Indian Navy is the fifth largest Navy in the world. The Ezhimala Naval Academy in Kerala is the largest of its kind in Asia. The Indian Navy can trace its lineage back to the 17th-century East India Company’s Marine; it was succeeded by the Royal Indian Navy, which was renamed in 1950 after India became a republic. The 17th-century Maratha emperor Chhatrapati Shivaji Bhosle is considered as the ‘Father of the Indian Navy’. Here are some facts related to Indian Navy:
10 Facts about Indian Navy
- British east India company established their navy East India Company’s Marine in 1612 which later became Royal Indian Navy. After the independence of India on 26 January 1950, Royal Indian Navy became Indian Navy. Indian Navy’s first operation was against the Portuguese Navy during the liberation of Goa in 1961.
- Chief of Naval Staff is the head of Indian Navy. Other principle staff officers are- Vice Chief of Naval Staff, Deputy Chief of Naval Staff,Chief of Personnel, Chief of Material, Controller of Logistics Support. Indian Navy’s headquarter is located in New Delhi.
- Indian navy’s first aircraft carrier is INS Vikrant and the largest aircraft carrier of Indian Navy is INS Viraat. All the service ships of Indian navy is prefixed with INS which means Indian Naval Ship or Indian Navy Station.
- The Ezhimala Naval Academy in Kerala is the largest of its kind in Asia.
- Sagar Pawan is the aerobatic demonstration team of the Indian Navy. It is one of the only two naval aerobatic teams in the world, the other being the Blue Angels of the US Navy. The team uses 4 HJT-16 Kiran Mk.2 trainer aircrafts, and the colour scheme used by the aircraft is dark blue on white.
- The Sagar Prahari Bal (SPB) is a unit of the Indian Navy which is responsible for patrolling India’s coastal waters. It was formed in March 2009 after Mumbai attacks.
- The Indian Navy has a number of bases and some of these bases are located in Mumbai, Kochi, Visakhapatnam, Goa, Chennai, Pune, Coimbatore, Chilka and Port Blair. The Naval Headquarters is in New Delhi.
- Indian Navy has three commands: Eastern Command in Vishakhapatnam, Western Command in Mumbai and Southern Command in Cochin. Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief is the head of each command center
- MARCOS or Marine Commandos are the special force of Indian Navy. They are said to be ‘the few, the fearless’. They are the most feared soldiers in the enemies. They are the most efficient special force.
- The Indian Navy fought one of the largest naval conflicts since the Second World War. During the 1971 Indo-Pakistani war, the Indian Navy executed a blockade, carrier aircraft bombing missions and cruise missile strikes against land targets. Using anti-ship cruise missiles to destroy Pakistani oil tank farms was quite innovative for its time.
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