History of the Indian Navy
History of science and technology in the Indian subcontinent |
By subject |
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Maritime powers in the
The Royal Indian Marine transported large numbers of Indian troops overseas during the
Early history
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Ancient Indian ship on lead coin ofSātavāhana Empire, during the 1st–2nd century CE.
-
Painted depiction of a three-masted sailship, c. 5th century from Ajanta Caves.
India has a rich
Early literary evidences
The Indian shipping and maritime trade activity have been referenced in
The five arms of the Gupta military included infantry, cavalry, chariot, elephants and ships. Gunaighar copper plate inscription of Vainya Gupta mentions ships but not chariots.[12] Ships had become integral part of Indian military in the 6th century AD.
Middle Ages
Chola expeditions
The
Kozhikode
Over the course of the next century, the Samoothiri Rajas successfully repelled various attempts by the Portuguese to overthrow their rule, with each side enlisting various allies over time. Four generations of Kunjali Marakkars served the Samoothiri Rajas. However, over time, the differences between Mohammed Ali, Marakkar IV, and his masters increased, culminating with his self-declaration as the "Lord of the Indian seas". The Samoothiris then collaborated with the Portuguese to defeat Mohammed Ali in 1600. Later, they allied with the Dutch East India Company to defeat the Portuguese.
Early Modern Age
The
During the Mughal Empire, the province of Bengal Subah had a large shipbuilding industry. Economic historian Indrajit Ray estimates shipbuilding output of Bengal during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries at 223,250 tons annually, .[17]
The chronicle of Ahkam 'Alamgiri, reveals how the Mughal empire has struggled to establish strong navy, boldened by the failure to prevent losses of Muslim vessels off the coast of the Maldives islands. Aurangzeb were said to possess four huge vessels at Surat and port of southern Gujarat.[18] Aurangzeb's Vizier, Jafar Khan, blames the Mughal lack of ability to establish an effective navy not due to lack of resources and money, but to the lack of men to direct (the vessels).[19] Syed Hassan Askari concluded that the lack of priority of Aurangzeb to afford his naval project due to his conflicts against the Marathas has hindered him to do so.[19] Askari maintained that Mughal was largely not independent to control the rampart piracy and European naval incursions, and instead resorted to depend on the strength of friendly Arab forces from Muscat to keep the Portuguese in check.[19]
However, Askari also highlighted that Aurangzeb are not completely neglect it since he has acquired the British expertise to captured the fort of
Empress Mariam-uz-Zamani maintained large fleets of trade ships including the Rahīmī and Ganj-i-Sawai.[21][22] The Rahimi was the largest of the Indian ships trading in the Red Sea.[23] It had sailed to vast areas that it was identifiable to sailors from miles away and was known to Europeans as, the great pilgrimage ship. [24] After being sacked by pirates, this ship was replaced by the Ganj-i-Sawa. This ship was eventually sacked by English Pirate Henry Every.[25]
The
On 29 November 1721, a joint attempt by the Portuguese and the British to put an end to Kanhoji's privateering endeavours failed. Their combined fleet, consisting of 6,000 soldiers in four
The Maratha Navy used cannon armed, single-decker snow sail themed warships called Grab,[27] men-of-war called Pal and small lateen boats called Gallivat armed with 6-punder guns or swivel guns which assisted the Grabs.[28]
Establishment of the Bombay Marine
The
to protect commerce. The Company named the force the Honourable East India Company's Marine, and the first fighting ships arrived on 5 September 1612.This force protected
In 1686, with most of English commerce moving to
In 1830, the Bombay Marine became His Majesty's Indian Navy. The British capture of Aden increased the commitments of Her Majesty's Indian Navy, leading to the creation of the Indus Flotilla. The Navy then fought in the China War of 1840.
