Operation Trident and Operation Python: Heroic Indian Naval Victory against Islamic Republic Of Pakistan

                                Operation Trident


Operation Trident and its follow-up Operation Python were naval offensive operations launched on Pakistan's port city of Karachi by the Indian Navy during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Operation Trident resulted in the first use of anti-ship missiles in the region, as well as the first sinking of naval vessels during hostilities in the region since World War II. India celebrates it's Navy Day annually on 4 December to mark this operation.

BACKGROUND

Karachi housed the headquarters of the Pakistani Navy and almost the entire Pakistan Navy fleet was based at Karachi Harbour. Karachi was also the hub of Pakistan's maritime trade, meaning that a blockade would be disastrous for Pakistan’s economy. The defence of Karachi harbour was therefore paramount to the Pakistani High Command and it was heavily defended against any air or naval strikes. Karachi received some of the best defence Pakistan had to offer, as well as cover from strike aircraft based at two airfields in the area.
Operation Trident was planned under the leadership of Admiral Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda. It drew inspiration from the success of the 1967 attack, following the Six Day War, in which the Israeli Navy frigate, Eilat was sunk by an Egyptian Navy Komar class missile boat from a range well beyond the frigate's guns.
The Indian Navy's Vidyut class missile boats, however, had limited range. So the plan for Operation Trident called for towing the missile boats towards Karachi and including a refuelling tanker in the task force to enable the task force to return back to Indian ports. The Vidyut class vessels were each armed with four SS-N-2B Styx surface-to-surface missiles with a maximum range of 40 nmi and a firing system linked to long-range MR-331 Rangout radars.

OPERATION TRIDENT

On 4 December, the Indian Navy launched a fast naval strike on the Pakistan Naval Headquarters (PNHQ) of Karachi. The task group for the operation consisted of three Vidyut class missile boats, INS Nipat (K86), INS Nirghat (K89) and INS Veer (K82) from the 25th "Killer" Missile Boat Squadron, escorted by two anti-submarine Arnala class frigates, INS Kiltan (P79) and INS Katchall (P81), and a fleet tanker, INS Poshak. The task group was led by the Commanding Officer of the 25th Squadron, Commander Babru Bhan Yadav, embarked on INS Nipat.
As per the operational plan, the task group reached 250 nautical miles (460 km) south of Karachi during the day, outside the range of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) aircraft, and attacked at night because most of these aircraft did not possess night-time bombing capability. Late in the evening on December 4, INS Kiltan and the 3 missile boats approached Karachi, evading Pakistani reconnaissance aircraft and surface patrol vessels.
At 2230 hrs, the task group converged about 70 nautical miles (130 km) south of Karachi and detected multiple targets. Analysis indicated that the targets 45 miles to the northwest and 42 miles to the northeast were Pakistani warships, which were selected by Commander Yadav for the attack.
INS Nirghat then steered towards and engaged the northwesterly target and after verification, fired the first SS-N-2B Styx missile at the destroyer, PNS Khaibar which was on patrol. Khaibar mistook the missile to be an aircraft and engaged it with its Bofors anti-aircraft guns. The missile struck Khaibar on the starboard side and exploded below the aft galley in the Electrician's mess deck at about 2245 hrs PST. The ship immediately lost propulsion, plunged into darkness and the No.1 Boiler room exploded, engulfing the ship in thick black smoke. Khaibar sent out an emergency transmission which read "Enemy aircraft attacked in position 020 FF 20. No 1 Boiler hit. Ship stopped." With the target still afloat, at about 2249 hrs, INS Nirghat fired a second missile, which was seen approaching and again engaged with anti-aircraft guns of Khaibar. The missile struck the No.2 Boiler room on the starboard side, sinking PNS Khaibar.
At 2300 hours, INS Nipat engaged two targets to the northeast approaching Karachi. Verifying the targets, Nipat launched 1 Styx missile each at the MV Venus Challenger carrying ammunition for Pakistan from the United States forces in Saigon, and her destroyer escort PNS Shah Jahan (DD-962). The ammunition on the Venus Challenger immediately exploded as the missile struck sinking her about 26 miles south of Karachi, while Shah Jahan was irreparably damaged.
At 2320 hours, the minesweeper PNS Muhafiz, was targeted by a Styx missile fromINS Veer. The missile hit Muhafiz on the port side abaft the bridge, instantaneously disintegrating the vessel before it could send a transmission to the PNHQ.
INS Nipat then continued towards Karachi, locked on to the oil storage tanks of the port from 14 nautical miles (26 km) south of the harbor. It fired two missiles at the tanks. One of the missiles misfired, while the other hit some of the tanks, which were burnt and destroyed. The task force then withdrew back towards Bombay.

