Lt Gen KJ Singh (retd)

As Viraat sails on her final voyage to Alang, many Naval hearts are brimming with nostalgia and are literally heartbroken. The obvious question is — why can’t we convert these valuable pieces of our maritime heritage into museums to inspire future generations? After all, Gandhi Smriti, Teen Murti Bhawan, and many more prime Lutyens’ properties have been converted into museums. What is even more baffling is three states — Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Goa —showed readiness for a maritime museum, but none was ready to invest Rs 500-odd crore. Perhaps it failed on the criterion of vote-bank potential, despite its most enviable legacy of serving two navies. Commissioned as HMS Hermes in November 1959 in the British navy, it joined our Navy in May 1987, and was our flag-bearer till March 2017. An envious record of 61 years of glorious service!

My abiding connect with the ship is a memorable fortnight on Viraat, during attachment for a Naval Staff course. We were initially accommodated in an officers’ mess at Colaba, but during our visit to Viraat, we made a request to Captain Madhvendra Singh and he prevailed on the staff to make it possible. We got a chance to stay in cabins, linger and wander into flying deck, hangars, bridge, galleys, ward room and engine rooms. It gave me a chance to get even, in some small measure, with my late father-in-law, Cdr PS Sethi, who was part of the commissioning crew of INS Vikrant. Viraat follows the fate of its legendary forerunner, INS Vikrant, landing up in hands of ship-breakers. The only remnant of Vikrant’s legacy is a few motorcycles made out of steel harnessed from the ship. Similar plans have been voiced by the ship-breakers at Alang. Hope the Indian Navy preserves some such bikes and vehicles. The legacy must live on.

This also brings a flood of memories of another ship with which I have a nostalgic connect, albeit a non-Naval one — MV Chidambaram. She was a luxury liner operating between Madras and Singapore, touching Trincomalee, Penang and Kelang. In 1982, I took a honeymoon cruise on this ship — an early generation of cruise liners. When I met the Captain, a former Naval officer, he surprised me by upgrading me to luxury class. When I introduced myself as another ‘Captain’ on board staying in first class, his sharp response was, ‘Captains on ships travel only in luxury.’ Chidambaram was the much-needed incentive for Shipping Corporation employees, as LTC perk. Unfortunately, it perished in a fire accident. Acetylene torches and fire can only cut through the metal — the memories shall linger!