Her Majesty's Indian Navy resumed the name Bombay Marine from 1863 to 1877, when it became Her Majesty's Indian Marine. The Marine then had two divisions; the Eastern Division at
In recognition of the services rendered during various campaigns, Her Majesty's Indian Marine was titled the Royal Indian Marine in 1892. By this time it consisted of over 50 vessels.[29]
The Royal Indian Marine in World War I
The Expeditionary Forces of the Indian Army that travelled to
By the time the war ended in 1918, the Royal Indian Marine had transported or escorted 1,302,394 men, 172,815 animals and 3,691,836 tonnes of war stores. The Royal Indian Marine suffered 330 casualties and 80 of its personnel were decorated with gallantry awards for service in the war. The Royal Indian Marine played a vital role in supporting and transporting the Indian Army throughout the war.[30]
The first Indian to be granted a commission was Sub Lieutenant D.N Mukherji who joined the Royal Indian Marine as an engineer officer in 1928.
In 1934 the Royal Indian Marine changed its name, with the enactment of the Indian Navy (Discipline) Act of 1934. The Royal Indian Navy was formally inaugurated on 2 October 1934, at Bombay.[31] Its ships carried the prefix HMIS, for His Majesty's Indian Ship.[32]
At the start of the Second World War, the Royal Indian Navy was small, with only eight warships. The onset of the war led to an expansion in vessels and personnel described by one writer as "phenomenal". By 1943 the strength of the RIN had reached twenty thousand.[33] During the War, the Women's Royal Indian Naval Service was established, for the first time giving women a role in the navy, although they did not serve on board its ships.[31]
During the course of the war six anti-aircraft sloops and several fleet minesweepers were built in the United Kingdom for the R.I.N. After commissioning, many of these ships joined various escort groups operating in the northern approaches to the British Isles. HMIS Sutlej and HMIS Jumna, each armed with six-high angle 4" guns, were present during the Clyde "Blitz" of 1941 and assisted the defence of this area by providing anti-aircraft cover. For the next six months these two ships joined the Clyde Escort Force, operating in the Atlantic and later the Irish Sea Escort Force where they acted as the senior ships of the groups. While engaged on these duties, numerous attacks against U-boats were carried out and attacks by hostile aircraft repelled. At the time of action in which the Bismarck was involved, the Sutlej left Scapa Flow, with all despatch as the senior member of a group, to take over a convoy from the destroyers which were finally engaged in the sinking of the Bismarck.[34]
Later HMIS Cauvery, HMIS Kistna, HMIS Narbada, HMIS Godavari, also antiaircraft sloops, completed similar periods in the U.K. waters escorting convoys in the Atlantic and dealing with attacks from hostile U-boats, aircraft and glider bombs. These six ships and the minesweepers all eventually proceeded to India carrying out various duties in the North Atlantic, Mediterranean and Cape stations en route. The fleet minesweepers were HMIS Kathiawar, HMIS Kumaon, HMIS Baluchistan, HMIS Carnatic, HMIS Khyber, HMIS Konkan, HMIS Orissa, HMIS Rajputana, HMIS Rohilkhand.[34]
The
Furthermore, the Royal Indian Navy participated in convoy escort duties in the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean and was heavily involved in combat operations as part of the
The sloop HMIS Pathan sunk in June 1940 by the Italian Navy Submarine Galvani during the East African Campaign.[39][40][41][42]
In the days immediately following the Attack on Pearl Harbor, HMS Glasgow was patrolling the Laccadive Islands in search of Japanese ships and submarines. At midnight on 9 December 1941, HMS Glasgow sank the RIN patrol vessel HMIS Prabhavati with two lighters in tow en route to Karachi, with 6-inch shells at 6,000 yards (5,500 m). Prabhavati was alongside the lighters and was mistaken for a surfaced Japanese submarine.[43][44][45]
HMIS Jumna was ordered in 1939, and built by William Denny and Brothers. She was commissioned in 1941,[47] and with World War II underway, was immediately deployed as a convoy escort. Jumna served as an anti-aircraft escort during the Java Sea campaign in early 1942, and was involved in intensive anti-aircraft action against attacking Japanese twin-engined level bombers and dive bombers, claiming five aircraft downed from 24 to 28 February 1942.
