Operation Trident 1971 | Indian Navy | Indian Defence
Operation Trident was an offensive
operation launched by the Indian Navy on Pakistan's port city of Karachi during the Indo-Pakistani
War of 1971. Operation Trident saw the first use of anti-ship missiles in combat in the region. The operation was conducted on
the night of 4–5 December and inflicted heavy damage on Pakistani vessels and
facilities. While India suffered no losses, Pakistan lost a minesweeper, a destroyer, a cargo vessel carrying ammunition, and fuel storage tanks
in Karachi. Another destroyer was also badly damaged and eventually scrapped.
India celebrates its Navy Day annually on 4 December to mark this operation. Trident
was followed up by Operation Python three days later.
Prelude
The Indian Naval Headquarters (NHQ) in Delhi, along with
the Western Naval Command, planned to attack
the Port of Karachi. A strike group under Western Naval Command was formed for
this mission. This strike group was to be based around the three Vidyut-class
missile boats already deployed off the coast of Okha. However, these boats had limited
operational and radar range and to overcome this difficulty, it was decided to
assign support vessels to the group.
On 4 December, what was now designated as the Karachi
Strike Group was formed and consisted of the three Vidyut-class missile
boats: INS Nipat, INS Nirghat and INS Veer,
each armed with four Soviet made SS-N-2B Styx surface-to-surface missiles with a
range of 40 nautical miles (74 km; 46 mi), two Arnala-class anti-submarine corvettes: INS Kiltan and INS Katchall, and a fleet tanker, INS Poshak.
The group was under the command of Commander Babru Bhan
Yadav, the commanding officer of the 25th Missile Boat Squadron.
Attack
As planned, on 4 December, the strike group reached 250
nautical miles (460 km; 290 mi) (nmi) south off the coast of Karachi,
and maintained its position during the day, outside the surveillance range of
the Pakistan Air Force. As Pakistani aircraft did
not possess night-bombing capabilities, it was planned
that the attack would take place between dusk and dawn. At
10.30 pm Pakistan Standard Time (PKT), the
Indian task group moved 180 nmi (330 km; 210 mi) from its
position towards the south of Karachi. Soon Pakistani targets, identified as
warships, were detected 70 nmi (130 km; 81 mi) to the northwest
and northeast of the Indian warships.
INS Nirghat drove forward in a northwesterly
direction and fired its first Styx missile at PNS Khaibar, a Pakistani Battle-class destroyer. Khaibar,
assuming it was a missile from Indian aircraft, engaged its anti-aircraft systems.
The missile hit the right side of the ship, exploding below the galley in the
electrician's mess deck at 10.45 pm (PKT). This led to an explosion in the
first boiler room. Subsequently, the ship lost propulsion, and was flooded with
smoke. An emergency signal that read: "Enemy aircraft attacked in position
020 FF 20. No. 1 boiler hit. Ship stopped", was sent to Pakistan Naval
Headquarters (PNHQ). Due to the chaos created by the explosion, the signal
contained the wrong coordinates of the ship's position. This delayed rescue
teams from reaching its location. Observing that the ship was still
afloat, Nirghat fired its second missile hitting Khaibar in
the second boiler room on the ship's starboard side, eventually sinking the
ship and killing 222 sailors.
After verifying two targets in the area northwest of
Karachi, at 11.00 pm (PKT), INS Nipat fired two Styx missiles –
one each at cargo vessel MV Venus Challenger and its escort PNS Shah Jahan, a C-class destroyer. Venus
Challenger, carrying ammunition for the Pakistani forces, exploded immediately
after the missile hit, and eventually sank 23 nmi (43 km; 26 mi)
south of Karachi. The other missile targeted Shah Jahan and damaged
the ship very badly. At 11.20 pm (PKT), PNS Muhafiz,
an Adjutant-class minesweeper,
was targeted by INS Veer. A missile was fired and Muhafiz was
struck on the left side, behind the bridge. It sank immediately before it
could send a signal to the PNHQ, killing 33 sailors.
Meanwhile, INS Nipat continued towards Karachi
and targeted the Kemari oil storage tanks, placing itself 14 nmi
(26 km; 16 mi) south of the Karachi harbour. Two missiles were
launched; one misfired, but the other hit the oil tanks, which burned and were
destroyed completely, causing a Pakistani fuel shortage. The task force
returned to the nearest Indian ports.
Soon the PNHQ deployed rescue teams on patrol vessels to
recover the survivors of Khaibar. As Muhafiz sank before it
could transmit a distress call, the Pakistanis only learned of its fate from
its few survivors who were recovered when a patrol vessel steered towards the
ship's burning flotsam.
The Pakistan Air Force
retaliated for these attacks by bombing Okha Port, scoring direct hits on
fuelling facilities for missile boats, an ammunition dump, and the missile
boats' jetty. The Indian Navy anticipated this attack and had already
moved the missile boats to other locations to prevent any losses. However, the
destruction of a special fuel tank prevented any further incursions until Operation
Python, executed three days later.
As a result of the operation, all of the
Pakistan Armed Forces were put on high alert. The deployments raised a number
of false alarms in the ensuing days about the presence of Indian Navy vessels
off Karachi. One such false alarm was raised by a Pakistan Navy Fokker
Friendship reconnaissance aircraft on 6 December 1971, which incorrectly
reported a frigate of the Pakistan Navy as an Indian Navy missile boat. The
PNHQ requested a Pakistan Air Force air strike on the supposed Indian ship. At
06.45 am (PKT), fighter jets were scrambled and strafed the vessel before
it was identified as the frigate PNS Zulfiqar. This friendly
fire incident resulted in casualties and damage to the vessel.
With no casualties on the Indian side, this
operation was considered to be one of the most successful in modern naval
history post-World War II. To mark this victory, the Indian Navy annually
celebrates Navy Day on 4 December.
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