When the Navy was partitioned in 1947, its only Dockyard was at Bombay. It provided all the maintenance, repair, docking and refit support that ships needed. The only other ports where rudimentary facilities existed were at Cochin and at Visakhapatnam, each of which had minuscule Repair Shops, having a few machine tools, carpentry facilities for minor repairs of wooden boats, a small slipway and a blacksmith's shop.

In the decades that followed, there were enormous developments:

- The Naval Dockyard Bombay was expanded and modernised.

- Asia's newest Naval Dockyard was constructed in Visakhapatnam.

- The repair workshop at Cochin grew into a Base Repair Organisation and eventually into the Naval Ship Repair Yard (NSRY).

- The small Portuguese Navy workshop in Goa grew into a Base Repair Workshop.

- And in Port Blair, a NSRY came up alongside a newly constructed naval jetty and a floating dock.

This chapter describes the developments during the decade 1965-1975.

BOMBAY DOCKYARD

NAVAL DOCKYARD EXPANSION SCHEME

The expansion of the Bombay Naval Dockyard was undertaken in two stages. The dates of commencement and completion of works in each stage are shown below:

MODERNISATION OF THE BOMBAY DOCKYARD

In 1969, the National Industrial Development Corporation (NIDC) was selected as the official consultant to prepare a Master Plan for the modernisation of the Dockyard and to prepare a project report for repair facilities required to meet the demands of a rapidly growing fleet. The intention was that all future expansion of the Dockyard would be based on their recommendations.

The NIDC study would:

(a) Evaluate and analyse present and future workload.

(b) Assess existing and required capacity.

(c) Prepare an Overall Master Plan indicating the location of each department, shop, road, storage area, canteen, toilet, office and shore facility for ships under maintenance.

NIDC submitted their report in 1971 and recommended the expansion of the Dockyard in three phases, catering for Immediate, Intermediate and Future requirements. This report has formed the basis for modernising/expansion of the Dockyard.

(Note: "The History of the Naval Dockyard Bombay" by Rear Admiral K Sridharan provides the full details of developments during this period).

The development of the Bombay Dockyard during this decade can be seen from the overview given below:

VISAKHAPATNAM DOCKYARD

PREAMBLE

In 1953, the Boat Repair Shop expanded into a Base Repair Organisation (BRO) and shifted to the location at the mouth of the northwest channel.

In 1958, the progress of Bombay Dockyard's expansion scheme was behind schedule. With the arrival between 1958 and 1961 of the eight new frigates and the aircraft carrier, Bombay Dockyard would not be able to berth these ships alongside. Naval Headquarters therefore proposed that a major naval base be established at Visakhapatnam, starting with a new 1120 foot jetty and a repair workshop. In 1962, sanction was accorded for the construction of the new jetty and the workshop building. Sanction was also accorded for the acquisition of 550 acres of land from the Port Trust.

In 1963, survey ships were temporarily based in Visakhapatnam. The decision was taken to set up a Naval Base and a Dockyard. Machinery and equipment was procured for setting up repair facilities. For the first time, the annual refit of a survey ship was undertaken by the BRO Visakhapatnam making use of the dry docks of Hindustan Shipyard and the Port Trust.

By 1964, plans were in hand for establishing a modern dockyard at Visakhapatnam, capable of undertaking the normal refit and dry docking of one modern frigate and four small craft. In 1965, two survey ships JUMNA and INVESTIGATOR were permanently rebased at Visakhapatnam.

The 1965 Agreement on the Russian acquisitions included the preparation of a Project Report for the Visakhapatnam Project comprising facilities for a naval base and ship support facilities, a submarine base and submarine support facilities, torpedo preparation and repair facilities, a training school for the Russian acquisitions and a modern Naval Dockyard to repair and refit ships and submarines. The Project Report was approved in 1968.

The Visakhapatnam Dockyard evolved in five phases:

OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENT - 1965 TO 1975

The development of the Visakhapatnam Dockyard during this decade can be seen from the overview given below:

 BRO COCHIN

By 1963, plans had crystallised to augment the BRO at Cochin and build a new naval jetty on the Willingdon Island foreshore.

In 1963, the Ministry of Shipbuilding decided to set up the Cochin Shipyard which would have an 1800 foot jetty on the Ernakulam side of the channel. It became necessary to shift the site of the proposed naval jetty on the Willingdon Island foreshore closer to the Ernakulam bridge.

In 1965, the three Hunt class destroyers GODAVARI, GOMATI and GANGA were rebased at Cochin and proposals were put up in 1966 for additional workshop facilities. However, between 1965 and 1975, the large expenditure on the Bombay and Visakhapatnam Dockyards precluded any substantial funds being available for augmenting BRO Cochin.

In 1972, the Training Squadron comprising the cruiser DELHI and the frigate KISTNA was based at Cochin.

In 1975, approval was eventually accorded for the construction of the new naval jetty.

THE DEVELOPMENTS OF MAINTENANCE FACILITIES AT PORT BLAIR

After China's attack in October-November 1962, the responsibility for the seaward defence of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands was assigned to the Navy. The first Resident Naval Officer arrived Port Blair in November 1962. In mid 1963, the first Naval Garrison of five officers and one hundred and fifty six sailors arrived in Port Blair. Until the Navy's Seaward Defence Boats arrived, sea patrols and inter-island transportation were supported by craft of the Central Board of Revenue. Soon, the need was felt for a maintenance and repair facility to sustain these small craft which were operating so far away from the nearest BRO at Visakhapatnam.

