Indian Navy II Navy Day and Operation Trident

Indian Navy Day was celebrated on 04^th December, honouring the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War and Operation Trident, which highlighted the Indian Navy's strategic success in attacking Pakistan's Karachi port. 

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Navy Day 2024.   The theme for 2024 is "Strength and Power through Innovation and Indigenization". The day underscores the critical role of the Indian Navy in maintaining national security and protecting maritime interests 

Indian Navy

The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the Indian Armed Forces and is led by the President of India as Commander-in-Chief. The Indian Navy has an important role in securing the marine borders of the country as well as enhancing the international relations of India through seaport visits, joint exercises, humanitarian calamity relief and so on. The strength of the Indian Navy includes over 67,000 personnel and about 150 ships and submarines.

Background: Navy Day Celebrations

·     On  1st May 1830, the East India Company came under the British Crown and gained combatant status, becoming the Indian Navy. In 1858, it was renamed Her Majesty's Indian Navy. The Indian Navy adopted the Vedic invocation to Lord Varuna, "Sam no Varunah," as its emblem motto, meaning "Be auspicious unto us, O Varuna." 

·     Navy Day in India originally coincided with the Royal Navy's Trafalgar Day. On 21 October 1944, the Royal Indian Navy celebrated Navy Day for the first time. The idea behind celebrating Navy Day was to boost outreach and increase awareness about the Navy amongst the general public.

·     Navy Day celebrations traditionally witnessed parades at various port cities as well as organizing public meetings at inland Naval establishments. From 1945 onwards, after World War II, Navy Day was celebrated on 1 December.

·     In due course and until 1972, given the enthusiasm among the public, Navy Day was celebrated on 15 December, and the week in which 15 December fell was observed as Navy Week. In 1972, old traditions gave way to new reasons to celebrate the day.

·     At the Senior Naval Officer's Conference in May 1972, it was decided that Navy Day would be celebrated on 4 December to commemorate the actions of the Indian Navy during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War, and Navy Week would be observed from 1 to 7 December.

Operation Trident.    Navy Day in India is now celebrated to commemorate Operation Trident, which was the attack on the Karachi harbour during the Indo-Pakistan war (on 4 December 1971) by the Indian Naval Missile boats as well in to reverence all the martyrs of that war.

During the attack, Indian sailors communicated in Russian to avoid detection. No Indian sailors were killed in the attack. The Indian Navy sank four Pakistani vessels including PNS Khaibar, defeating the Pakistani Navy

Navy Week Celebrations.    On this week, the warships and aircraft of the Indian Navy are open to visitors such as school children. The Military Photo Exhibition is also performed by photojournalists of the Ernakulum in the Navy fest. Other events such as blood donation camps, swimming competitions, marathons are also held. 

A community service for the Indian Navy is conducted by the Naval Institute of Aeronautical Technology (NIAT) at Good Hope Old Age Home, Fort Kochi in which the students from the Navy Children School Chair take turns to entertain the inmates and Naval doctors (from INHS Sanjivani) provides medical checkup to the inmates. The Navy Ball and Navy Queen contests including the Navy fest are held to celebrate Navy Day. 

Jai Hind