truth behind sinking of INS Khukri 1971 Indo-Pak War.

Lies being taught;

In “Transition to Triumph”, published by the Naval Headquarters it is stated that December 9 1971; Pak submarine ‘Hangor’ fired three torpedoes, first at INS Kirpan which failed to explode, second at INS Khukri which hit it leading to its sinking and third again at INS Kirpan, which Kirpan out maneuvered and ran it out.

Truth to the Surface

One of the few survivors of the submarine attack that sank the INS Khukri in 1971 sheds new light on the mysterious circumstances in which the ship went down during the war. A report by VK Shashikumar

                The Indian Navy is considering launching salvage operations to bring up the remains of INS Khukri, which was sunk during the 1971 India-Pakistan war. In March this year, the remains of the ship were believed to have been located about 40 Km sought of Diu. If Khukri is salvaged, it will finally set to rest intrigue and speculation about the circumstances in which the ship went down. 

sunk in controversy: INS Khukri which sank during the 1971 India-Pakistan war

        Thirty three years later, one of the six surviving officers, Chanchal Singh gill, 54, a shipwright artificer on board Khukri reveals his version of what happened on the night of December 9, 1971. He says there are strong reasons to believe that an American submarine, which might have been a part of the US 7th fleet, fired at Khukri.

        Last year, the Naval headquarters dispatched a letter to Gill recognizing his bravery when Khukri was torpedoed. The letter states: “It has been brought to the notice of the Chief of the Naval Staff that you were on board INS Khukri during the 1971 war and displayed exemplary courage and dedication to duty while fighting with enemy. Subsequently, you took all the corrective actions during the sinking of INS Khukri whilst it as hit by the enemy torpedoes on 09 December 1971.” The Indian Navy recalled his contribution and sanctioned a one time cash reward of Rs. 50,000/-. Official naval history of this period states that PNS Hangor, a Pakistani submarine commanded by Captain Taslim Ahmed, sank it on the night of December 09, 1971.it says that the submarine fired three torpedoes, one went under INS Kirpan and the other hit Khukri. The submarine fired a third torpedo at INS Kuthar, but the ship is believed to have taken antisubmarine maneuvers and avoided being hit. Khukri’s Commanding Officer, Capt. Mahender Mulla, went down with the ship along with 18 officers and 178 sailors. Only six officers and 61 sailors survived. Mulla was awarded a Param Vir Chakra posthumously and Captain RR Sood of INS Kirpan got a Vir Chakra. Khukri, Kirpan and Kuthar were sister ships, three antisubmarine frigates that took part in 1971 naval operations.

        Gill says that the reason why he is revealing what happened on December 9, 1971, is because he believes that the Navy has concealed the truth about the sinking of Khukri. “After I read about the spate of fake encounters, like the one on Siachen glacier, for bravery awards I wanted to share the truth with the nation. The government must come out with the truth about the sinking of INS Khukri,” says Gill.

       The Indian Navy’s two fierce attacks on Karachi had completely demoralized the Pakistani Navy. “The Indian Navy western fleet had choked Pakistani Navy and was patrolling off the coast of Karachi. Not even a fishing boat could get to Karachi without the Indian Navy interdicting it. So how could a Pakistani submarine escape the Indian Navy’s dragnet?” asks Gill.

       But what is intriguing is Gill’s detailed account of the submarine’s movements. Pakistan had four submarines- PNS Ghazi, Hangor, Mangor and Shiusk. These were conventional submarines that needed to resurface for two hours within a 24 hour span. These subs had extremely low endurance capacity and had to come up to snorting depth to suck in air, charge batteries and then submerge again. But the movements of the submarine that sunk Khukri were not that like of a conventional sub. It never resurfaced and was never spotted. “There were regular intelligence reports of a submarine prowling in the vicinity of our ships but we could never spot it or hit it with our antisubmarine warfare,” says Gill.

       The western fleet had a complement of three sister ships- INS Khukri, INS Kirpan and INS Kuthar- all antisubmarine frigates. INS Khukri was the squadron commander. During the operations INS Kuthar developed a problem in the boiler room because of the bursting of a steam pipe. The ship was completely “off power” and was towed back to the Mumbai harbour. INS Kirpan was tasked to tow it and INS Khukri was detailed to provide screening support against any enemy submarine attack or air warfare. On December 5, 1971, as the frigates set sail towards the base, INS Khukri made contact with a submarine. Its sonar picked up echoes of a submarine and Khukri’s commander, Captain Mahendra Mulla, ordered immediate counter measures. Antisubmarine ammunition- limbos- was fired. But a hit could not be confirmed. Generally, the appearance of the oil patches on surface of the sea or bubbles is considered as evidence of a hit on a submarine.

