167 instructed all the ships to follow the correct procedure of ‘Ship’s Numbers& Baby’ call signs hence forth. On 9 th Feb, Yuri Andropov, the President of USSR died and a 7 days state mourning was declared. Except for a few unavoidable functions most of them were cancelled or were at low key. All the ships flew the flags at half-mast. However, the scheduled rehearsals were carried out to iron out deficiencies. A full dress rehearsal too was carried out. This included Dressing of ships, illumination after sunset, firework display etc. The anchoring positions assigned to the ships were marked by a white coloured pellet. The first day at anchorage, around 1900hours my XO informed me “Sir the anchor is dragging”. (The anchor is said to be dragging when it is not properly held in the sea bed). The ship swung into action and all efforts to remain in position without weighing anchor proved futile. I had to perforce weigh anchor and re- anchor. The remaining days too around the same time the anchor dragged. So every evening like a harbor cruise I used to get underway and re-anchor. During these days the ships anchored astern of me in the Review Line got used to my evening outings. All these were done on the quiet. Later I learnt that the anchor berth allotted to me was a bad holding ground. On the morning of 12 th of Feb in-spite of foggy weather the Review got underway and went like a clock work. Not only was the Navy honouring the President of India, it was also show casing its armada of ships to the Nation and the world. It must have been a grand spectacle for anyone watching Bombay Harbour for those 4 to 5 days from Gateway of India to Sasoon Dock and beyond.