India today (September 2) commissioned its first indigenously built naval aircraft carrier, the INS Vikrant at Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi. The second aircraft carrier for India, INS Vikrant is the biggest naval ship built in India and was commissioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The 262 m long, 62 m wide and 59 m tall INS Vikrant has a top speed of 28 knots. The massive ship has a full displacement of 45,000 tonnes and can house a crew of 1,600 easily.
But this is not the first INS Vikrant to serve the Indian Navy. The aircraft carrier has been named after India’s first aircraft carrier, also called INS Vikrant.
“Indigenous Aircraft Carrier Vikrant, the largest & most complex warship ever built in the maritime history of India, named after her illustrious predecessor, India’s first Aircraft Carrier which played a vital role in the 1971 war is all set to be commissioned,” tweeted the Ministry of Defence.
Indigenous Aircraft Carrier #IACVikrant the largest & most complex warship ever built in the maritime history of #India, named after her illustrious predecessor, India’s first Aircraft Carrier which played a vital role in the 1971 war is all set to be commissioned#INSVikrant pic.twitter.com/ADsSoIXUNr
— रक्षा मंत्री कार्यालय/ RMO India (@DefenceMinIndia) September 2, 2022
The history of the original INS Vikrant starts at the height of WWII. The British Navy had commissioned six light aircraft carriers to fight the German and Japanese navies. The conflict came to an end with the Majestic-class HMS Hercules, as the ship was known then, built 75 percent to completion.
Newly-independent India had the need of outfitting its navy and in 1957, the country bought the incomplete HMS Hercules. Four years later, the ship was commissioned in Belfast by Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit as INS Vikrant. The name meant ‘victorious,’ ‘courageous,’ or ‘bold’ in Sanskrit.
INS Vikrant provided naval support during Operation Vijay (liberation of Portuguese India). During the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war, the ship was being retrofitted and saw no action. But it was in 1971 that the aircraft was essential in maintaining the maritime blockade of East Pakistan. Post the liberation of Bangladesh, the aircraft carrier didn’t see combat action but was regularly retrofitted until 1997, when it was decommissioned.
The vessel was then turned into a museum ship in Cuffe Parade, Mumbai, and has stayed so until 2012. Finally, the ship was auctioned for its steel after clearance from the Supreme Court in 2014.
