Visakhapatnam: After serving the Indian navy for 36 years, ‘INS Ranjit,’ the Indian Navy’s Frontline missile destroyer, was decommissioned Monday at the Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam.
Commissioned in 15 September 1983, INS Ranjit is the third of the five Kashin-class destroyers, and it was built by the USSR. It has sailed for 2,190 days, covering over 7,43,000 nautical miles, equivalent to navigating around the world 35 times and 3.5 times the distance from the earth to the moon since being commissioned. 27 commanding officers have so far helmed the ship. Captain Vikram C Mehra has been in command of INS Ranjit since 6 June 2017.
The ship has served on both the Eastern and Western seaboards and has been the forefront of major naval operations, such as ‘Op Talwar’. It was also part of relief operations post Tsunami in 2004 and Hud-hud on 2014. The ship was awarded Unit Citations by the Chief of Naval Staff in 2003-04 and in 2009-10 for its service to the nation.
A solemn ceremony was held at Naval Dockyard and the ship was decommissioned by lowering the national flag, naval ensign and Commissioning Pennant.
16 officers and 10 sailors from the commissioning crew and 23 erstwhile Commanding Officers graced the ceremony. Admiral (Retd) Devendra Kumar Joshi, Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, was the Chief Guest. He was also part of the commissioning crew.