INS Sindhukirti (S61)

Last updated

Ae dq ins S62 1.jpg
A Sindhughosh-class submarine underway
History
Naval Ensign of India.svgIndia
NameINS Sindhukirti
Builder Admiralty Shipyard and Sevmash
Launched26 August 1989
Commissioned9 December 1989 [1]
Recommissioned23 May 2015
RefitJune 2006 – May 2015
Statusin active service [2]
Badge INS Sindhukirti (S61) crest.JPG
General characteristics
Class and type Sindhughosh-class submarine
Displacement
  • 2,300 t (2,500 short tons) surfaced
  • 3,100 t (3,400 short tons) dived
Length72.6 m (238 ft)
Beam9.9 m (32 ft)
Draught6.6 m (22 ft)
Propulsion
  • 2 × 3,650 hp (2,720 kW) diesel-electric motors
  • 1 × 5,900 hp (4,400 kW) motor
  • 2 × 204 hp (152 kW) auxiliary motors
  • 1 × 130 hp (97 kW) economic speed motor
Speed
  • Surfaced; 11 knots (20 km/h) [3]
  • Submerged; 19 knots (35 km/h) [3]
Range
  • Snorting: 6,000 mi (9,700 km) at 7 kn (13 km/h)
  • Submerged: 400 miles (640 km) at 3 knots (5.6 km/h)
EnduranceUp to 45 days
Test depth
  • Operational Depth; 240 m (790 ft)
  • Maximum Depth; 300 m (980 ft)
Complement68 (incl. 7 Officers)
Armament
Notesunderwent refit from June 2006 – May 2015 at Hindustan Shipyard

INS Sindhukirti (S61) (Glory of the Sea) [4] is the seventh Sindhughosh-class diesel-electric submarine of the Indian Navy. She was built at the Admiralty Shipyard and Sevmash in the Soviet Union.

Contents

Sindukirti was commissioned on 9 December 1989 in the Soviet Union, with Cdr. Ramdas signing her commissioning orders. She underwent a protracted "medium refit" from June 2006 until May 2015 at the Hindustan Shipyard at Visakhapatnam. The midlife upgrade was projected to be completed in 3 years but numerous delays postponed the submarine's return. [5] Having spent one third of her life in refit, she finally returned to service on 23 May 2015. [6]

Description

Sindhukiriti has a length of 72.6 m (238 ft) overall, a beam of 9.9 m (32 ft) and a draft of 6.5 m (21 ft). She displaces 2,300 t (2,264 long tons) surfaced, 3,100 t (3,051 long tons) submerged and has a maximum diving depth of 300 m (980 ft). The complement is about 68, including 7 officers and 61 sailors. [7] [8]

The submarine has a shaft with one seven-blade propeller. It is powered by two diesel generators, each of which produce 1,000 kW (1,300 hp). It also has an electric motor with 5,500–6,800 hp (4,100–5,100 kW) of power. She can achieve a maximum speed of 10–12 knots (19–22 km/h) when on surface and 17–25 knots (31–46 km/h) when submerged. [7]

Operational service and refit

INS Sindhukirti was commissioned on 9 December 1989, by Cdr. Kannan Ramdas. She is the seventh of the ten Sindhughosh-class submarines. [7]

Midlife Medium refit

Sindhukirti was docked at Hindustan Shipyard in June 2006 for a midlife refit which included installation of USHUS sonar and the Klub-S cruise missiles and other hull works. It was originally planned to send her to Russia for the upgrade, like her sister ships Sindhughosh, Sindhuvir, Sindhuratna, and Sindhuvijay. However, it was decided that Sindhukirti would be upgraded indigenously. Hindustan Shipyard was selected for the refit due to political wrangling, against the wishes of the navy staff. [9] [10] [11] [12] HSL had a history of prolonging submarine refits, taking ten years to upgrade each of the Vela-class submarines Vela and Vagli. [13]

Sindhukirti's refit was scheduled for 3 years, but the refit dragged on as problems arose. The ship became known as the dockyard queen. [11] In 2009, Admiral Sureesh Mehta explained, "That kind of expertise did not exist in India before and this is for the first time that we are trying it out here. Instead of sending them to Russia all the way, this one is being offloaded to Hindustan Shipyards. There are some problems in their procurement procedures. It takes a little longer than is expected". [10] While a Russian shipyard would deploy 200 workers in three shifts to complete the refit in two years, HSL deployed only 50 workers to work on Sindhukirti. [13]

After nine years in refit, Sindhukirti finally returned to sea on 23 May 2015 and is currently active. [6]

INS Sindhukirti was featured in series 'Breaking point Indian Submariners' which was released on Veer by Discovery YouTube channel.

