New Delhi: This year, to mark Navy Day, observed on 4 December, the Indian Navy is setting sail for the west coast for celebrations — to Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg Fort.
The Navy will carry out an elaborate display of different vessels with different capabilities. Sources told ThePrint that aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, among other ships, is scheduled to participate in the operational demo Monday.
The annual celebration commemorates the Indian Navy’s attack on the Karachi harbour during Operation Trident carried out in 1971 during the Bangladesh Liberation War.
The demo this year, said a press release by the Indian Navy, will witness participation of 20 warships along with 40 aircraft, including MiG-29K and the LCA Navy, along with a combat beach reconnaissance and assault demo by the Marine Commandos of the Indian Navy. It will also feature high speed boats, sky divers, search and rescue demo, capital warships streaming past with various helicopter drills and a flypast by aircraft and helicopters.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to unveil a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Rajkot Fort in Malvan on 4 December, after which he will attend the celebrations and witness the operational demo.
On why the Navy decided to conduct the Op Demo in Sindhudurg, a source in the defence and security establishment said, “This comes as a part of recent policy by the government of India to move army, navy and air force day celebrations out of New Delhi for larger engagement. Last year, the Navy Day was carried out in Visakhapatnam. Moreover, the thought behind conducting the Navy Day celebrations in Sindhudurg, Maharashtra, is also because the year 2023 marks the 350th year of King Shivaji’s coronation.”
Also read: Navy set to withdraw its ceremonial uniform ‘No.2’, replace it with half-sleeved shirt & trousers
About Sindhudurg Fort
The fort of Sindhudurg, an island fort in the Arabian Sea off the western coast in Maharashtra, was built between AD 1664 and 1667 by the Maratha king Shivaji. The fort lies in the Sindhudurg district in the Konkan region of Maharashtra.
The fort is constructed on a low island called Kurte, about 1.6 km offshore from Malvan. A small ruined fort called Padamgad, opposite Sindhudurg, was built on a smaller island and served as a shipyard for the Maratha Navy.
As the Marathas were well-versed with naval warfare, Sindhudurg was among the forts that allowed the Marathas to establish a stronghold on the coast of Konkan against great powers of that time, such as the Portuguese, the English and the Dutch. The main enemy that the fort was built to guard against were the Siddis of Janjira.
It was on 5 December 1664 that the foundation stone of Sindhudurg was laid.
Dr B.K. Apte, in his book, A History of the Maratha Navy and Merchant Ships, writes that Sindhudurg was among the naval forts that Shivaji completed by 1653-1680. Other forts included Vijaydurg, Suvarnadurg and Kolaba. “Sindhudurg — This fort was constructed by Shivaji at the southern end of the Ratnagiri district when all his attempts to take the island fort of Janjira proved futile,” he wrote.
According to another book — The Sea Hawk, written by Manohar Malgonkar — Shivaji built 13 new sea-side forts along the Konkan coast, and fortified and improved many others. “The hulks are still there, with great gaping holes in their sides. Perhaps the best preserved is Sindhu-durg, built on an island off Malwan, earmarked but never destined to become the headquarters of the Maratha naval force,” wrote Malgonkar.
According to various historical records, the fort stretches across 48 acres and has an underwater passage built in the 16th Century.
The Maratha naval prowess grew after the construction of Sindhudurg fort. According to Portuguese Mahratta Relations, written by Dr P.S. Pissurlencar, “The Captain of Chaul wrote to the Governor of Goa in August 1664 that Shivaji was building 50 ships in Upper Chaul and that seven of them were ready to set out to sea.”
“The Portuguese adopted the policy of not obstructing their passage in view of Shivaji’s ever-growing power. In this way, Shivaji’s navy went on gaining strength to such an extent and at such speed that Vice-Rei Conde de San Vicente was constrained, at the end of 1667, to write to the King of Portugal: “I am afraid of Shivaji’s naval ships. We did not take sufficient preventive steps and so he has built many a fort on the Konkan Coast. Today he has several ships and they are large ones,” it added.
Also read: Next-gen destroyers on drawing board, Twin Engine Deck Based Fighters expected by 2032, says Navy