Operation Trident: An amazing operation by Indian Navy | Fusion - WeRIndia

The Indian Navy has been making its presence known for over a millennium, ever since Rajendra Chola’s naval expedition to Southeast Asia in the 10th century.

India has made its naval power known ever since, such as in Maratha Admiral Kanhoja Angre’s naval battles against the British, the Dutch, and the Portuguese in the 18^th century, and the remarkable military exploits that happened post-independence.

The Indian Navy has played a key role in at least four major military operations after the country regained its independence in 1947, and the most famous of them is the daring Operation Trident, which is commemorated by India’s Navy Day.

Operation Trident took place during the Indo-Pak war in 1971.

The Indian Navy had acquired Osa-I missile boats from the Soviet Union, aptly named “wasp” in Russian thanks to their deadly ship-to-ship Styx missiles and range-out homing radars.

The boats were shipped to India in early 1971, offloaded in Kolkata and towed along the coast to Mumbai.

This gave the Indian naval commanders an idea: to tow these boats from Mumbai to Karachi, overcoming their short-range disadvantage. When the Indo-Pak war of 1971 began, Operation Trident was formed, and the Osa-I boats were prepared for being towed to Karachi.

The Osa-Is were successfully towed northwest in order to reach the Karachi harbor, which was the stronghold of the Pakistani Navy.

They changed course frequently and communicated only in Russian, in order to make it difficult for the enemy to figure them out.

They fired their missiles at several crucial Pakistani ships (including the destroyer PNS Khaiber), the Pakistani Navy’s oil, and their ammunition supplies.

The ships returned to Mumbai, where they were met with a hero’s welcome.

Thus, thanks to this example of the determined bravery of the Indian Navy, December 4th has been celebrated as Navy Day ever since.

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