Related Research Articles

INS <i>Sindhurakshak</i> (S63) Indian naval vessel

INS Sindhurakshak was a Russian-made Kilo-class 877EKM (Sindhughosh-class) diesel-electric submarine of the Indian Navy. Commissioned on 24 December 1997, it was the ninth of the ten Kilo-class submarines in the Indian Navy. On 4 June 2010, the Indian Defence Ministry and Zvezdochka shipyard signed a contract worth US$80 million to upgrade and overhaul the submarine. After the overhaul, it returned to India from Russia between May and June 2013.

<i>Talwar</i>-class frigate Class of stealth guided missile frigate

The Talwar-class frigates or Project 11356 are a class of stealth guided missile frigates designed and built by Russia for the Indian Navy. The Talwar-class guided missile frigates are the improved versions of the Krivak III-class frigates used by the Russian Coast Guard. The design has been further developed as the Admiral Grigorovich-class frigate for the Russian Navy. Six ships were built in two batches between 1999 and 2013.

<i>Sindhughosh</i>-class submarine Class of diesel-electric submarines used by the Indian Navy

Sindhughosh-class submarines are Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines in active service with the Indian Navy. Their names are in Sanskrit, but in their Roman-alphabet forms sometimes a final short -a is dropped.

INS <i>Vikramaditya</i> Modified Kiev-class aircraft carrier

INS Vikramaditya is a modified Kiev-class aircraft carrier and the flagship of the Indian Navy. The carrier entered into service in 2013.

<i>Nilgiri</i>-class frigate (1972) 1972 subclass of British Leander-class frigates

The Nilgiri-class frigates were updated versions of the Leander class, designed and built for the Indian Navy by Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai. Six ships were built between 1972–81. Vessels of the class formed the 14th Frigate Squadron. The lead ship INS Nilgiri was the first major warship to be built in India and was built in collaboration with Yarrow Shipbuilders of the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders</span> Indian ship and submarine company

Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), formerly called Mazagon Dock Limited, is a shipyard situated in Mazagaon, Mumbai. It manufactures warships and submarines for the Indian Navy and offshore platforms and associated support vessels for offshore oil drilling. It also builds tankers, cargo bulk carriers, passenger ships and ferries.

UMS Minye Theinkhathu (71) is a Sindhughosh (Kilo)-class submarine owned by the Myanmar Navy. It is the first of two submarines procured by the country's navy, followed by the UMS Minye Kyaw Htin. Before being acquired by Myanmar, it served in the Indian Navy as INS Sindhuvir (S58).

INS Vela (S40) was the lead ship of four diesel-electric Vela-class submarines of the Indian Navy. The submarine was commissioned on 31 August 1973 in Riga, Latvian SSR. Along with her sister ship Vagli, she spent almost 10 years undergoing a protracted refit by Hindustan Shipyard. After 37 years of service, the submarine was decommissioned on 25 June 2010. The submarine was claimed by the Eastern Naval Command to be the oldest operational submarine in the world at the time of her decommissioning.

INS Vagli (S42) was a Vela-class diesel-electric submarine of the Indian Navy, commissioned in 1974. Along with her sister ship Vela, she spent almost 10 years undergoing a protracted refit by Hindustan Shipyard. After 36 years of active service, INS Vagli was decommissioned on 9 December 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hindustan Shipyard</span> Shipyard in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India

Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) is a shipyard located in Visakhapatnam on the east coast of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">INS Vajrabahu</span>

INS Vajrabahu is an Indian Navy submarine base of the Western Naval Command located near Mumbai in Maharashtra. It was commissioned on 1 February 1996.