       As part of the counter measures INS Kuthar was dehooked from INS Kirpan. This was done so that the latter did not become a sitting duck. INS Kirpan, commanded by Captain RR Sood, was asked to join the fight against the submarine. The next day the frigates reached the base. Repair work and replenishment of the frigates began almost immediately. New lifeboats were attached and the Navy fixed a new antisubmarine detection system on INS Khukri on a trial basis. It was fixed below the anchor cable lockers located at the keel of the ship.

       On December 8, while INS Kuthar was still being serviced, the other two frigates sailed to join the fleet patrolling off Karachi. As soon as these ships were on the high seas they established classified contacts with the submarine again. The submarine was engaged but could not be hit. The next day a naval intelligence dispatch led to impromptu celebrations on board INS Khukri. The dispatch said that a Pakistani submarine, PNS Ghazi, was sunk off the coast of Vishakhapatnam on the intervening night of December  3 and 4. There was jubilation on board. The morale of the Indian Navy was high.

       Challenging the official version of events, he says that INS Khukri was not on ‘action station’ when the torpedoes were fired. Action station is sounded when direct contact is made with an enemy ship and everyone on board takes up their designated duty post, Senior Officers, including the Captain and Chief Engineer, were celebrating in the officers’ mess, raising a toast to the sinking of PNS Ghazi. Suddenly everyone forgot that the submarine was still lurking in the sea. Clearly, Khukri was not on ‘action station’ mode.

       Gill was on duty when the first torpedo fired by the submarine hit the ship’s propeller at 8.45 PM. The ship’s design was such that the ammunition storage area was just above the propeller. In the ammunition dump, stacks of limbo magazines were overlaid with mortars. Therefore, the first hit resulted in a massive explosion and that portion of the ship was blown away. The force of the explosion threw Gill off the ship into the cold Arabian Sea. When he bobbed up, he realized he was around 50 yards away from the right side of the ship.

       Then, there was a second hit between the engine room and the boiler room. Within seconds there was a third hit between the bow and the middle of the ship. “I saw a submarine surface and train a flashlight on the sinking ship. The submarine had surfaced to confirm the hit. At that time the bow of INS Khukri was up and slowly sinking. Then the submarine submerged again,” says Gill.

        INS Kirpan was on the port side. They got so panicky that they kept firing their mortars aimlessly. According to Gill, torpedoes are homing weapons and the first one did not go under INS Kirpan. All the three torpedoes hit Khukri. He alleges that “Kirpan ran off from the scene” and says he wants the navy to acknowledge and revealed that the INS Kirpan did not even rescue the navy men who were thrown off the ship.

        According to Gill, the third attack on Karachi was cancelled after the sinking of INS Khukri. So if the intention of the attack on Khukri was to deter the Indian Navy from doing so, then that intent was recognized by India. Certainly, it is difficult to make out a case for Pakistan Navy to send such a strong signal when its Navy was virtually routed by the fierce Indian naval attack. That brings up the question- whose and what kind of submarine attacked INS Khukri. From December 5 to December 14 Indian ships made contact with the submarine. It never surfaced and attacked Khukri at night. Even the Indian Navy’s antisubmarine helicopters could not detect the submarine.

     Chanchal Singh Gill, who was on duty when the first torpedo hit INS Khukri, says there are strong reasons to believe that an American submarine fired at the ship. Despite continuous naval intelligence of a presence of a submarine off the west coat of India why weren’t the survivors of Khukri debriefed? “Today they want to spend crores of rupees to extricate Khukri and find out the real reasons for its sinking during war. At that time nobody bothered to ask us what we saw,” says Gill, adding. “We were just asked how we got hold of a raft and survived.”

         So, was it a nuclear submarine, capable of staying underwater for a long period of time and part of the 7th fleet, responsible for the sinking of Khukri?"

Source; tehelka_khukri
Though Author has met Sh Chanchal singh but instead of writing a fresh article, I found that one written by tehalka was good so I am sharing their article.    
Kaps