Looking back at the IN and its activities since the last Navy Day throws up a year of action and achievement. From a change of guard at the helm, bilateral exercises, commissioning bases and ships, launching nuclear submarine to commissioning women officers in the combat wing, the IN has set its sails towards the sea of success.

» Vice Admiral Dilip Deshpande, took over as the Chief of Material on December 31, 2008 from Vice Admiral B.S. Randhawa.

» On January 8 this year, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh inau-gurated the Naval Academy at Ezhimala in Kerala.

» The IN commissioned its first helicopter base, INS Shikra, on January 22 in an impres-sive ceremony at Mumbai. Captain Philipose G. Pynumootil, the first Commanding Officer of INS Shikra, read out the Commissioning Warrant.

» In a unique event on February 16, the IN commissioned two ships—INS Carnicobar and INS Chetlat—on the same day. First in a series of 10 Water Jet fast attack ships being built at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata, the ships were com-missioned at Chennai by Governor of Tamil Nadu Surjit Singh Barnala. These are also the first ever water jet propelled ships of the IN. The commissioning marked another step in the direction of indigenisation of the navy’s shipbuilding efforts.

» On February 28, Defence Minister A.K. Antony laid the keel for the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC), one of the major mile-stones in indigenous shipbuilding. The design and construction of the IAC was sanctioned by the Government of India in January 2003. This is the most prestigious project, which the IN has taken up in-house so far. The design and construction of this ship is a technical complexity whose dimensions far outstrip any such challenge faced hitherto by the Indian naval designers. With this project, India has become the fourth nation to join the select club of 40,000 T-plus aircraft carrier design-ers and builders. The IAC, designed by the Navy’s Design Organisation, is being built at M/s Cochin Shipyard Limited. It would be capable of operating an aircraft mix of Russian MiG-29K, Ka31 and indigenous LCA.

» The 2009 edition of the SIMBEX (Singapore India Maritime Bilateral Exercise) series of annual bilateral naval exer-cises between the IN and the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) commenced in the Andaman Sea on March 24. As a part of this assignment, units exercised in the South China Sea until April 2. The joint engage-ment stands upon an enduring foundation of bilateral naval cooperation formalised a decade-and-a-half ago, when RSN ships began training in Anti-Submarine Warfare with the IN in 1994.

» On May 19, Admiral Sureesh Mehta, Chief of the Naval Staff, on a two-day visit to Eastern Naval Command, was the Chief Guest at the commissioning ceremony of IN’s sixth Landing Ship Tank (Large) Airavat at the IN Jetty at Naval Base, Visakhapatnam.

» An Indian naval ship, currently in the Gulf of Aden for anti-piracy surveillance and patrol operations, foiled a daring piracy attempt on Liberian registered merchant vessel MV Maud on May 28. The Indian warship had earlier commenced an eastbound escort of mer-chant vessels, including MV Maud, on May 27. Around 1250 hours on May 28, MV Maud with an Indian Master and nine Indian crew members reported a skiff manned by eight armed personnel approaching her at high speed. The subsequent confrontation took place approximately 225 nm east of Aden.

» An Indian Navy Task Group, led by the destroyer INS Delhi, along with frig-ates INS Beas and INS Brahmaputra, and the tanker INS Aditya reached Portsmouth on June 17, for Exercise Konkan with the Royal Navy. The task group was under the command of Rear Admiral Surinder Pal Singh Cheema, Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet. UK participants, command-ed by Commodore Simon Ancona, included the frigates HMS Westminster and HMS Lancaster, the nuclear powered submarine HMS Trafalgar, the auxiliaries RFA Mounts Bay and RFA Fort Rosalie and an RAF Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft. A team of IN divers also conducted Explosive Ordinance Disposal training with the Plymouth-based Southern Diving Group.

» On July 22, Chief of Staff of Bangladesh Navy Rear Admiral Zahir Uddin Ahmed arrived in India for a week-long visit.

» Arihant (Hindi for ‘Destroyer of Enemies’), India’s first indigenously built nuclear propelled strategic submarine, was launched on July 26 at the Ship Building Center in Visakhapatnam. India torpedothus joined a select group of nations with the technological capability to build and operate nuclear propelled submarines. The launch ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, accompa-nied by spouse Gursharan Kaur, Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, Union Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju, Minister of State for Human Resource Development D. Purandareswari, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta and high ranking officials from the navy, Department of Atomic Energy, and Defence Research and Development Organisation.

» The Chinese Ambassador, His Excellency, Zhang Yan, Rear Admiral Yao Zhilou Deputy Commander South Sea Fleet and Commanding Officer of PLAN (PLA Navy) Ship Shenzhen Senior Captain Zhao Chang Sheng met Vice Admiral Sunil K. Damle, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command were present at Headquarters Southern Naval Command, Kochi, during the visit of the Chinese warship on August 10.

» On August 31, Admiral Nirmal Verma took over from Admiral Sureesh Mehta as the CNS.