Indian Navy Finds Wreck of Pakistani Submarine PNS Ghazi Lost in 1971 War
The recently acquired deep submergence rescue vehicle of the Indian Navy made a significant discovery.
It discovered the wreck of the PNS Ghazi, a Pakistani Submarine that sank off the Visakhapatnam coast during the 1971 war between India and Pakistan.
PNS Ghazi was a Tench-Class Submarine, earlier called USS Diablo when it was a part of the U.S Navy.
PNS Ghazi was found at a depth of around 100 m, just 2 to 2.5 km off the coast.
The Indian Navy will not touch the site of the wreck out of respect for the sailors who lost their lives.
The submarine had 93 crew members, including 82 sailors and 11 officers, when it sank off the coast of Visakhapatnam.
It was acquired by Pakistan, which deployed it to gather intelligence about India’s eastern seaboard and to sink India’s aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant.
PNS Ghazi left Karachi on November 14, 1971, covering 4800 km around the Indian Peninsula before arriving near the Vizag coast.
It was sunk by INS Rajput, an Indian Navy destroyer which dropped depth charges.
Though India claims that Ghazi was sunk in naval action, Pakistan says it met its fate due to internal explosions.
The discovery adds to the historical significance of the Bay of Bengal’s floor close to the coast of Visakhapatnam.
A wreck of an Imperial Japanese Navy submarine that sank in the Second World War on February 12, 1944, also lies in the vicinity.