In 1964, INS JARAWA was commissioned as the parent establishment at Port Blair. In 1965, the detailed, phased requirements of machinery, personnel, buildings and shore supply facilities for setting up a BRO were included in the overall plan for setting up an advance naval base at Port Blair. This plan envisaged the construction of a 1200 foot wharf, half of which would be for naval use.

After the 1965 war, Landing ship MAGAR started being deployed in the A&N Islands.

In 1966, approval in principle was accorded for setting up a BRO and berthing facilities in three phases. From 1966 onwards, when the newly arrived Russian patrol boats and the Landing ships started operating in the islands, the urgency increased for providing some kind of repair facility at Port Blair. From 1967 onwards, MAGAR took over the role of logistic support for these Russian vessels.

In 1967, sanction was accorded for the construction of the new wharf. Construction commenced in 1968.

In 1969, the old stores ship, DHARINI, which had earlier been converted into a repair ship by equipping her with a workshop, machine tools and repair materials to support the coastal minesweepers, was positioned in Port Blair as an afloat maintenance facility. The arrangement did not prove satisfactory and DHARINI returned to Bombay.

By 1973, it was found that intrusions were occurring mainly in the southern group of the Nicobar Islands and were easier to deal with when ships operated from the island of Kamorta. In 1973, a forward operating base was commissioned as INS KARDIP on the island of Kamorta and patrol craft started operating from there. Soon, it became necessary to set up a SMU in Kamorta.

In 1974, sanction was accorded for establishing a BRO to provide comprehensive repair facilities to ships operating in the A&N islands. This organisation was subsequently commissioned in 1979. As an interim measure, a small Base Maintenance Unit (Electrical) was established separately. This was unable to meet all the requirements of the Landing Ships. A ship maintenance unit was therefore set up.

By 1975, the BRO at Port Blair was able to increase the operational availability of the landing ships and the patrol boats.

DEVELOPMENTS AFTER 1975

BOMBAY DOCKYARD

 VISAKHAPATNAM DOCKYARD

NSRY AT COCHIN

By the end 1970's, the old ships of the Training Squadron had been phased out and replaced by BRAHMAPUTRA, BETWA and BEAS which had been converted to the training role.

In 1982, the six new Russian inshore minesweepers were based in Cochin. They were joined in 1985 by four new srvey craft and the new training ship TIR.

With the number of ships based in Cochin steadily increasing, it became timely to modernise the BRO's facilities. Taking advantage of the special to type equipment being supplied for the maintenance, repair and refit of the Russian inshore minesweepers, new workshops were set up on land adjacent to the old BRO, in such a way that the workshops could maintain, repair and refit larger ships as well, with docking being done in Cochin Shipyard.

The new 1200 foot jetty was commissioned in 1987 and when the new workshops were ready, the BRO Cochin were re-designated as a Naval Ship Repair Yard.

NSRY AT PORT BLAIR

- The new workshops were sanctioned in 1975, completed in 1977, and commissioned as a BRO in 1979.

- A Floating Dock was acquired and commissioned in 1987. This saved ships from having to go to Visakhapatnam for annual docking.

- In 1993, the BRO was redesignated as a Naval Ship Repair Yard.

RETROSPECT

There persists a widespread misperception that the reason why the operational availability of ships was unsatisfactory in the 1960's and 1970's was because the Navy acquired too many ships too quickly and funnelled the budget to acquisitions, thereby delaying the setting up of repair and refit facilities. The reality was different. Basically, two factors are unavoidable:

- There will always be a time lag between the induction of vessels and the setting up of their special to type maintenance, repair, refit and logistic support facilities.

- When vessels are acquired from abroad, it is economical to acquire them in sufficient numbers, rather than one at a time. Inescapably, the bunching at the time of their acquisition leads, years later, to the bunching of their major refits. Since refit facilities always lag, operational availability diminishes.

In the Indian Navy's case, unusual civil engineering difficulties retarded the timely completion of the facilities at Bombay, Visakhapatnam and Port Blair:

- In Bombay, the lack of a suitable rock breaker and prolonged litigation by a defaulting contractor delayed the Naval Dockyard Expansion Scheme.

- In Visakhapatnam, the soil conditions were unable to bear the weight of the heavy floors of critical priority workshops. Their floors sank, entailing extensive rework. Later, work on the new South Dry Dock had to be stopped to enable the dock floor to be redesigned because of poor soil conditions.

- In Port Blair, all construction machinery and material had to be ferried from the mainland. This could only gather momentum after the arrival of the first two landing ships in 1966. Moreover, since Port Blair was also being developed on the civil side, the preparation of a Master Plan, the zoning of areas, land acquisition, the funding for water supplies and electricity generation etc all had their own gestation times, because it entailed interaction between several ministries.

Taking all these factors into account, including our insistance on maximum indigenisation, the momentum achieved in the setting up maintenance, repair and refit facilities during the decade 1965-1975 was more than commendable.