Operation Trident

By the end of 1971, relations between India and Pakistan had once again deteriorated. In Pakistan at that time, a full-scale civil war raged between the government army and the rebels , who stood for the independence of East Pakistan , a population mostly inhabited by ethnic Bengalis , which later became known as the War of Independence of Bangladesh . India , wanting to weaken the traditional rival, as well as to reduce the flow of refugees hiding from the Pakistani reprisals in the ethnically close Indian state of West Bengal , supported the insurgents, which could not but cause Pakistan’s displeasure.

The Pakistani leadership, who came to the conclusion that the guerrilla movement could not be suppressed until it received support from India, decided to force India to stop this support by force. Tensions between the two countries have steadily increased since the summer of 1971, and by the end of the autumn regular incidents occurred at the borders. On December 3, 1971, the Pakistani Air Force attempted a surprise attack on the Indian Air Force bases, known as Operation Genghis Khan . It did not bring the expected success, but served as a trigger for the start of the Third Indo-Pakistani War and freed the hands of the Indian navy for the long-planned naval blockade of Pakistan.

Pakistan’s main supply volumes went through its only deep-sea port in Karachi, the Pakistani Navy’s main base was located there, so the attack on Karachi was an obvious step to establish a blockade, and was planned by Indian headquarters long before the official start of the war. Considering the importance of the port for supplying the country and supporting fleet operations, it was well protected and air-covered by two air bases located nearby. However, Pakistani aviation at that time could not operate successfully at night, which the Indian command took advantage of.

The main developer of the operation was the Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda. Due to the fact that Pakistani aviation could not work at night, it was decided to strike the blow at night. For the operation, project 205 missile boats were purchased, purchased long before that from the Soviet Union and consolidated into the 25th Killer Squadron based in Bombay . However, since the range of the boats was insufficient, the plan of the operation provided for the participation of the tanker in it and refueling just before the strike. Ultimately, the detachment allocated for the operation consisted of three missile boats of the Ave. 205 (Vidyut class, according to the Indian classification): INS Nipat (K86), INS Nirghat (K89) and INS Veer (K82); two anti-submarine patrol pr. 159 (also soviet built) INS Kiltan (P79) and INS Katchall (P81); as well as the INS Poshak squadron . The commander of the 25th squadron, Commander Babru Bhan Yadav, was appointed to command the operation.

Early in the morning of December 4, 1971, an Indian detachment left the base, with the patrol and tanker leading missile boats in tow to save fuel. At about noon, the detachment reached the designated location 240 miles south of Karachi, outside the coverage area of ​​Pakistani aviation. The ships refueled from the tanker and began to wait for the onset of darkness. Commander Yadav was aboard the Nipata and, at dusk, ordered to advance towards Karachi, avoiding contact with patrol aircraft and ships. By ten o'clock in the evening, the shock group consisting of Nipata, Nirgata, Fan and covering them from Kiltan’s underwater attacks was about 70 miles from Karachi.

• At 10:30 pm, Indian boats discovered targets 42 miles to the northeast and 45 to the northwest. Nirgat deviated to the north-west and, after identifying the target, which was the Pakistani destroyer Khyber, opened fire with P-15 Termit missiles . The crew of "Khyber" took the rocket for the attacking fighter and opened fire from anti-aircraft artillery, but could not hit it.
  • At 22:45, the rocket hit the Khyber on the starboard side of the stern engine room. Boiler number 1, damaged by impact, exploded, depriving the ship of course. The radiogram went to the headquarters: “It was attacked by aviation in the square 020 FF 20, getting into the boiler number 1, I do not have a move”. The coordinates transmitted in the confusion turned out to be wrong, which subsequently made the rescue work more difficult.
  • At 22:49, Nirgat launched a second missile at the Khyber, which also failed to shoot down. The hit destroyed the boiler number 2, after which the Khyber quickly sank. ^[ten]
• At 23:00 Nipat reached the distance of the strike against its targets, and fired one rocket into each: into the Venus Challenger transport and the Shah Jahan destroyer escorting it. The transport, which later turned out according to Indian data, was carrying ammunition sent from American warehouses in Saigon in the form of US military aid to Pakistan, immediately exploded and sank about 26 miles from the port. The destroyer, badly damaged by the impact, was completely incapacitated and subsequently decommissioned as unrepairable.
• At 23:30, “Fan” was found by the minesweeper “Muchafiz” and launched one rocket at it, the hit of which was completely destroyed, before it could send a message about the disaster. The survivors from the “Governorate” were then accidentally discovered by rescuers seeking survivors from the “Khyber”.
• Continuing north, Nipat then struck both remaining missiles at the Kemari oil storage facility 14 miles from the port. One of the rockets, according to various sources, either passed by the target or did not explode, but the explosion of the second destroyed one of the tanks and caused a fire that destroyed the tank farm.

After that, the boats that had completed the task turned around and left at full speed south. After connecting with the patrol and tanker, the detachment headed for Bombay to avoid the retaliatory strike of Pakistani aviation under cover of darkness.

In response to this attack, Pakistani aviation bombarded the forward base of Indian missile boats in Okha, Gujarat . However, it didn’t bring much success, because after the raid the boats went straight into a much better protected Bombay. Nevertheless, the Pakistani bombing destroyed the filling capacity of the base in Okha, which did not allow the Indian fleet to repeat the raid immediately. The next raid was carried out only on December 8th during Operation Python .

The Pakistani fleet, taken aback by a raid on its main base, experienced several false alarms caused by unconfirmed reports of Indian ships near Karachi. During one of these alarms, at 06:45 on December 6, the Pakistani frigate Zulfikar was mistaken for an Indian ship and attacked by Pakistani aircraft , sustaining significant damage and loss among the crew.

The outcome of the operation showed a clear lack of security at the port of Karachi and the complete unwillingness of the Pakistani fleet to resist rocket attacks. In this regard, the flow of goods through Karachi fell sharply within a few days, which actually led to the establishment of an informal blockade, despite the fact that the next Indian attack followed only a few days.

The success of the operation, carried out without any loss from the Indian side, prompted the Indian command to repeat it, which was carried out four days later in the course of the successful operation “Python”. Nevertheless, it was not without conflicts: the destruction of a tank farm in the suburb of Karachi Kemari was once attributed to itself the Indian Air Force.

The success of the operation led to a large number of awards received by the soldiers participating in it. Assistant to Admiral Nanda, Commodore Gulyab Mohanlal Hiranandani was awarded the Naousen Medal, Operation Commander B. B. Yadav received the Order of Maha Vir Chakra, Lieutenant Commander B. N. Kavina, I. Sharma and O. P. Mehta, commanding missile boats, were awarded Orders of Vir Chakra, as well as Chief Sergeant MN Sangal.