<b>8 December 1971:</b>
The Indian Navy repeated the attack on Karachi. The Pakistani Naval base was attacked at around 2345 Hours and vast damage inflicted on both shore as well as ships in the vicinity.
The first component of Indian Navy force consisted of two fast frigates INS Trishul and INS Talwar along with the OSA Missile boat, INS Vinash tasked with attacking Karachi. The second detachment of IN consisted of the Flag Ship of the Western fleet, Cruiser INS Mysore and the Hunt class destroyer INS Ranjit and the frigate INS Betwa. This fleet was simultaneously dispatched to shell the port of Gwadar.
Approaching Karachi, INS Talwar under Cdr S S Kumar engaged a mechanised ship "Dhow" of the Pakistani Navy and sunk it with gunfire. Then the ships proceeded towards Karachi Harbour. There was no further challenge from the Pakistani Navy as they got busy to hurriedly withdraw to the relative safety of the Karachi harbour. Cdr K M V Nair, CO of INS Trishul in coordination with Missile boat captain Lt Cdr Jerath, immediately launched a series of Styx missiles. This bombarding sunk an American ship Venus Challenger, and a British ship Hamrattan along with killing British and American crew.
Meanwhile the second task force heading for Gwadar encountered a Pakistani Merchant ship off the coast of Makran. Almost immediately, INS Mysore (under Cdr Russi Gandhi) fired some shots across the Merchant Ship's bow, which then flew a white flag to signal surrender. The Merchant ship turned out to be a Pakistani ship Madhumati which was then taken charge of and bought back to the Bombay port. Link
<b>9 December 1971:</b>, US President Nixon authorized US Navy to send the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise into the Bay of Bengal to threaten India.
<b>10 December 1971:</b>
An anecdote reported by Major General K K Tewari (retd), Chief Signal Officer, Eastern Command, goes like this:
General Tewari was present at a briefing the three defence services held for Indira Gandhi. She was seated at a large table. On one side was General S H F J Manekshaw, the army chief, and on the other Admiral S M Nanda, the navy chief.
During the course of the presentation, the admiral intervened and said: 'Madam, the US 8th Fleet is sailing into the Bay of Bengal.'
Nothing happened; the briefing continued.
After sometime, the admiral repeated, 'Madam, I have to inform you that the 8th Fleet is sailing into the Bay of Bengal.'
She cut him off immediately: 'Admiral, I heard you the first time, let us go on with the briefing.'
All the officers present were stunned. Ultimately, their morale was tremendously boosted by the prime minister's attitude. She had demonstrated her utter contempt for the American bluff. link
The Indian Navy repeated the attack on Karachi. The Pakistani Naval base was attacked at around 2345 Hours and vast damage inflicted on both shore as well as ships in the vicinity.
The first component of Indian Navy force consisted of two fast frigates INS Trishul and INS Talwar along with the OSA Missile boat, INS Vinash tasked with attacking Karachi. The second detachment of IN consisted of the Flag Ship of the Western fleet, Cruiser INS Mysore and the Hunt class destroyer INS Ranjit and the frigate INS Betwa. This fleet was simultaneously dispatched to shell the port of Gwadar.
Approaching Karachi, INS Talwar under Cdr S S Kumar engaged a mechanised ship "Dhow" of the Pakistani Navy and sunk it with gunfire. Then the ships proceeded towards Karachi Harbour. There was no further challenge from the Pakistani Navy as they got busy to hurriedly withdraw to the relative safety of the Karachi harbour. Cdr K M V Nair, CO of INS Trishul in coordination with Missile boat captain Lt Cdr Jerath, immediately launched a series of Styx missiles. This bombarding sunk an American ship Venus Challenger, and a British ship Hamrattan along with killing British and American crew.
Meanwhile the second task force heading for Gwadar encountered a Pakistani Merchant ship off the coast of Makran. Almost immediately, INS Mysore (under Cdr Russi Gandhi) fired some shots across the Merchant Ship's bow, which then flew a white flag to signal surrender. The Merchant ship turned out to be a Pakistani ship Madhumati which was then taken charge of and bought back to the Bombay port. Link
<b>9 December 1971:</b>, US President Nixon authorized US Navy to send the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise into the Bay of Bengal to threaten India.
<b>10 December 1971:</b>
An anecdote reported by Major General K K Tewari (retd), Chief Signal Officer, Eastern Command, goes like this:
General Tewari was present at a briefing the three defence services held for Indira Gandhi. She was seated at a large table. On one side was General S H F J Manekshaw, the army chief, and on the other Admiral S M Nanda, the navy chief.
During the course of the presentation, the admiral intervened and said: 'Madam, the US 8th Fleet is sailing into the Bay of Bengal.'
Nothing happened; the briefing continued.
After sometime, the admiral repeated, 'Madam, I have to inform you that the 8th Fleet is sailing into the Bay of Bengal.'
She cut him off immediately: 'Admiral, I heard you the first time, let us go on with the briefing.'
All the officers present were stunned. Ultimately, their morale was tremendously boosted by the prime minister's attitude. She had demonstrated her utter contempt for the American bluff. link