By PTI
NEW DELHI: Decommissioned Indian naval ship (INS) Khukri was handed over to the Diu administration so that it can be developed as a full-scale museum, the Indian Navy said on Friday. The missile corvette was decommissioned on December 23 last year after 32 years of service.
INS Khukri had the distinction of being part of both — western as well as eastern fleets — during its service. An elegant but solemn ceremony was conducted in Diu on Wednesday to hand over the decommissioned ship, the Indian Navy’s statement noted.
Rear Admiral Ajay Vinay Bhave, Flag Officer Doctrine and Concepts, handed over the decommissioned ship formally to Praful Patel, Administrator of the Union Territory of DNHDD (Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu) and Lakshadweep, it noted.
Khukri is planned to be converted into a museum by the Diu Administration for public visits, it mentioned. “The museum will be co-located with the existing Khukri Memorial, where the scaled-down version of the first INS Khukri (F149), a blackwood class anti-submarine frigate, is also placed,” it noted.
The recently decommissioned vessel is the second ship of the Navy to carry the name INS Khukri, the first was lost during the 1971 India-Pakistan War off the coast of Diu.
The valiant crew of that ship, led by late Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla (Maha Vir Chakra winner), has been immortalised in the Khukri Memorial at Diu where a scaled-down model of their old ship is displayed in solemn splendour.
As part of developing and revitalising the Khukri Memorial, the Diu administration had approached the Ministry of Defence in 2019 for gifting to it for public display, a decommissioned naval vessel. “As it turned out, it was time for the second Khukri to be paid off. This is the vessel that will be handed over officially to the Diu administration,” the Indian Navy noted.
The ship commenced her last journey under tow by Indian Navy ships from Visakhapatnam and arrived at Diu on January 14, it mentioned.