USHUS is an integrated sonar system developed by the Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), India, for use in submarines of the Indian Navy. It is primarily designed to be used in Sindhughosh class submarines, though it is reported to be fitted in the Arihant-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines as well. USHUS is reported to be superior to its Russian equivalents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Future of the Indian Navy</span> Indian Navys focus

The Indian Navy has been focusing on developing indigenous platforms, systems, sensors and weapons as part of the nation's modernisation and expansion of its maritime forces. As of November 2023, the Indian Navy has 67 vessels of various types under construction including destroyers, frigates, corvettes, conventional-powered and nuclear-powered submarines and various other ships. It plans to build up to a total of 200 vessels and 500 aircraft by 2050. According to the Chief of the Naval Staff's statement in December 2020, India has transformed from a buyer's navy to a builder's navy.

The IRS class of tugboats are a series of Bollard pull tugboats built by Hindustan Shipyard Limited, Visakhapatnam, for the Indian Navy.

INS <i>Vela</i> (S24) Kalvari-class submarine

INS Vela (S24) is the fourth submarine of the first batch of six Kalvari-class submarines for the Indian Navy. It is a diesel-electric attack submarine based on the Scorpène class, designed by French naval defence and energy group DCNS and manufactured by Mazagon Dock Limited, an Indian shipyard in Mumbai. The first cutting of steel for the submarine began on 14 July 2009, and the ship was launched on 6 May 2019.

HSL-class fleet support ship Series of five fleet tanker vessels for the Indian Navy

The HSL-class fleet support vessels are a series of five fleet tanker planned to be built by Hindustan Shipyard (HSL), Visakhapatnam for the Indian Navy. The deal was signed on 25 August 2023 with an expected project completion timeline of 8 years. These ships will be an indigenous design by the Hindustan Shipyard's in-house design team. The primary role of the vessels would be to replenish ships of the Indian Navy with fuel, food and various other supplies. With a length of 230 m and displacement of 45,000 tonnes, these will be the heaviest and the second largest vessels to be in operation in the Indian Navy fleets before 2030.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commodore Commanding Submarines (West)</span>

The Commodore Commanding Submarines (West) is an operational appointment in the Indian Navy. The COMCOS (W) is the commander of the all submarines and allied units of Western Naval Command. Based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, the COMCOS is also the Commanding Officer of the submarine base INS Vajrabahu. Currently, there are two COMCOS in the Indian Navy, COMCOS (East) and COMCOS (West). The COMCOS (W) is a one star officer holding the rank of Commodore. The current COMCOS (W) is Commodore Anurag Srivastava.

<i>Nistar</i>-class diving support vessel Diving support vessels for the Indian Navy

The Nistar class is a series of two diving support vessels being built by Hindustan Shipyard (HSL) for the Indian Navy. The deal was signed on 20 September 2018 with the delivery of the ships is scheduled to commence from July 2023. The primary role of the vessels to support the Indian Navy's submarine fleet and meet various operational requirements such as submarine rescue, deep sea diving operations, sustained patrolling, non combatant evacuation operations and search and rescue (SAR).

References

  1. Sindhukirti (S61), Indian Navy
  2. "Submarine INS Sindhukirti sets sail for sea trials". Business Standard. India. 23 May 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Rosoboron exports – Project 636".
  4. "Kirti". 22 August 2023.
  5. "Russia delayed sub refit to weaken shipyard?". Business Standard. India. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  6. 1 2 "Navy gets INS Sindhukirti back". Business Standard. India. 23 May 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 "S 55 Sindhu Ghosh Class". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  8. "Sindhughosh class". Indian Navy. Archived from the original on 19 August 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  9. S. Anandan (15 August 2013). "Body blow to Navy's submarine arm". The Hindu. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  10. 1 2 Vishal Thapar (14 January 2009). "Navy's submarine repair costs India losses". IBN Live. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  11. 1 2 "Submarine INS Sindhukirti stuck in refit for 8 years". The Times of India. 7 March 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  12. Shukla, Ajai (15 May 2014). "Scorpene subs to join fleet without torpedoes". Business Standard. India.
  13. 1 2 Unnithan, Sandeep (17 November 2008). "Navy's sub induction plan suffers blow". India Today.