By David Boey
SINGAPORE, July 24 - The Indian Navy's flagship and sole aircraft carrier, INS Viraat (ex-HMS Hermes), called at Singapore from July 19 to 22 on a goodwill tour with three escorts and one supply ship.
Apart from INS Viraat (Captain S P S Cheema),warships that are part of the Indian Navy's "Goodwill Visit of the Eastern Fleet" are the Kashin II destroyers INS Rajput (CAPT K S Aiyappa) and INS Ranjit (CAPT S Pillai), the missile corvette INS Khukri (Commander A S Rana) and the fleet supply ship, INS Shakti (CAPT M V S Kumar).
The Viraat carrier battle group, now midway through her two-month long deployment to the littoral states along the Malacca Strait, has already chalked up a number of milestones for the Indian Navy.
The flag-showing visit includes the first overseas showing of the 290km-range, supersonic BrahMos anti-ship missiles. Four BrahMos missiles cells are fitted aboard Rajput, which served as trials ship for BrahMos live-firing tests. These missiles replace a pair of SS-N-2D Mod 2 Styx missile cells in the forward launchers, port and starboard.
Viraat's foray into the South China Sea marks another first for the Indian Navy - the carrier has never sailed this far east under the Indian White Ensign.
On July 18, the Viraat carrier battle group took part in a naval exercise in the South China Sea for the first time. The passage exercise with the Republic of Singapore Navy also involved a Singapore Navy Fearless-class Anti-submarine Patrol Vessel, two Victory-class Missile Corvettes, a diesel-electric submarine and a Fokker 50 Mark 2S Enforcer maritime patrol aircraft.
The battle group then set course for Singapore, where Viraat came alongside the Deep Water Pier at Changi Naval Base. This facility is a naval base built on reclaimed land at the eastern tip of Singapore island.
The berth occupied by Viraat is also used by United States Navy aircraft carriers and deep-draft warships.
Thanks to the Indian High Commission in Singapore, about 150 Indian expatriates in Singapore got to see Viraat first-hand on Thursday July 21. Among their number were students at the Indian International School in Singapore.
The two-hour visit brought visitors to Viraat's flight deck, where photo opportunities abound. The 12-degree ski jump had special appeal to the visitors and almost everyone took a stroll up the sloping ramp for an elevated view of the flight deck.
Embarked aboard Viraat's armoured flight deck are five Sea Harriers (one wearing the new light gray air defence warpaint and Roshni RWR), three Sea Kings, three Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters and two Chetaks (Alouette IIIs).
Visitors were then ushered onto the deck elevator for the ride down into the hangar deck - which earned the Indian Navy sailors a round of applause.
There, a tea reception and a "shop window" with billboard displays dedicated to Indian defence companies awaited the visitors.
The author and a small group of Singapore visitors got the rare privilege of visiting Viraat's Wardroom with our hosts Commander Vikram Menon and Commander Kesavan Baskkaran.
The carrier's rich history is apparent event before one steps into the Wardroom. One of the two round glass panels on the Wardroom's heavily-polished wooden doors carries the coat of arms of HMS Hermes on one door, and that of INS Viraat on the other glass panel.
Inside, photos and paintings of all Her Brittanic Majesty's ships named Hermes adorn the walls, along with momentoes from Viraat's many journeys and mess silver which shows the carrier's affiliation with one Indian Army Regiment.
The tour ended after sunset and visitors bade farewell to her crew after a memorable visit aboard a ship steeped in naval history.
The Viraat carrier battle group will then visit Port Klang, on the west coast of peninsular Malaysia and is due to visit Jakarta, Indonesia, before heading back to India.
We wish Viraat and her battle group "Fair Winds and Following Seas". Jai Hind.