AFTERMATH

Overall, the Indian Navy's missile attack was carefully planned and executed well. The attack achieved complete surprise and was a shock to Pakistan's Armed Forces Command. The attack left a deep psychological and emotional impact on Pakistan's civil society and the Pakistan Armed Forces.
A disjointed and haphazard rescue operation was launched to locate and recover survivors of PNS Khaibar, while PNHQ was not aware of the sinking of PNSMuhafiz. PNHQ learnt of the fate of Muhafiz from her survivors who were rescued when a patrol vessel steered towards her burning flotsam while searching for survivors from the Khaibar.
The Pakistan Navy, on high alert as a result of the operation, raised a number of false alarms in the ensuing days about the presence of Indian Navy vessels off Karachi. One such false alarm was raised by a Pakistan Navy Fokker Friendship reconnaisance aircraft on 6 December 1971 which reported another missile attack by an Indian Navy ship. The PNHQ asked the Pakistan Air Force to carry out an air strike on the supposed Indian ship. At 0645 hrs, fighter jets were scrambled which strafed the vessel before it was identified as Pakistan's own PNS Zulfiqar, which suffered casualties and damage as a result of this friendly fire.
Operation Trident was an enormous success with no casualties or damage to the Indian task group, which returned safely back to Indian ports The success of this operation prompted another successful attack on Pakistan Naval forces in Karachi on 8 December 1971, known as Operation Python.

The Saviour of Our Naval Supremacy

AWARDS

The Indian Navy celebrates its Navy Day on December 4, to mark the operational victory.
A number of Indian Navy personnel were honored with gallantry awards for the operation.

Commander Babru Bhan Yadav

Maha Vir Chakra

• Commander Babru Bhan Yadav, for planning and leading the task force

Vir Chakra

• Lieutenant Commander Bahadur Nariman Kavina, commanding officer of INS Nipat
• Lieutenant Commander Inderjit Sharma, commanding officer of INS Nirghat
• Master Chief M. N. Sangal, INS Nirghat
• Lieutenant Commander Om Prakash Mehta, commanding officer of INS Vir

                                        

                      Operation PythonOperation Python, a follow up to Operation Trident, was a code name of a naval attack launched on West Pakistan's port city of Karachi by the Indian Navy during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. After the first attack during Operation Trident on Karachi port, Pakistan stepped up aerial surveillance of its coast and the presence of large Indian Navy ships gave the impression that another attack was being planned. Pakistan warships attempted to outsmart the Indian Navy by mingling with merchant shipping. To counter these moves, Operation Python was launched on the night on December 8/9, 1971.

