Mumbai, January 12

Warships INS Nirbhik and INS Nirghat were decommissioned here, after serving the Navy for 30 and 28 years respectively.The warships were decommissioned at a solemn ceremony at the Naval Dockyard yesterday, a Defence spokesperson said on Friday.The ceremony involved traditional lowering of the ensign and commissioning pendants with playing of ‘Last Post’.The chief guest for the ceremony was Rear Admiral R B Pandit, Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet, who had commanded INS Nirghat earlier, the spokesperson said in a statement here.Cdr V R Naphade, (Retd) and Commodore S Mampully, (Retd), the commissioning Commanding Officers of Nirbhik and Nirghat respectively were the guests of honour.The ships, belonging to the Killer squadron, are inheritors of a proud legacy as their original avatars were flag bearers of the naval offensive action on Karachi harbour during the India-Pakistan war in 1971.The warships, in their new avatar, were commissioned at Poti, in the erstwhile USSR on December 21, 1987 and December 15, 1989 respectively.They participated in many operations including Op Parakram and Vijay and were deployed off Gujarat on many occasions for patrolling, the spokesperson said. — PTI