After 40 years of distinguished service, INS Cheetah, Guldar, and Kumbhir decommissioned.
After four decades of glorious service to the nation, Indian Navy warships Cheetah, Guldar, and Kumbhir were decommissioned on January 12, 2024.
The decommissioning ceremony of these ships was conducted in a traditional ceremony at Port Blair, in which the National Flag, Naval Ensign, and the decommissioning emblem of the three ships were lowered for the last time at sunset.
INS Cheetah, Guldar, and Kumbhir were built at the Gdynia Shipyard in Poland as Polnokny class ships that could deliver tanks, vehicles, cargo, and troops directly to the low-lying coastline without the need to dock.
These warships were commissioned into the Indian Navy in the presence of Shri SK Arora (Cheetah and Guldar) and Shri AK Das (Kumbhir), the then Ambassador of India to Poland in 1984, 1985, and 1986 respectively.
Commander VB Mishra, Lieutenant Commander SK Singh, and Lieutenant Commander J Banerjee were deployed as the commanding officers of the three ships, respectively.
During its initial years, INS Cheetah was stationed at Kochi and Chennai for some time and INS Kumbhir and Guldar were serving at Visakhapatnam.
Later, these ships were deployed in Andaman and Nicobar Command, where they served till their decommissioning.
These warships were active in Indian Naval service for almost 40 years and collectively covered a distance of approximately 17 lakh nautical miles while being at sea for more than 12,300 days.
As the amphibious platform of Andaman and Nicobar Command, these ships have conducted more than 1300 operations off the coast to disembark Army personnel.
