Indian Navy Day: History, significance and all you need to know about 'Operation Trident'

The Indian Navy was established in 1612 by the East India Company. On December 3, 1971, Pakistan launched an attack on Indian air bases during the India-Pakistan war. Countering the attack, the Indian navy had sent 3 missile boats INS Veer, INS Nipat and INS Nirghat, Vidyut-class boats towards Karachi at maximum speed. During this operation, the Indian Navy sank 3 Pakistan ships.

Commodore Kasargod Patnashetti Gopal Rao was the one who led the attack that sank the ships in Karachi.

The Indian Navy on whole is a well balanced three-dimensional force, capable of operating above, on and under the surface of the oceans and safeguarding our national interests. The theme of Navy Day 2020 was "Indian Navy Combat Ready, Credible & Cohesive".

The 22nd Missile Vessel Squadron of the Indian Navy, also known as the 22 Killer Squadron consisted of two Prabal and six Veer class ships based in Mumbai. These ships were swift, heavily armed, and capable of delivering crippling blows to the enemy. The Squadron traces its history to Osa I class missile boats acquired from the erstwhile USSR in 1969. These ships participated in the 1971 war in Op Trident & Op Python sinking three Pakistan Navy ships and causing substantial damage to Keamari oil storage at Karachi.

On this day, 50 years ago, Op Trident was conducted in which the missile boats of Killers Squadron carried out an audacious attack off Karachi, Nirghat Nipat Veer fired missiles to sink PN ships Khyber & Muhafiz.

That's the reason why today as in 4th December is celebrated as Indian Navy Day to commemorate this victory.

Also this year, the Navy plans to celebrate on the theme 'Swarnim Vijay Varsh' to celebrate the 50th anniversary of India's victory. The success of the Indian navy was celebrated by the whole country. Social media has been flooded with posts with people talking about this victory as a sign of tribute to the Navy and creating awareness about the difficulties faced by the crew then.