On 11 November 1942 Bengal was escorting the Dutch tanker
On 12 February 1944 the Japanese submarine RO-110 was depth charged and sunk east-south-east off Visakhapatnam, India by the Indian sloop HMIS Jumna and the Australian minesweepers HMAS Launceston and HMAS Ipswich (J186). RO-110 had attacked convoy JC-36 (Colombo-Calcutta) and torpedoed and damaged the British merchant Asphalion (6274 GRT).[47][50]
On 12 August 1944 the German submarine U-198 was sunk near the Seychelles, in position 03º35'S, 52º49'E, by depth charges from HMIS Godavari and the British frigate HMS Findhorn.[51][46]
Mutiny of 1946
In February 1946, Indian sailors launched the
Partition and Independence of India
In 1947, India was partitioned and the dominions of India and Pakistan gained independence from the United Kingdom. The Royal Indian Navy was split between India and Pakistan, with senior British officers continuing to serve with both navies, and the vessels were divided between the two nations.
Vessel type | India | Pakistan |
---|---|---|
Frigate |
|
|
Sloop
|
|
|
Corvettes |
|
|
Minesweeper
|
|
|
Survey vessel |
|
|
Trawler |
|
|
Motor minesweeper(MMS) |
|
|
Motor Launch (ML) |
|
– |
Harbour Defence Motor Launch (HDML)
|
|
|
Miscellaneous | All existing landing craft |
When India became a republic on 26 January 1950, the name was changed to the Indian Navy, and the vessels were redesignated as Indian Naval Ships (INS).
Vice Admiral
Annexation of Goa, 1961
The first involvement of the Navy in any conflict came during the
Eventually only the NRP Afonso de Albuquerque saw action against Indian Navy ships, the other ships having fled before commencement of hostilities. The NRP Afonso was destroyed by Indian frigates INS Betwa and INS Beas. Parts of the Afonso are on display at the Naval Museum in Mumbai, while the remainder was sold as scrap.
Indo-Pakistani war of 1965
There were no significant naval encounters during the
On 7 September 1965 a flotilla of the
Indo-Pakistani war of 1971
The Indian Navy played a significant role in the bombing of
The operation was so successful that the Pakistani Navy raised a false alarm about sighting an Indian missile boat on 6 December. Pakistan Air Force (PAF) planes attacked the supposed Indian ship and damaged the vessel before it was identified as being another Pakistani Navy ship, PNS Zulfiqar which suffered numerous casualties and damage as a result of this friendly fire.
During Operation Python on 8 December, the frigate PNS Dacca was severely damaged by INS Veer and the oil storage depot of Karachi was set ablaze. On the western front in the Arabian Sea, operations ceased after the Karachi port became unusable due to the sinking of Panamian vessel Gulf Star. An Indian frigate, INS Khukri was sunk by submarine PNS Hangor.
On the eastern front, the submarine PNS Ghazi was sunk outside
Type of Vessel | Indian Navy losses | Pakistan Navy losses |
---|---|---|
Destroyers | 0 | 2, PNS Shahjahan * (damaged)
|
Frigates | 1, INS Khukri | 3 |
Submarines | 0 | 1, PNS Ghazi |
Minesweeper | 0 | 1, PNS Muhafiz |
Navy Aircraft | 1, ( Alize )
|
0 |
Patrol boats and Gunboats | 0 | 4 Gunboats and 3 patrol boats |
Merchant navy and others | 0 | 9 (including one US ammunition ship) |
*PNS Shahjahan was presumably damaged beyond repair. |
Operations after 1971
The Indian Armed Forces initiated
During the 2006 Lebanon War, the Indian Navy launched Operation Sukoon to successfully evacuate 2280 persons from Lebanon, including Indian, 436 Sri Lankan and 69 Nepali and 7 Lebanese citizens.[56]
Since 2 November 2008 an Indian Navy frigate
See also
- Indian Navy
- Indian Armed Forces
- Indian maritime history
- List of military operations of India
- Naval ranks and insignia of India
References
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- ISBN 9781108483957. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
- ^ Safdar, Aiysha; Khan, Muhammad Azam (2021). "History of Indian Ocean-A south Indian perspective". Journal of Indian Studies. 7 (1): 186–188.
