(12 May 1987 to 12 May 2012)
On 12 May 1987 the 25-years-old HMS Hermes became INS Viraat
under the command of Capt (later Vice Admiral) Vinod Pasricha. Born in Nov 1959
as HMS Hermes, INS Viraat took avatar after completing 28 years under the union
jack and after having earned glory in the Falklands Campaign of the Royal Navy.
The commissioning signal from the Naval
Headquarters said:
“Your commissioning today marks an
important milestone in the development of our Navy’s blue water capability. May
your operational prowess match your gigantic name and good fortune attend on
you wherever you may sail. I wish all officers and men a happy, challenging and
rewarding commission”
The message from the crew of the Hermes
read:
“Bringing forward HMS Hermes for hand over
to the Indian Navy and commissioning as INS Viraat… It is with a mixture of
sadness, pride and confidence that we today handover this magnificent ship to
the Indian Navy; sadness in that we with our happy memories witness her passing
from the Royal Navy, pride in the capabilities noting that she will be in good
hands and confident that she will prove equal and worthy of all the aspirations
the Indian Navy have for her as Viraat. The Captain, officers and ships company
of HMS Hermes congratulate the Captain, officers and ships company on the
majesty of INS Viraat and may good fortune attend all who sail in her quest to
control the sea and be all powerful."
The words proved prophetic as INS Viraat
has been maintained and run successfully by the professional men of the Indian
Navy for a full 25 years, making Hermes-Viraat one of the longest serving
aircraft carrier in the history of naval operations anywhere in the world. This
speaks volumes of the Indian Navy’s capability in maintaining and operating
ships so as to extract the utmost from them.
On the occasion of Hermes-Viraat completing
50 years in service in 2009, The Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Nirmal Verma, who
commanded Viraat from 08 Nov 1996 to 13 Dec 1997 said:
“The fact that a warship designed in 1940s
and built in the 1950s could evolve and adjust to the technological and
strategic imperatives of the post war years, the Cold War and continues to have
utility in the 21st century is testimony to the men and women who built her and
also those who have contributed to transforming her over the years.
The ship has over the years truly stood up
to its slogan “Any Mission, Any Time Anywhere”
Some other interesting facts of INS Viraat
When commissioned in 1987, her envisaged
life was 10 years....
INS VIraat’s last major modernisation and
life enhancement refit was undertaken in 2008-09 enabling a life extension of a
few more years ie till the arrival of Vikramaditya ie definitely till 2013...
INS Viraat was the flag ship of the western
fleet during Op Parakram. With its full strength of Sea Harriers embarked,
Viraat was central to the Western Fleet deployment for over six months. She was
at sea with Capt (now VAdm) DK Joshi as the Commanding Officer and RAdm (later
VAdm) JS Bedi as the Fleet Commander.
Currently commanded by Capt Ajendra Bahadur
Singh, the 19th CO of the ship.
Ship has seen 18 Commanding Officers of
which three went onto become Chief of Naval Staff viz Adm Madhvendra Singh, Adm
Arun Prakash and Adm Nirmal Verma.
Ship has done over 40,000 hours of steaming
and traversed over 5,00,000 nautical miles across the proverbial seven seas.
The ship has undertaken over 20,000 hrs of flying from its deck.
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