24-403: Western Fleet may refer to: Western Fleet (India) Western Fleet (Saudi Arabia) Western Fleet (United Kingdom) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Western Fleet . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to
48-698: A deterrent posture. Elements of the Eastern Fleet joined the Western Fleet in the Arabian Sea later. The joint Western and Eastern Fleets blockaded the Pakistani ports (primarily the Karachi port ). They began aggressive patrols and threatened to cut Pakistan's sea trade. This exploited Pakistan's dependence on sea-based oil and trade flows. Later, then- Prime Minister of Pakistan , Nawaz Sharif disclosed that Pakistan
72-656: A submarine base commissioned on 19 May 1971, is the alma mater of the Indian Navy submariners. The Eastern Naval Command is organized as follows: The headquarters in Visakhapatnam , is also a strategically important dockyard for two nuclear-powered submarines of the Arihant-class submarine . Due to congestion and heavy shipping traffic, a new 20 square km base INS Varsha is being developed for exclusive naval use about 50 km south of Visakhapatnam. The Eastern Navy fleet
96-592: Is distributed among its bases at Paradip , Tuticorin , Kakinada and Chennai on the east coast, and in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands . The Navy has opened its latest naval air base, INS Baaz , at the southernmost tip of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to secure the strategically important Straits of Malacca , and another naval air station in Kolkata to base an unmanned aerial vehicle squadron. In 2005, Eastern Naval Command
120-581: Is known as the 'Sword Arm' of the Indian Navy. It is headquartered at Mumbai , Maharashtra on the west coast of India. It is a part of the Western Naval Command and is responsible for the naval forces in the Arabian Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean . The Western Fleet was formally constituted on 1 March 1968. The Fleet is commanded by a Two Star Flag Officer of the rank of Rear Admiral with
144-509: Is responsible for the all naval forces in the Bay of Bengal and parts of the Indian Ocean and the naval establishments on the east coast of India. The Command was established on 1 March 1968. The Command is commanded by a Three Star Flag Officer of the rank of Vice Admiral with the title Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command (FOC-in-C). Vice Admiral Rajesh Pendharkar is the current FOC-in-C ENC, who took over on 1 August 2023. After
168-662: Is the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet (FOCEF), Commodore Commanding Submarines (East) (COMCOS (E)), Admiral Superintendent Dockyard for Visakhapatnam , shore establishments, and five Naval Officers-in-Charge (NOICs). The Eastern naval Command has the states of Andhra Pradesh , Odisha and Tamil Nadu etc., under its area of responsibility. The FOC-in-C (East) is the submarine operating authority, under whom COMCOS (E) operates. The 11th ( Sindhughosh class submarine ) and 8th ( Foxtrot class ) Submarine Squadrons operate under COMCOS (E). INS Virbahu ,
192-669: The Eastern Naval Command . It is the logistics and administrative support establishment of the Command, supporting all ships and units based in Visakhapatnam. As of 2018, the establishment supports 52 additional units with strength of 2,300 sailors and 400 officers, besides accommodating inliving sailors of Circars. Under the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command (FOC-in-C East)
216-611: The Akula -class submarine INS Chakra . Naval aviation is provided by Westland Sea King helicopters. Apart from these, a number of smaller vessels such as fast attack craft made the total fleet strength of the command 52 vessels in 2012. Until 1997, INS Vikrant (1961) was the flagship of Eastern Fleet. After her de-commissioning in 1997, the Eastern Fleet has been without an aircraft carrier . Its aircraft carrier capability will get restored after first indigenously built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant (2013) joins
240-671: The independence and the partition of India on 15 August 1947, the ships and personnel of the Royal Indian Navy were divided between the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan . The division of the ships was on the basis of two-thirds of the fleet to India, one third to Pakistan. The Surface Fleet of the Navy was called Indian Fleet and was commanded by the Flag Officer Commanding Indian Fleet (FOCIF). Initially,
264-616: The maritime line of communication between West Pakistan and East Pakistan to prevent any reinforcements from reaching the beleaguered Pakistani forces at that end." The Order of Battle of the Western Fleet in 1971 was: Fleet Commander: Rear Admiral Elenjikal Chandy Kuruvila Flag Ship INS Mysore - Captain R K S Gandhi , VrC 15th Frigate Squadron 14th Frigate Squadron 31 Patrol Squadron Patrol Vessels Frigates Destroyer Submarines OSA Class Patrol Boats 25 K Squadron - Commander Babru Bhan Yadav , MVC 251K Division 252 K Division On 4 December,
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#1732847769583288-650: The Eastern Fleet was also created. With this, the appointment of FOEC was re-designated Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command (FOC-in-C ENC). The Indian Fleet was split between the Western Fleet and the Eastern Fleet with the Fleet Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet (FOCEF) reporting into the FOC-in-C ENC. On 1 March 1971, Vice Admiral Nilakanta Krishnan took over as FOC-in-C,
