INS Jalashva

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See also: USS Trenton (LPD-14)

Career (India)
INS Jalashwa, while still in U.S. Navy service as USS Trenton, Port Everglades, Florida, 2004
Laid down:	8 August 1966 (as USS Trenton)
Launched:	3 August 1968 (as USS Trenton)
Acquired:	17 January 2007 (formerly USS Trenton)
Motto:	"The fearless pioneers"
Fate:	Active service in Indian Navy
General characteristics
Displacement:	8894 tons light, 16590 tons full, 7696 tons dead
Length:	173.7 meters (570 feet) overall, 167 meters (548 feet) waterline
Beam:	30.4 meters (100 feet) extreme, 25.6 meters (84 feet) waterline
Draught:	6.7 meters (22 feet) maximum, 7 meters (23 feet) limit
Speed:	21 knots
Capacity:	900-1000 troops
Complement:	28 officers, 480 men, 1436 marines
Armament:	4 × 3 in / 50 caliber AA gun mounts
Aircraft carried:	6 UH-3 Sea King helicopters

The Trenton becomes the Jalashva as the Indian Navy jack is raised on the ship.

INS Jalashwa (L41) is an amphibious transport dock currently in service with the Indian Navy. Formerly the USS Trenton, it was procured by India for USD 48 million. It entered service in 2007, becoming the second largest ship of the Indian Navy (after the Aircraft Carrier INS Viraat). INS Jalashwa joined the Eastern Fleet (under the Eastern Naval Command) of the Indian Navy upon its arrival at Visakhapatnam naval base on 12th September 2007.

The need for increased amphibious landing capability was felt by the Indian Navy in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, when rescue and humanitarian efforts by th Navy were hampered due to inadequacy of amphibious ships. In early 2006, there were numerous press reports^{[citation needed]} that the Indian Navy was negotiating with the United States for the purchase of this vessel. These reports later turned out to be true when the Indian government announced it would purchase retired Austin class LPD USS Trenton for Rs 2.18 billion ($ 48.44 million). The US Government later revealed it had asked their Indian counterparts to keep this agreement under wraps as they felt it would alarm Non-Proliferation Activists and threaten the passage of the Indo-US Nuclear Deal.^[1]

The Indian Navy took possession of the ship on 17 January 2007 in Norfolk, Virginia after signing the transfer agreement by Commodore P. Murugesan, Naval Attaché, Embassy of India, Washington DC and the Rear Admiral Garry E. Hall of US Navy.^[2]. The Indian Navy has renamed the USS Trenton as the INS Jalashwa (river horse, or hippopotamus) and plans to keep it at Norfolk Naval Base for refitting until May 2007.^[3] Six UH-3 Sea King maritime utility transport helicopters, bought for $39 million^[4] will be operated from the ship.^[5] Sea Harrier aircraft can be operated from the deck of the ship.^[6] The ship is based at Visakhapatnam under the Eastern Naval Command. Captain BS Ahluwalia is the commissioning Commanded Officer. The ship was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 22 June 2007 at the Naval Station Norfolk, in United States. The ship was commissioned by Indian Ambassador to the United States Shri Ronan Sen. This is the first and only transfer of Naval ship from the United States to India.

The sister ship USS Nashville (LPD-13) was also offered to India.^[7]

[edit] Accident

On February 1, 2008, five Indian Navy personnel were killed, and three others critically injured due to inhaling poisonous hydrogen sulphide gas aboard INS Jalashwa. The mishap occurred during an exercise in the Bay of Bengal, between Vishakapatnam and the Andaman Islands.^[8]^[9] The ship headed to Port Blair, where the injured were provided medical treatment. The critically injured seamen, including Lt. Cdr. Shwet Gupta and Lt. Ruchir Prasad had to be airlifted at sea. Lt. Cdr. Shwet Gupta, an alumnus of Chail Military School, passed away on 9th Feb 2008 at R&R hospital, Delhi, bringing the total number killed in the incidence to 6.^[10].