Viraat heads home

As Indian Navy’s first flagship aircraft carrier INS Viraat heads for her last leg to the ship- breaking yard at Alang in Gujarat, the officers who commanded the majestic warship go down the memory lane and reminisce their inning with the aircraft carrier

— VICE ADMIRAL PRADEEP CHAUHAN, AVSM, VSM ( RETIRED)

In 2007, a couple in grim conditions in Indonesia were apparently seen leaning against the hull of the Indian Navy’s aircraft carrier, Indian Navy Ship ( INS) Viraat. And when the couple were asked to step up, for the ship was open to visitors, the couple said, “Hum to bas issey chhune aaein hain ( We have come to just touch it).” It is emotional as much as gratifying for all the Viraatees ( as the officers who commanded INS Viraat are called). The Viratees have retired but their memories of and on INS Viraat are still fresh, and they are transported right back on her deck, where they stood for the night watch or were preparing to launch a sea harrier for the next sortie. Viratees recollect their time on the ship not as a job but as life itself.

INS Viraat was the longest- serving aircraft carrier in the world, having served in

Operation Parakram was the first time ever when the Viraat entered a foreign port after its deployment in 1987 after she came from London.

the British Royal Navy before its tenure in India. Commissioned into the UK’s Royal Navy in November, 1959 as HMS Hermes, the aircraft carrier had served the country for 27 years, including the Falklands War against Argentina in 1982, before being decommissioned from the Royal Navy in 1984. India brought the tenth Hermes and named her as INS Viraat, which later became the eleventh incarnation of the ship, and commissioned her into the Indian Navy on 12 May 1987.

AN INTEGRAL PART OF INDIAN DEFENCES

Soon after it was commissioned, INS Viraat saw active operations as part of Operation Jupiter in July 1989 and Operation Parakram in 2001- 2002 in the India- Pakistan standoff. INS Viraat last sailed under her own power from Mumbai to Kochi in 2016 and was towed out of Kochi in 2016 and returned to Mumbai. But now, Indian Navy’ s second air

— ADMIRAL D. K. JOSHI, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, NM, VSM ( RETIRED) AND THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS

craft- carrier ship, which was in the services for 29 years before being decommissioned in 2017, is headed for the last leg of her journey to Alang in Gujarat, leaving the Mumbai Port on 20 September. Some of its commanding officers, including Admiral Arun Prakash, Admiral DK Joshi and Vice Admiral Pradeep Chauhan have gone on to become Chiefs of Naval Staff in the Indian Navy. But for them, nothing compares to the sheer honour of having commanded the big lady. As they talk to us, the Commanding Officers feel privileged yet deeply humbled to have commanded the most regal warship. Now, with a heavy heart, as the magnificent centaur- class aircraft carrier casts off the lines, these officers, still mentally on board, rise in salute and bid her ‘ Happy Hunting’ in the great waterways where great ships and warriors await their call. “There she must bide her time until her next reincarnation when she will once again see the White Ensign aflutter and be once more India’s pride and joy,” says an emotional Vice Admiral Chauhan.

If you ask me whether I would want to do it again, by all means I would love to. It was a top of the world feeling.

When we welcomed INS Viraat, it was a typical monsoon day with frequent rainsqualls, gale- force winds and heavy seas. As the ship rolled and pitched, we peered anxiously through pouring rain for the first glimpse of INS Viraat.

— ADMIRAL ARUN PRAKASH, PVSM, AVSM, VRC, VSM, ADC ( RETIRED)