India celebrates Navy Day

• India celebrates Navy Day on December 4, commemorating the Indian Navy’s decisive role in Operation Trident during the 1971 Indo-Pak War.

• President Droupadi Murmu graced the Navy Day-2025 celebrations and witnessed the operational demonstration by the Indian Navy at Thiruvananthapuram.

Operation Trident

• Operation Trident was a major naval offensive in which the Indian Navy sank several Pakistani vessels, marking a historic use of anti-ship missiles and significantly damaging Pakistan’s naval capability.

• The missile boats of the Indian Navy launched a daring attack on Karachi harbour, as part of Operation Trident.

• The war of 1971, which was fought on both the Eastern and the Western front, was the first in which India engaged all three Services on a large scale.

• The Indian naval offensive began on December 4, when aircraft from INS Vikrant and ships of the Eastern Fleet launched strikes against military targets in East Pakistan, causing extensive damage to military installations and harbours of Pakistan.

• On December 4, 1971, the task group assembled for the operation comprised three Vidyut-class missile boats — INS Nipat, INS Nirghat, and INS Veer — from the 25th ‘Killer’ Missile Boat Squadron. 

• They were escorted by two Petya-class frigates, INS Kiltan and INS Katchall, along with a fleet tanker, INS Poshak. 

• The Petya-class frigates were tasked with providing communication and control support.

• By evening, the group had reached a position off Dwarka, about 150 miles from Karachi.

• The order to commence Operation Trident was issued, and the force advanced at high speed directly toward Karachi. 

• One of the four missile boats was ordered to remain on patrol off Dwarka to provide cover for the force on its way back.

• During the operation, INS Nirghat engaged to the northwest, sinking the Pakistani destroyer PNS Khaiber with two missiles. 

• INS Nipat targeted a northeastern contact, later identified as the merchant vessel MV Venus Challenger, and destroyed it with two missiles. 

• A third contact to the north was struck by INS Veer, which set the vessel — later confirmed as the Pakistani minesweeper PNS Muhafiz — ablaze before it sank.

• Nipat and Veer were ordered to advance toward Karachi. 

• Veer attacked two harbor targets, while Nipat launched a missile at the Karachi oil refineries at midnight, causing a massive explosion visible for miles. 

• Afterward, a withdrawal was ordered, but communication issues left INS Kiltan unaware of the signal, causing it to approach Karachi alone until it realised the rest of the group had already turned back. 

• The task force regrouped and returned toward the Saurashtra coast, refueled on December 5, and reached Bombay on December 6.

• While the Indian Indian Navy lost anti-submarine frigate Khukri during the naval operations in the Arabian Sea, it managed the primary objective by establishing effective supremacy in the sea. 

• The Pakistan Navy remained confined to the safety of Karachi harbor throughout the entire duration of the war.