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Adios great warrior: INS Viraat calls it a day

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Adios great warrior: INS Viraat calls it a day

The decommissioning of aircraft carrier INS Viraat in Mumbai on Monday comes after 55 years of distinguished service. The oldest serving aircraft carrier in the world has been an icon of Indian Navy ever since it was bought from the British Royal Navy.

HMS Hermes, as the warship was originally named, was added to the Royal Navy’s fleet in 1959, when Prime minister Winston Churchill’s wife, Clementine, launched it. The work on the ship was started at the Vickers-Armstrongs before World War II but the end of the war in 1945 led to a halt in construction.

HMS Hermes was the first ship to be fully air-conditioned and all operations remotely controlled. Weighing 27,800 tonnes, the ship could carry 20 fighter planes, eight helicopters and 2,100 sailors. It had served in various capacities including as strike carrier, commando carrier, anti-submarine, vertical/short takeoff and landing carrier. However, the ship’s moment of glory came in 1982, when it served as the Royal Navy’s flagship in the Falklands war against Argentina.

Two years later, the Royal Navy decided to de-commission HMS Hermes. The Indian Navy seized the opportunity. India had to replace INS Vikrant. A deal was struck on April 24, 1984 between India and the United Kingdom. HMS Hermes was changed hands for $465 million.

The aircraft carrier was refurbished as India demanded and handed over to the Navy at the Portsmouth Naval Base on May 12, 1987. Captain Vinod Pasricha (who would later be a vice admiral) took command of the ship.

HMS Hermes was transformed into INS Viraat, and enjoyed a pride of place in the Indian Navy until the commissioning of INS Vikramaditya.

Sea Harrier fighters known as the White Tigers were deployed on INS Viraat. The aircraft carrier also flaunted Sea King, the anti-submarine helicopter, and Cheetah, a transport helicopter.

INS Viraat had traversed 5.88 lakh nautical miles under 22 captains in the 30 years with the India Navy. Attached to the Western Fleet, the warship participated in four major campaigns during the period. She had led in 13 races by the Indian Navy including the one in Visakhapatnam in last February.

The legendary ship may end up as a museum in Andhra Pradesh.

As vice admiral A.K. Chawla, a former commanding officer of INS Viraat, said, old warships never die, they are resurrected in another avatar.

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