Two years after it was decommissioned following a splendid 30 years in service, Indian Naval Ship Viraat, commonly known as the “grand old lady”, has come back to life – thanks to the shrill political campaign this Lok Sabha election.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday accused former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of using aircraft carrier INS Viraat as a ‘personal taxi’ during a holiday when he was at the helm.
As controversy broke out, then-Commanding Officer of INS Viraat Vice Admiral Vinod Pasricha (retd) and then-Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Southern Naval Command based in Cochin (now Kochi) Admiral L. Ramdas (retd) contradicted Modi’s claims.
However, some other Navy veterans, who were junior officers around that time, said the ship was indeed used for personal travel.
Also read: Modi’s claims on Rajiv’s INS Viraat holiday completely wrong, says ex-commanding officer
The Prime Minister, who also tweeted a link to a 1988 India Today report that went into great details about the 10-day holiday in Lakshadweep, alleged that Rajiv Gandhi’s Italian in-laws also accompanied him. According to the 1988 report, even Amitabh Bachchan was on board INS Viraat with the Gandhi family.
“Questionable actions were, however, in evidence. India’s premier warship, INS Viraat, was used to transport the Gandhis and moved in the Arabian Sea for 10 days. Its daily expenditure at sea is astronomical as the Viraat travels with an entire retinue of escort ships,” the 1988 report by journalist Anita Pratap said.
“A submarine was also reported to be in attendance and some defence experts questioned the justification of depriving the navy of its most effective fighting component merely to suit Rajiv’s holiday plans. Considerable expense was also incurred in setting up a special satellite link-up at Agatti for the duration of the holiday,” the report further said.
If this was indeed the case, then it will be the first time when a democratically elected leader commandeered prime military assets for personal holiday with family and friends.
However, both Vice Admiral Pasricha and former Navy chief Admiral Ramdas denied that anyone was on board INS Viraat except then-PM and his immediate family, something that the rules allowed.
Also read: When Rajiv Gandhi had a whale of a time in Lakshadweep… and performed a ‘heroic’ act
INS Viraat, commissioned into the Indian Navy just months before the infamous vacation, was the second centaur-class aircraft carrier after INS Vikrant, which was in service with the Navy for 30 years.
The INS Viraat, in her earlier avatar, had won Falklands War against Argentina in 1982 for the Royal Navy. She weighed about 27,800 tonnes and served in the British navy as HMS Hermes from November 1959 to April 1984. After refurbishment, she was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 12 May 1987. The ship holds the Guinness Record for being the oldest serving warship.
She operated Sea Harrier (White Tigers – fighter aircraft), Seaking 42B (Harpoons – Anti Submarine helicopters), Seaking 42C (Commando Carrier helicopters) and Chetak (Angles -SAR helicopter).
As per official records, various aircraft flying from the decks of INS Viraat clocked over 22,034 hours, and the warship spent nearly 2,250 days at sea sailing nearly 11 lakh kms. She circumambulated the globe nearly 27 times.
Also read: From INS Vikrant to INS Imphal, how names of Indian Navy ships have evolved over the years
The warship participated in Operation Jupiter in 1989 (the Indian peacekeeping operations in Sri Lanka) and Operation Vijay in 1999 (Kargil War). She also took part in important international joint naval exercises – the Malabar exercise with the US Navy, Varuna with the French Navy, Naseem-Al-Bahr with the Oman Navy.
Her last major appearance was at the International Fleet Review (IFR-2016) at Visakhapatnam. She was finally succeeded by INS Vikramaditya, which was commissioned in 2013.
The recent controversy has brought INS Viraat back in news, but its glorious history as a naval warship can hardly be matched by any other ship.