fire in submarine Sindhurakshak

Heard of U-boats ?

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.  For reasons of naval tradition, submarines are usually referred to as "boats" rather than as "ships", regardless of their size.

INS Sindhurakshak (S63) is a Sindhughosh-class diesel-electric submarine of the Indian Navy. In June 4,2010 the Indian Defence ministry and Zvezdochka shipyard signed a direct contract to the upgrade programme worth $ 80 million for a  complete overhaul including the submarine’s hull structures.

Photo credit : barentsobserver.com

Today First Post and IANS report that a  fire broke out in the submarine Sindhu Rakshak, between Lion Gate and Seta Gate late on Tuesday night at Naval Dockyard in Mumbai. CNN-IBN said that preliminary reports suggested that there was some explosive material present in the ship which may have caught fire. The fire had been preceded by a huge blast shortly after midnight on the INS Sindhu Rakshak submarine. Many sailors on board the submarine reportedly jumped off to safety. “However, there is likelihood of some personnel being trapped inside. The details are being ascertained,” an official defence ministry statement issued at 3.15 am said. The details of other casualty figures were not immediately available though some injured sailors have been rushed to naval hospital INHS Ashvini in Colaba. The cause of the explosion and blaze, as well as the extent of damage to the submarine and naval properties, is still not known.

At least 16 fire tenders of Mumbai Fire Brigade and Mumbai Port Trust were rushed to assist the naval fire brigade to douse the conflagration, the smoke emanating from which could be seen in many parts of south Mumbai. A fire brigade official said the blaze had been brought under control at around 3am and prevented from spreading to other vessels docked in the vicinity.

U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot, a shortening of Unterseeboot, which means "undersea boat". While the German term refers to any submarine, the English one (in common with several other languages) refers specifically to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role (commerce raiding), enforcing a naval blockade against enemy shipping. The primary targets of the U-boat campaigns in both wars were the merchant convoys bringing supplies from Canada, the British Empire and the United States to the islands of Great Britain and (during World War II) to the Soviet Union and the Allied Countries in the Mediterranean. Austro-Hungarian submarines of World War I (and before) were also known as U-boats.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

14^th Aug 2013.