PNS Hangor

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PNS Hangor was a Pakistani Daphné class submarine, which during the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War sank the Indian frigate INS Khukri. (This was the first submarine kill since World War II, and the only one until a Royal Navy nuclear submarine, HMS Conqueror, sank an Argentinian cruiser, General Belgrano, during the Falklands War.) The Pakistani Navy claimed that it also damaged another warship, INS Kirpan. It was the heaviest casualty that a Pakistan vessel inflicted on the Indian Navy in the war.[1] After the attack on Khukri, the Indian Navy ceased its attacks on Karachi and moved the focus of its operations to East Pakistan ports like Chittagong and Cox's Bazaar.

The Hangor (literally: Shark) was the lead ship of its class and was launched in France on 28 June 1968 and was inducted into the Pakistan Navy in 1971.

Its Captain Commander (later Vice Admiral) Ahmed Tasnim would later be awarded the Sitara-e-Jurat, Pakistan's 2nd highest military decoration, while its torpedo officer Lt Fasih Bokhari would later command the Pakistan Navy.

Hangor sailed in the early hours of 22 November 1971 to patrol off the Indian Kathiawar coast under the command of Commander Ahmed Tasnim S.J.

On 9 December, in an effort to locate the evasive enemy, Hangor extended her patrol northward to investigate some radio transmissions intercepted on her sensors. Two contacts were picked up on passive sonar and were identified as warships. The initial range was 6 to 8 miles. A pursuit of the enemy began but the first attempt to attack these ships failed due to speed disadvantage. The submarine however managed to forecast the target ships' movements and succeeded in taking up a tactically advantageous position on the path of the patrolling frigates by 19:00. At 19:57 the submarine fired a down-the-throat shot with a homing torpedo at the northerly ship from a depth of 40 meters.

The torpedo was tracked but no explosion was heard. The second torpedo was therefore fired immediately on the incoming southerly ship and this was followed by a tremendous explosion. The torpedo had found its mark. The other enemy frigate came straight for the submarine when a third torpedo was fired. A distant explosion was heard subsequently and the submarine turned west towards deeper waters for evasion. 18 officers and 176 sailors of INS Khukri were killed during the incident. It remains as India's biggest wartime casualty.

In a ceremony on 2 January 2006, PNS Hangor was decommissioned from the Pakistan Navy. It is planned to be turned into a museum ship, unlike other subs, which are scheduled to be scrapped. During the ceremony Vice Admiral Ahmed Tasnim, inspected the ship for the last time. Vice Admiral Ahmed Tasnim Sitaria-e-Jurat(SJ) & Bar had been the commander of Hangor the day she sank the Khukri.

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.orbat.com/site/cimh/navy/kills(1971)-2.pdf| Casualties in 1971 war

[edit] External links

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