312-579: The Pakistan Navy's capabilities. In the war, The Indian frigate INS Khukri , commanded by Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla , MVC was sunk by PNS Hangor , while INS Kirpan was damaged on the west coast. The Indian Navy launched Operation Talwar on 25 May 1999. The entire Western Fleet had sailed from Mumbai to the North Arabian Sea to increase surveillance and adopt
336-522: The first three-star officer to lead the command. The oldest naval establishment of the Eastern Seaboard was the INS Circars, Visakhapatnam , which was identified as "an important convoy assembly point" for the Royal Indian Navy flotillas. A small Naval Base was established there on 12 December 1939 and the base was designated as HMIS Circars on 12 April 1942. Now, the base is the base depot ship of
360-591: The flagship of the Indian Fleet. The first Aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy, INS Vikrant was commissioned in 1961 and became the flagship of the Indian Fleet. On 1 March 1968, the Eastern Naval Command was established and the Indian Fleet was renamed as the Western Fleet. At the outbreak of war, the Western Fleet was commanded by Rear Admiral E C Kuruvilla, PVSM , AVSM . In mid 1971, The Aircraft carrier INS Vikrant , along with
384-603: The fleet successfully executed Operation Trident , a devastating attack on the Pakistan Naval Headquarters at Karachi that sank a minesweeper, a destroyer and an ammunition supply ship. The attack also irreparably damaged another destroyer and oil storage tanks at the Karachi port. To commemorate this, 4 December is celebrated as the Navy Day . This was followed by Operation Python on 8 December 1971, further deprecating
408-463: The frigates INS Brahmaputra and INS Beas were moved from the Western Fleet to the Eastern Naval Command . Due to this, INS Mysore, once again, became the flagship of the Western Fleet. According to Admiral Sourendra Nath Kohli , the then Commander-in-Chief Western Naval Command , "The Western Fleet was given a broad directive to seek and destroy enemy warships, protect our merchant shipping, deny sealanes to enemy shipping and render ineffective
432-463: The intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Western_Fleet&oldid=1246341789 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Western Fleet (India) The Western Fleet is a Naval fleet of the Indian Navy . It
456-460: The ships and personnel of the Royal Indian Navy were divided between the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan . The division of the ships was on the basis of two-thirds of the fleet to India, one third to Pakistan. This was then called the Indian Fleet. After her commissioning in 1948, HMIS Delhi (later called INS Delhi ) became the Flagship of the Indian Fleet. The Fleet commander
480-534: The shore establishments on the eastern coast were headed by a captain in the appointment of Naval Officer-in-Charge, Vishakapatnam (NOIC). This was subsequently upgraded to the appointment of Commodore East (COMEAST), a One Star appointment. The FOCIF and COMEAST reported into the Chief of the Naval Staff . In July 1967, COMEAST was upgraded to the two-star appointment of Flag Officer, East Coast (FOEC). On 1 March 1968,
504-522: The title Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet (FOCWF). Rear Admiral Rahul Vilas Gokhale is the current FOCWF, who took over on 23 August 2024. The current flagship of the Western Fleet is the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (R33) . The newer IAC-1, INS Vikrant , has also joined the Western fleets carrier battle group . After the independence and the Partition of India on 15 August 1947,
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#1732847769583528-489: Was home to 30 warships. INS Jalashwa is the flagship of Eastern Fleet and provides amphibious capabilities to the Indian Navy in the Bay of Bengal . Eastern Fleet is equipped with submarine pens and maintenance dockyards. The Amphibious Task Group of Eastern Naval Fleet has INS Jalashwa (LPD). It also includes five Rajput -class destroyers , four Kora -class corvettes, three Godavari -class frigates, three Shivalik -class frigates , Sindhughosh -class submarines and
552-433: Was left with just six days of fuel to sustain itself if a full-scale war had broken out. The Fleet Commander is titled Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet (FOCWF). The appointment has been known by several titles since 1947: Eastern Naval Command The Eastern Naval Command is one of the three command-level formations of the Indian Navy . It is headquartered in Visakhapatnam , Andhra Pradesh . The command
576-459: Was styled as Flag Officer Commanding Indian Fleet (FOCIF). In 1956, Rear Admiral Ram Dass Katari became the first Indian flag officer, and was appointed the first Indian Commander of the Fleet on 2 October, when he took over from Rear Admiral Sir St John Tyrwhitt . In 1957, INS Mysore was commissioned and the flag of Rear Adm Katari was transferred from INS Delhi to INS Mysore, thus becoming
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