As the sun set over the Vizag sky, the Tricolour, Naval Ensign and Decommissioning Pendant were lowered for the last time on the INS Rajput — the Indian Navy’s first Kashin-class destroyer — at the Naval Dockyard here on Friday.
The warship was decommissioned after serving for 41 years in the Navy, in the presence of Vice-Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.
A Special Postal Cover was released by the ENC chief in recognition of the yeoman service rendered to the nation by the ship.
INS Rajput was commissioned on May 4, 1980, at Poti, Georgia (erstwhile USSR), as the lead ship of the Rajput-class Destroyers of the Indian Navy with Capt. (later Vice-Admiral) Gulab Mohanlal Hiranandani as the first Commanding Officer. During her service, the ship had the distinction of being part of both the Western and Eastern Fleets. She was based in Mumbai till June 1988 and thereafter was re-based at Visakhapatnam as part of the Eastern Fleet.
Considered to be a formidable ship in her class, she was equipped with an array of weapons and sensors which included surface-to-surface missiles, surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft guns, torpedoes, and anti-submarine rocket launchers. INS Rajput was also the first ship to be fitted out to fire the supersonic cruise and long-range BrahMos missile. She was also the first Indian Naval ship to get affiliated with an Indian Army Regiment, the Rajput Regiment.
Apart from participating in various naval operations, she also took part in a number of relief operations which include cyclone relief operations off the Odisha coast in 1999, relief operations in the wake of the 2004 tsunami in the Andaman & Nicobar islands and the HADR mission after the earthquake at Jakarta.
During her glorious service to the nation, the ship has been helmed by 31 Commanding Officers.
The ship has sailed a distance of over 7,87,194 nautical miles which is equivalent to navigating around the world 36.5 times and 3.8 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon.
The decommissioning ceremony was attended by a small number of officers and sailors from the Eastern Fleet and other organisations of the ENC whilst adhering to COVID-19 protocols. The event was live-streamed on the internet and Naval intranet for the benefit of a larger audience such as serving personnel, veterans, and outstation ex-crew who had served aboard the ship.
The virtual attendees included Vice Admiral Atul Kumar Jain, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee, former commanding officers and officers and sailors of the commissioning crew.