After four decades of glorious service to the nation, Indian Navy Ships Cheetah, Guldar and Kumbhir were decommissioned on 12th January 2024 at a traditional ceremony at Port Blair. The Defence Ministry informed that during the decommissioning event, the National Flag, the Naval Ensign and Decommissioning Pennants of the three ships were lowered for the last time, at sunset.
The three naval ships – Cheetah, Guldar and Kumbhir – were built at Gdynia Shipyard, Poland as Polnocny class Landing Ships and were commissioned into the Indian Navy in 1984, 1985 and 1986 respectively, in presence of S K Arora (Cheetah and Guldar) and A K Das (Kumbhir) then Ambassadors of India to Poland. The Commanding Officers of the three ships were Cdr V B Mishra, Lt Cdr SK Singh and Lt Cdr J Banerjee respectively.
MoD further said that these ships had collectively traversed about 17 lakh nautical miles whilst being at sea for over 12,300 days. The ships have conducted over 1300 beaching operations for landing of army troops ashore and numerous maritime security missions and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations
Notable amongst them are their role during Operation Aman as part of IPKF operations and Operation Tasha a joint operation carried out between Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard in May 1990 to control smuggling of arms and ammunition and illegal immigration across Indian and Sri Lankan border and made stellar contributions in relief operations post 1997 cyclone off Sri Lanka and the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.
The Ministry has said that Indian Naval Ships Cheetah, Guldar and Kumbhir have left an indelible mark on the maritime landscape and their decommissioning marks the end of a significant chapter of the Indian Navy’s history.
Air Marshal Saju Balakrishnan, AVSM, VM, Commander-in-Chief Andaman and Nicobar Command (CINCAN), Vice Admiral Tarun Sobti, AVSM, VSM, Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, Flag Officers, former Commanding Officers and commissioning crew of the three ships attended the ceremonies at Port Blair.
