INS Khukri decommissioned after 32 years of service

 

INS Khukri, the first of the indigenously built missile corvettes, was decommissioned “after 32 years of glorious service” on Thursday.

The ship solemn ceremony was held at Visakhapatnam during which the national flag, naval ensign, and the decommissioning pennant were lowered at sunset in the presence of Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command, who

The corvette was built by the Mazagaon Dock Shipbuilders on August 23, 1989 and had the distinction of being part of both the Western and Eastern Fleets. The ship was commissioned in Mumbai by Krishna Chandra Pant, the then Raksha Mantri and Sudha Mulla, wife of late Capt Mahendra Nath Mulla, MVC with Commander (now Vice Admiral Retired) Sanjeev Bhasin as her first Commanding Officer.

During her service, the ship was commanded by 28 Commanding Officers and traversed a distance of over 6,44,897 nautical miles, which is equivalent to navigating around the world 30 times or 3 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

The ship was affiliated with the Gorkha Brigade of the Indian Army.