Indo-Pak clash: A close encounter

It was 1969, civil disobedience had erupted across the state of East Pakistan, that morphed into a guerilla war when ruthless killing of people by the Pakistan army resulted in the Bangladesh genocide.I had left the Indian Navy after serving from 1949 to 1963, the last three years of which, as the first Indian chief of the flight deck of INS Vikrant, the first Indian carrier, and as per rules I was on the reservist list. Late in 1969, I was asked to report to Shivaji for an orientation course and drafted to the Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam. I reported to Commander P Mukundan, my senior. The Chief of Eastern Command was Admiral N Krishnan, my former commanding officer at INS Delhi. A couple of weeks into my engagement, the phone rang in the middle of the night.It was Commander Mukundan, his message was short: “Narasiah the balloon is up. Please report to INS Nistar at once”.INS Nistar, was a Russian naval submarine support vessel, given on loan to the Indian Navy and was in the port dry-dock for underwater repairs. I rushed to the dry dock, and met the six Russians who were manning the vessel with some Indian sailors. I got the ship undocked in a record time of a day-and a half.When we were on the job, a big thud was heard and we knew that was an unusual explosion. Admiral Krishnan from intelligence reports knew that there was an imminent threat to INS Vikrant from the Pakistan Navy. A submarine on loan from the US Navy to Pakistan, P N S Ghazi, was assigned to sink Vikrant and was close to Visakhapatnam. Krishnan ordered the carrier to move to the Andaman Islands. He changed the call sign of Vikrant to that of INS Rajput, an old destroyer at the base.Uncoded messages were sent from Rajput, which appeared to be emanating from Vikrant. This made the Pakistan navy believe that Vikrant was leaving Visakhapatnam port and so ordered Ghazi to move closer, ready with its torpedoes.Krishnan briefed Lieutenant Commander Inder Singh, the commanding officer of INS Rajput, that once clear of the harbour he can expect an enemy submarine in the vicinity.In his book ‘No Way But Surrender – An Account of the Indo-Pakistan War in the Bay of Bengal 1971 , Krishnan writes, “Our deception plan worked only too well! In a secret signal which we recovered from the sunken Ghazi, Commodore submarines in Karachi sent a signal to Ghazi on November 25: “intelligence indicates carrier in port” and she should “proceed to Visakhapatnam with all despatch!”INS Rajput sailed before midnight of December 3-4 and Lt Cdr Inder Singh perceived a disturbance in the water. He sailed closer and dropped two depth charges and sailed away. A little later, a loud explosionwas heard and I knew that was the thud that I heard in the dry dock.The next day, INS Nistar proceeded to the spot and the diving team established there was a submerged object at a depth of 150ft. From the flotsam American markings were visible. On the third day, a diver managed to open the conning tower hatch and a body was recovered. The report said, “As the hatch was opened, it was clogged with bloated bodies … The hydrographic correction book of PNS Ghazi and one sheet of paper with the official seal of the commanding officer of PNS Ghazi were recovered”. It was later learned that Ghazi’s own warheads had been activated by the impact of the depth charges and its nose had blown off.I was happy to be involved, however miniscule, but a significant part, as I ensured quick undocking of Nistar. But grim news came from the western front — INS Khukri was torpedoed on December 9 by a Pakistan submarine killing 18 officers and 176 sailors and its captain Mahendra Singh Mulla went down with the ship. Commander Oomen, chief engineer and a senior of mine from Shivaji, too went down.. Such are the bittersweet memories of that time.(As told to Arpita Bose) (K R A Narasiah is is an ex-servicemen of the Indian Navy)