INS Sudarshini (A77) en-route to Sri Lanka | |
History | |
---|---|
India | |
Name | INS Sudarshini |
Owner | Indian Navy |
Builder | Goa Shipyard Limited |
Launched | 25 January 2011 |
Commissioned | 27 January 2012 |
Homeport | Kochi, Southern Naval Command |
Identification | |
Status | in active service |
Badge | |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Three-masted barque |
Displacement | 513 tons |
Length | 54 m (177 ft) |
Beam | 8.53 m (28.0 ft) |
Height | 34.5 m (113 ft) (mainmast above waterline) |
Draught | 4.5 m (15 ft) |
Installed power | 320 hp (240 kW) per engine |
Propulsion | 2 Kirloskar Cummins diesel engines |
Sail plan | Barque rig (1035m² sail area) |
Complement | 61 [2] |
INS Sudarshini is a sail training ship built by Goa Shipyard Limited for the Indian Navy. The ship is a sister ship of INS Tarangini which was commissioned in 1997. [3] "Sudarshini" means "beautiful lady Sundari" after the younger half-sister of Buddha. [4] The ship was designed by Colin Mudie, a naval architect and yacht designer from the United Kingdom. [5]
Sudarshini is a three-masted sailing ship with a barque rig. It is 54 metres long and has 20 sails, 7.5 km of rope and 1.5 km of steel wire rope. Its sails have a total area of approximately 1,035 square metres (11,140 sq ft). Capable of operations under sail or power, and with complement of five officers, 31 sailors and 30 cadets embarked for training, it can remain at sea for at least 20 days at a time.
Sudarshini's steel hull was launched on 25 January 2011 at the port town of Vasco da Gama, Goa on the west coast of India, and by then the major portion of work had been completed. It was commissioned in Indian Navy on 27 January 2012 by Vice Admiral K.N. Sushil, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command. Built for worldwide operations, it will be used as a basic seamanship and character building platform. [6]
Sudarshini started its first nine nation voyage of ASEAN countries on 15 September 2012 to trace the ancient route taken by Indian mariners to South East Asia. During the course of the 12,000 mile voyage, she visited 13 ports in 9 ASEAN countries. The ship visited the ports of Padang, Bali, Manado in Indonesia, Port Muara in Brunei, Cebu, Manila, Da Nang, Sihanoukville in Cambodia, Bangkok, Phuket in Thailand, Singapore, Port Klang in Malaysia and Sittwe in Myanmar. While on the voyage, the ship's embarked Indian Naval and Coast Guard cadets, as well as cadets from other ASEAN countries. [7] During the ASEAN deployment, the commanding officer of Sudarshini, Commander N Shyam Sundar, wrote live blogs from sea. This was the first time the Indian Navy has used social media to promote a diplomatic naval voyage. [8] The ship returned to its home port, Kochi, on 25 March 2013 and was greeted by the Defence Minister of India, A. K. Antony, the Chief of Southern Naval Command, Vice Admiral Satish Soni, ambassadors and heads of missions of ASEAN nations. [9]
INS Delhi was a Leander-class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy in 1933 as HMS Achilles, and commissioned into the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy in 1937 as HMNZS Achilles. She was returned to the Royal Navy at the end of the Second World War and in 1948 was sold to the Royal Indian Navy to be recommissioned as HMIS Delhi. In 1950 she was renamed INS Delhi and remained in service until decommissioned at Bombay on 30 June 1978.
INS Tarangini is a three-masted barque, commissioned in 1997 as a sail training ship for the Indian Navy. She is square rigged on the fore and main masts and fore-and-aft rigged on the mizzen mast. She was constructed in Goa to a design by the British naval architect Colin Mudie, and launched on 1 December 1995. In 2003–04, she became the first Indian naval ship to circumnavigate the globe.
Admiral Ram Dass Katari was an Indian Navy Admiral who served as the 3rd Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) from 22 April 1958 to 4 June 1962. He was the first Indian to hold the office and succeeded the last British officer to the post, Vice Admiral Sir Stephen Hope Carlill.
The Southern Naval Command is one of the three command-level formations of the Indian Navy. It has its headquarters in Kochi, Kerala at INS Venduruthy. It is the Training Command of the Indian Navy.
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INSV Mhadei is a sail training boat of the Indian Navy. On 19 May 2010 as he sailed Mhadei into Mumbai harbour, Commander Dilip Donde became the first Indian national to complete a single-handed circumnavigation under sail, in an Indian-built boat. He sailed from Mumbai on 19 August 2009 and returned to Mumbai after four stops on 19 May 2010. It was later used by Abhilash Tomy for his own single-handed, unassisted, non-stop circumnavigation under sail.
The Mhadei class are ocean going sail training boats of the Indian Navy & include INSV Mhadei and INSV Tarini as the 2 sail boats of the class. On 19 May 2010 as he sailed Mhadei into Mumbai harbour, Commander Dilip Donde became the first Indian national to complete a single-handed circumnavigation under sail, in an Indian-built boat. He sailed from Mumbai on 19 August 2009 and returned to Mumbai after four stops on 19 May 2010. It was later used by Abhilash Tomy for his own single-handed, unassisted, non-stop circumnavigation under sail.
Navika Sagar Parikrama was a circumnavigation of the globe by female officers of the Indian Navy. The six-member all-woman team circumnavigated and managed the whole operation in their first-ever global journey, on INSV Tarini. The voyage lasted 254 days, from 10 September 2017 to 21 May 2018, with only 4 port calls, in Fremantle, Australia; Lyttelton, New Zealand; Port Stanley, Falkland Islands; and Cape Town, South Africa, and a forced technical halt at Port Louis, Mauritius, crossing the equator twice and passing through 3 oceans. The voyage was originally set to start on September 5, 2017, but a 5-day delay happened so that Nirmala Sitharaman, who was recently appointed defense minister, could flag off the crew. The boat returned to INS Mandovi in Goa after travelling 21,600 nautical miles. The voyage was showcased in Tarini, a documentary jointly produced by National Geographic and the Indian Navy, premiering at an event at Lady Shri Ram College on 8 March to mark International Women's Day. The voyage prompted National Geographic to start the "Girls Who Sailed" campaign, to tell tales of "grit and determination".
Vice Admiral Manohar Prahlad Awati, PVSM, VrC was a Flag Officer in the Indian Navy. He last served as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C) Western Naval Command. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, he was awarded the Vir Chakra for his command of the Arnala-class anti-submarine corvette INS Kamorta (P77). The admiral was also known as the "Father of the Indian Navy's Circumnavigation Adventures".
Captain Dilip Donde is a retired Indian Naval officer and the first Indian to complete a solo, unassisted circumnavigation of the globe under sail. From April 2006 to May 2010 he planned and executed Project 'Sagar Parikrama' which involved constructing a sailboat in India and then sailing it around the world. He was the hundred and ninetieth person to complete the journey solo.
Colin Mudie was an Edinburgh-born yacht designer, author, naval historian, balloonist, and advocate for the handicapped sailor. He studied engineering at Southampton University, before working under yacht designers including Laurent Giles and Uffa Fox. He then set up his own firm. He received the award of RDI for Small craft/ naval in 1995.
Vice Admiral Sree Harilal Sarma, PVSM was an Indian Navy admiral who served as Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet (FOCEF) during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. He later served as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command from 1 March 1977 to 2 February 1978.
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