After serving India for 36 years, INS Ranjit decommissioned at Visakhapatnam

Vishakhapatnam, May 7: After serving India for 36 years, INS Ranjit, a Rajput class destroyer was given a salute and decommissioned at a solemn grand ceremony at Naval Dockyard on Monday at Visakhapatnam. The Decommissioning Ceremony was graced by 16 officers and 10 sailors from the commissioning crew and 23 erstwhile Commanding Officers.

 

The ship commissioned on 15 September 1983 by Captain Vishnu Bhagwat in erstwhile USSR has rendered yeoman service to the nation for 36 years. The ship since her commissioning has sailed for 2190 days covering a distance of over 7,43,000 nautical miles.

The ship has been at the forefront of major naval operations and has the distinction of serving on both Eastern and Western seaboards. Apart from various naval operations like Op Talwar and various multinational exercises, the ship has also been a flag bearer of the Indian Navy’s benign role by participating in relief operations post Tsunami in 2004 and Hud-hud on 2014.

 

At the sunset on Monday, the National Flag, Naval Ensign and Commissioning Pennant were lowered for one last time onboard, a glorious era in the history of the Indian Navy came to a nostalgic end.