INS Cheetah, Guldar and Kumbhir decommissioned after 40 years of glorious service
The event was also unique because three warships of the same class were decommissioned simultaneously on one day.
Indian Navy: Indian Navy Ships Cheetah, Guldar and Kumbhir were decommissioned on January 12, 2024 after rendering glorious services to the nation for four decades. The decommissioning event took place in Port Blair during a traditional ceremony during which the national flag, naval ensign and decommissioning pennants of the three ships were lowered for the final time, at sunset.
Cheetah, Guldar and Kumbhir were built at Gdynia Shipyard, Poland as Polnocny class landing ships and commissioned into the Indian Navy in 1984, 1985 and 1986 respectively, in the presence of SK Arora (Cheetah and Guldar) and AK Badger (Kumbhir). ) and subsequently ambassadors of India to Poland. The commanding officers of the three ships were Cdr VB Mishra, Lt Cdr SK Singh and Lt Cdr J Banerjee respectively.
During her initial years, Cheetah was stationed for short periods in Kochi and Chennai, and Kumbhir and Guldar were stationed in Visakhapatnam. The ships were then redeployed to Andaman and Nicobar Command where they served until their decommissioning. These ships were in active naval service for almost 40 years and collectively covered approximately 17 lakh nautical miles while at sea for more than 12,300 days. As amphibious platforms of the Andaman and Nicobar Command, these ships have conducted more than 1,300 beach operations to land Army troops.
During their illustrious voyages, these ships participated in numerous maritime security missions and humanitarian relief and disaster relief operations. Notable among them is their role during Operation Aman as part of the IPKF operations and Operation Tasha, a joint operation carried out in May 1990 between the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard to combat the smuggling of arms and ammunition and illegal immigration across the Indian and Sri Lankan border to check. great contributions to the relief efforts following the 1997 cyclone off the coast of Sri Lanka and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
The Indian Naval Ships Cheetah, Guldar and Kumbhir have left an indelible mark on the maritime landscape and their decommissioning marks the end of an important chapter in the history of the Indian Navy.
Air Marshal Saju Balakrishnan, AVSM, VM, Commander-in-Chief Andaman and Nicobar Command (CINCAN), Vice Admiral Tarun Sobti, AVSM, VSM, Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff, Flag Officers, former Commanding Officers and Commissioning Crew of the three ships attended the ceremonies at Port Blair at. The event was also unique because three warships of the same class were decommissioned simultaneously on one day.