Indian Navy ship to be developed as a museum in memory of 1971 war heroes
India Today
Decommissioned Indian naval ship (INS) Khukri will be handed over to the Diu administration so that it can be developed as a full-scale museum.
Lost in the 1971 war, Indian Navy corvette INS Khukri was born in a new avatar in 1989. Having served for 32 years the missile fitted vessel will now be developed as a museum in memory of the crew onboard during the Indo-Pak war.
After more than 32 glorious years of service to the nation and having participated in all forms of naval operations, the ship was decommissioned in a solemn ceremony on 23 December 2021.
As the nation celebrates Republic day, the vessel will be handed over to the Diu Administration on 26 January.
"The valiant crew of that ship, led by late Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla (MVC), has been immortalized in the Khukri Memorial at Diu where a scaled-down model of their old ship is displayed in solemn splendour," the defence ministry said.
According to the Ministry of Defence, as part of developing and revitalising the Khukri Memorial, the Diu administration had approached the defence ministry in 2019 to gift it for public display. As it turned out, it was time for the second Khukri to be paid off.
Khukri, the lead ship of the Indian Navy’s Khukri class corvettes and an indigenous surface-to-surface missile fitted vessel that had the distinction of being part of both the Western and Eastern Fleets. Built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, the ship was commissioned on 23 August 1989 in Mumbai.
The ship commenced her last journey under tow by Indian Navy ships from Visakhapatnam and arrived at Diu on 14 January 2022.
