Operation Trident | |||||||
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Part of Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
3 missile boats, 2 anti-submarine patrol vessels | Unknown number of ships | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
None[4] |
Minesweeper PNS Muhafiz[4][5] Destroyer PNS Khaibar[4][5] PNS Shahjahan damaged[4][5] Heavy damage to fuel storage tanks[4][5] |
Operation Trident and its follow-up Operation Python were naval offensive operations launched on Pakistan's port city of Karachi by the Indian Navy during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Operation Trident was the first time ship-launched missiles were used in the region, and saw the first sinking of naval vessels in the region since independence for the two nations.[4] As a result of this operation, India celebrates Navy Day annually on 4 December.
Background
Karachi housed the headquarters of the Pakistani Navy and almost the entire fleet was based at Karachi Harbour. Karachi was also the hub of Pakistan's maritime trade, meaning that a blockade would be disastrous for Pakistan’s economy. The defence of Karachi harbour was therefore paramount to the Pakistani High Command and it was heavily defended against any air or naval strikes. Karachi received some of the best defence Pakistan had to offer, as well as cover from strike aircraft based at two airfields in the area.
Operation Trident
On 4 December, the Indian Navy launched a fast naval strike on the Karachi port[6]. The Indian fleet was to lie 250 miles (400 km) from Karachi during the day, outside the range of Pakistani aircraft, and attack at night because most of these aircraft did not possess night-time bombing capability.[7]
The task group for the operation consisted of three Vidyut class missile boats, from the 25th "Killer" Missile Boat Squadron (INS Nipat (K86), INS Nirghat (K89), and INS Veer (K82)), two ''Petya'' class frigates, INS Tir and INS Kiltan (P79), [5][6] and escorted by two anti-submarine patrol vessels.[4][5] At 2150 hrs, the task group was 70 nautical miles (130 km) south of Karachi, detectied Pakistani presence and launched several missiles, sinking the minesweeper PNS Muhafiz and the destroyer PNS Khaibar.[4][5] Another Pakistani destroyer, PNS Shahjahan was also severely damaged. The missile boats then hit the fuel storage tanks at Karachi harbour, setting them ablaze.[4]
The Pakistani Navy, now put on alert, raised a false alarm of another missile attack on 6 December[clarification needed] from an Indian missle boat. Planes from the Pakistani Air Force scrambled to attack the supposed Indian ship and damaged the vessel before it was identified as one of their own ships. The Pakistani ship PNS Zulfiqar suffered casualties and damage as a result of this friendly fire[5][6]. Operation Trident was an enormous success with no damage to any of the ships in the Indian task group[4], which returned safely back to Indian ports[5][clarification needed]. The success of this operation prompted another successful attack on the Pakistani coast named Operation Python[6].
Sources
- S.M.Nanda (2004). The Man Who Bombed Karachi. HarperCollins India. ISBN.
- Operations in the Arabian Sea – Pakistan Military Consortium
External links
References
- ^ http://www.subcontinent.com/1971war/seawar.html
- ^ http://in.rediff.com/news/2002/jan/09nad.htm
- ^ http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GC04Df06.html
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Indo-Pakistani War of 1971".
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Operations in the Arabian Sea". Cite error: The named reference "Pakdef" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b c d "Trident, Grandslam and Python: Attacks on Karachi".
- ^ "How west was won…on the waterfront".