The Empress, Mariam Zamani then ordered the building of an even larger ship with 62 guns and placements for over 400 musket men. It was named Ganj-i-Sawai, and it was in its day the most fearsome ship on the seas, and its objective was to trade and take pilgrims to Mecca, and on the way back convert all the goods sold into gold and silver as well as bring the pilgrims back. But then the English, posing as pirates, attacked with a 25-ship armada of alleged pirates. At Mecca, they claimed they were slave traders.
- ^ "Harking back: The Empress and her two doomed pilgrim ships". 11 April 2021.
- JSTOR 603650.
- ^ Findly, Ellison Banks. Nur Jahan Empress Of Mughal India. pp. 150–151.
- ^ "The trial of Joseph Dawson, Edward Forseith, William May, Wm. Bishop, James Lewis, and John Sparkes, at the Old-Bailey, for felony and piracy". A complete collection of State Trials and proceedings for High Treason and other Crimes and Misdemeanors. 13 (392, column 451). 1812.
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- ^ "Indian Naval Hospital Ship INHS Dhanvantari". Archived from the original on 11 January 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
- ^ a b Indian Navy (9 March 2015). "Role of Royal Indian Marine in World War I". indiannavy.nic.in. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
- ^ a b Bhatia (1977), p. 28
- ^ D. J. E. Collins, The Royal Indian Navy, 1939-45, vol. 1 (Bombay, 1964)
- ISBN 0-02-579391-8.
- ^ a b The Royal Indian Navy, 1939–1945 - Collins, p248
- ^ Kindell, Don. "EASTERN FLEET - January to June 1943". ADMIRALTY WAR DIARIES of WORLD WAR 2.
- ^ Inmed Archived 24 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ The Royal Indian Navy, 1939–1945 - Collins, p252
- ^ The Royal Indian Navy, 1939–1945 - Collins, p255 - p316
- ^ Rohwer & Hummelchen, p.23
- ^ Collins, D.J.E. (1964). The Royal Indian Navy, 1939–1945, Official History of the Indian Armed Forces In the Second World War.
{{cite book}}
:|work=
ignored (help) - ^ "House of commons debate - Indian, Burman, and Colonial War Effort". House of Commons of the United Kingdom. 20 November 1940.
- ^ "Fighting the U-boats = Indian Naval forces". Uboat.net.
- ^ "Allied Warships - HMIS Prabhavati".
- ^ The Royal Indian Navy, 1939–1945 - Collins, p96
- ISBN 978-1-904-45952-1, p. 153
- ^ a b Collins, J.T.E. (1964). The Royal Indian Navy, 1939–1945. Official History of the Indian Armed Forces In the Second World War. New Delhi: Combined Inter-Services Historical Section (India & Pakistan).
- ^ a b "HMIS Jumna (U 21)". uboat.net. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
- ^ a b Visser, Jan (1999–2000). "The Ondina Story". Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941-1942.
- ^ L, Klemen (2000). "Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942".
- ^ The Royal Indian Navy, 1939–1945 - Collins, p309
- ^ "HMIS Godavari (U 52) of the Royal Indian Navy - Indian Sloop of the Black Swan class - Allied Warships of WWII - uboat.net".
- ^ Christopher M. Bell, Bruce A. Elleman, Naval mutinies of the twentieth century: an international perspective (2003), p. 6: "The first navy to experience a major mutiny after the Second World War was the Royal Indian Navy. For five days in February 1946, Indian sailors rose up against their predominantly British officer corps: approximately 56 ships..."
- ^ India's Quest for Security: defence policies, 1947–1965 By Lorne John Kavic, 1967, University of California Press, pp 190
- ^ South Asia's Nuclear Security Dilemma: India, Pakistan, and China By Lowell Dittmer, pp 77
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