Operation Trident: the attack on Karachi

01Boats on tow

The Osa-class missile boats had been bought from the Soviet Union for coastal defence and had little range. For the attack on Karachi they were towed part of the way by larger ships, and the strike group of INS Nirghat, INS Nipat and INS Veer, with two Petya-class corvettes, Kiltan and Katchall, closed on Karachi after dark on 4 December under radio silence.

02Missiles in the dark

Late that night Nirghat fired at the destroyer PNS Khaibar, which took two missiles and sank. Nipat hit the merchant ship Venus Challenger, carrying ammunition, and then fired at the shore, setting the oil tanks at Kemari ablaze; Veer sank the minesweeper PNS Muhafiz. The destroyer PNS Shah Jahan was badly damaged. The squadron turned for home without a scratch. Its commander, Babru Bhan Yadav, was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra.

03Python and Navy Day

Three nights later Operation Python struck Karachi again, and the oil fires burned for days. The Pakistan Navy kept its ships in harbour for the rest of the war, and India held the Arabian Sea. The Indian Navy celebrates 4 December each year as Navy Day.