8 December - Indian Navy Submarine Day – Reincarnation of INS Kalvari

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After the Navy commemorated the Indian Navy day on 4^th December, its submarine arm is all set to achieve something big on 8^th December – Navy’s submarine arm will celebrate its golden jubilee on December 8, 2017. Submarine Day is celebrated every year to commemorate the induction of the first submarine, erstwhile INS Kalvari, into the Indian Navy on this day in 1967. It was decommissioned on 31 May, 1996 after 29 years of service.

Later on 7^th February 1992, with the commissioning of INS Shalki, India became one of the submarine constructing nations of the world.

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Marking 50 glorious years of service to the nation by the submarine arm, President Ramnath Kovind will present colours to it on the occasion at the Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam.

Not only this, the Navy will also commission its first conventional submarine in 17 years with the name ‘INS Kalvari’ on 14^th December in Mumbai.

Cmde KS Subramanian, the 92 yr old Commanding Officer of the first Indian submarine, INS Kalvari, will be present to witness the commissioning of another INS Kalvari in the Navy. He commanded INS Kalvari when she was commissioned at the erstwhile Soviet Union’s naval base Riga in Latvia on 8^th December 1967. Cmde Subramanian joined the then Royal Indian Navy in March 1949 at the age 20 as a cadet after graduating from the Presidency College, Madras (1944-48).

The Old Kalvari (S23):

The erstwhile Kalvari was a Foxtrot class submarine.

Four naval officers from Chennai were the part of the pioneering team that brought India’s first commissioned submarine, INS Kalvari (S23), from St. Petersburg to Vizag in 1967. It took Cmde KS Subramanian, Lt. Cdr A. Abraham, Lt. P.K. Ramanathan and Lt. Ramesh 79 days to reach home.

The commissioning of INS Kalvari S23 was done in 1967 and the first batch was selected from a pool of 14 officers and 120 sailors.

INS Kalvari’s Fin is now installed at Beach Road, Vizag as a museum:

fin — Fin of INS Kalvari (S23) at Beach Road, Vizag

The New Kalvari (S50):

The new Kalvari is the first of 6 Scorpene class conventional diesel-electric submarines built at the Mazagon Docks Ltd under a $3 billion contract with DCNS of France.

The Indian navy presently has a fleet of 13 ageing conventional submarines, a majority of which will need to be replaced within the next decade as they reach the end of their 30-year service lives.

The commisioning of the Kalvari is the longest gap between acquistions of these underwater platforms.

The acquisition of all six Kalvari-class submarines by 2021 will give the navy’s submarine arm a much needed boost.

Here are some facts about the ‘Incarceration of Kalvari’:

Kalvari means Tiger Shark, a deep sea predator found in the Indian Ocean. With indigenization of submarines, the Navy is now focusing on the ‘Make in India’ campaign.
The subamarine has a superior stealth technology compared to previous diesel-electric submarines. She can also launch attacks through precision guided weapons including torpedoes or tube launched anti-ship missiles. Other activities include mine laying, area surveillance, anti-submarine warfare and intelligence gathering.
Kalvari can carry 18 torpedoes and travel 1,020 km underwater. The 66-metre submarine can dive up to a depth of 300 metres to elude enemy detection.
Kalvari would be armed only with MBDA’s tube-launched Exocet SM-39 anti-ship missiles.
These attack submarines are also equipped with diesel propulsion and extra air independent propulsion.
It has superior stealth and the ability to launch crippling attacks on the enemy with precision-guided weapons. The attack can be carried out with torpedoes as well as tube-launched anti-ship missiles underwater or from the surface.
The new diesel electronic Scorpene submarines will be named as per the old Foxtrot-class submarines decommissioned around 10 years ago; these were the first submarines of the Navy.
This Scorpene submarine is designed to operate in all theatres of war, including the tropics. Kalvari is capable of handling various missions such as anti-surface warfare (attacking surface ships), anti-submarine warfare (destroying submarines), intelligence gathering, mine-laying and area surveillance.
The submarine is equipped with 6 x 533-mm torpedo tubes for 18 whitehead Alenia Sustemi Subacquei Black Shark heavyweight torpedoes or SM.39 Exocet Anti-ship missiles and 30 mines in place of torpedoes.
The Kalvari was built with a special kind of high-tensile steel that is capable of withstanding high yield stress. This feature allows it to withstand pressure exerted by water, hydrostatic force, while diving deeper to enhance stealth.
The second of the Scorpenes under construction, Khanderi, was launched in January 2017 and it is currently undergoing rigorous phase of sea trials. The third Scorpene, Karanj, is being readied for launch later this year. The remaining submarines are likely to be delivered to the navy by 2020.