INS Karwar (M67) of the Karwar subclass was a Pondicherry-class minesweepers that was in service with the Indian Navy till 2012, built by the Sredne-Nevskiy Shipyard at Saint Petersburg in Russia except for the addition of surface-to-air missiles.[2][3]

INS Karwar (right) and INS Kakinada before their decommissioning ceremony.
History
India
NameINS Karwar
NamesakeKarwar
Commissioned14 July 1986
Decommissioned9 May 2017[1]
IdentificationM67
General characteristics
Class and typeKarwar-class minesweeper
Displacement877 long tons (891 t) full load
Length61 m (200 ft 2 in)
Beam10.2 m (33 ft 6 in)
Draft2.7 m (8 ft 10 in)
Propulsion2 × M-503B diesels, 2 shafts, 5,000 bhp (3,700 kW)
Speed16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Range
  • 4,000 nmi (7,400 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
  • 3,000 nmi (5,600 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement10 officers, 72 enlisted
Sensors and
processing systems
  • Sonar:
  • MG-69/79 High frequency, hull mounted, active mine detection
  • Radar:
  • Don 2 I-band air/surface
  • 2 × Square Head - High Pole B IFF
  • MR-104 Drum Tilt H/I-band fire control
Electronic warfare
& decoys
  • Minesweeping:
  • AT-2 acoustic sweep
  • GKT-2 contact sweep
  • TEM-3 magnetic sweep
Armament
  • 4 × 30 mm (2×2) guns
  • 4 × 25 mm (2×2) AA
  • 2 × RBU 1200 5-tubed ASW rocket
  • 10 mines
  • 2 × 16 SA-N-5 SAM Grail missiles

INS Karwar was the first of the Natya-class minesweepers acquired from the USSR.[4] She was commissioned on 14 July 1986 in Riga (USSR) under the command of Commander RK Sinha. The ship operated from Vishakhapatnam till 2013 after which she was based at Mumbai. Her crew consisted of six officers and 90 sailors, INS Karwar had the motto Hamesha Tayyar ("Always ready"). The last commanding officer was Cdr Kaushik Dhar.

Karwar was decommissioned on 9 May 2017.[4][5] The decommissioning left the country with only four minesweepers.[6]

References

edit
  1. ^ @indiannavy (9 May 2017). "INS Karwar and INS Kakinada to be decommissioned at Sunset at Naval Dockyard Mumbai. Served the Navy for 31 years w…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ "GSL gets defence ministry's nod to build 12 minesweepers". The Times of India. 1 March 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  3. ^ "Seagoing Minesweepers". Russian Ships. Archived from the original on 3 April 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  4. ^ a b "INS Karwar and Kakinada decommissioned". www.indiannavy.nic.in. Indian Navy. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  5. ^ Staff Reporter (10 May 2017). "Naval ships decommissioned". The Hindu. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  6. ^ "Four Minesweepers Left With India After INS Karwar, INS Kakinada Decommissioned". www.defenseworld.net. 10 May 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2018.