BACKGROUND

Karachi housed the headquarters of the Pakistani Navy and almost the entire fleet was based at Karachi Harbour. Karachi was also the hub of Pakistan's maritime trade, meaning that a blockade would be disastrous for Pakistan’s economy. The defence of Karachi harbour was therefore paramount to the Pakistani High Command and it was heavily defended against any airstrikes or naval strikes. Karachi received some of the best defences Pakistan had to offer as well as cover from strike aircraft based at two airfields in the area. The Indian fleet lay 250 miles from Karachi during the day, outside the range of Pakistani aircraft, and most of these aircraft did not possess night-bombing capability. The Pakistani Navy had launched submarine operations to gather intelligence on Indian naval efforts. Even so, with multiple intels provided by the submarines, the Navy had failed to divert the naval attacks, due to misleading intelligence and communications.
Operation Trident was an enormous success with no damage to any of the ships of the Indian Naval Task Group, which returned safely. The success of this operation prompted another successful attack on the Pakistani coast, named Operation Python.

PAKISTAN'S NAVAL INTELLIGENCE

The Pakistani Navy had continued its submarine operations in the region, even after the first missile attack. On December 6th, naval intelligence learned the second major formation was moving close to Karachi, in an intel passed regularly by her submarines deployed in the region. To counter this threat, Chief of Naval Staff Vice-Admiral Muzaffar Hassan met with Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Abdul Rahim Khan in which an airstrike group was formed. However, due to successful air strikes led by the IAF on December 8th, the IAF dismantled the capability of PAF to carry out such counter-operations. Following Operation Python on the evening of 8 December at about 1800 hrs., the Chief of Air Staff of PAF was contacted by direct telephone and asked for the strike from the air. The Chief of Naval Staff of Pakistan Navy also had a word with him to emphasise the urgency. The Air Marshal regretted his inability as according to him "No air effort was available."Though it was never confirmed from a reliable source.

OPERATION PYTHON

On the night of December 8, 1971, in rough seas, a small strike group consisting of missile boat INS Vinash and two multipurpose frigates, INS Talwar and INS Trishul, approached Karachi. INS Vinash fired four SS-N-2B Styx missiles. The first missile struck the fuel tanks at the Keamari Oil Farm. Another missile hit and sank a Panamian fuel tanker the Gulf Star. The third and fourth missiles hit the Pakistani Navy fleet tanker PNS Dacca and the British ship SS Harmattan, which were badly damaged. One Pakistani ship was captured off the Makran coast.
Between Operations Trident and Python, and the Indian Air Force attacks on Karachi's fuel and ammunition depots, more than 50 percent of the total fuel requirement of the Karachi zone was reported to have been blown up. The result was a crippling economic blow to Pakistan. There was $3 billion worth of damage, most of the oil reserves and ammunition were lost, warehouses and workshops were destroyed and the PAF was hit as well. The port was nearly destroyed and was left burning.
Operation Python was a success. The Pakistani fuel reserves for the sector were destroyed and the flames could be seen from 60 miles away. India had established complete control over the oil route from the Persian Gulf to Pakistani ports. Shipping traffic to and from Karachi, Pakistan's only major port at that time, ceased. The Pakistani Navy's main ships were either destroyed or forced to remain in port. Pakistan attempted to counter the Indian missile boat threat by carrying out bombing raids over Okha harbour – the forward base of the missile boats. The strikes were ineffective as the Indian missile boats had been withdrawn southwards.

AFTERMATH

The psychological attack was far greater than the physical damage for the Pakistan Navy. The civilians, naval officers and sailors, including officers from other branches of the Pakistani Armed Forces, were demoralized and emotionally shattered. The rescue efforts were immediately coordinated by Rear-Admiral Patrick Julian Simpson (later 3-star Vice-Admiral) who kept morale high among the officers. For this, he conferred with Sitara-e-Jurat. Apart from the obsolescence of its weapons, the lack of adequate air support inhibited the success of its opera­tions. The Pakistan Navy's surface force's human and economic casualties were very high and it failed to retain its threat and deterrent value as a Fleet in Being. Due to heavy funding for the Pakistani Army's weapons and production, the neglect of the Navy over several decades came through clearly in the 1971 war.
Overall, Operation Python was a tremendous advantage particularly in weapon range, which the Indian Navy enjoyed. Operation Python had achieved all of its objectives.