The oldest submarine in service with the Indian Navy — INS Vela — will be decommissioned after a whopping 37 years of service on June 25 at Vizag, defence sources have confirmed.
The INS Vela is a Russian-origin submarine and was commissioned in 1973. It is a “foxtrot class submarine”. The Indian Navy has invited Rear Admiral (retd.) J.M.S. Sodhi, as chief guest for the decommissioning ceremony since he had, as a lieutenant commander, commissioned the submarine into the Navy in 1973 at Riga, Latvia (which was a part of the then USSR).
As a tribute, the Indian Navy will play the “last post” at sunset during the decommissioning ceremony on Friday, a bugle call played at military ceremonies to commemorate those who have fallen in war. The decommissioning is part of the process to phase out old submarines while inducting new ones into the fleet. India currently has 16 diesel-powered submarines.