INS Circars

INS Circars

INS Circars

Historical background

INS Circars is the oldest establishment on the Eastern seaboard and is the flag ship of the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command. The establishment was commissioned as a small base on 12 Dec 1939 during the initial phase of the Second World War with an officer designated as Senior Naval Officer, Visakhapatnam, whose jurisdiction extended from the port of Baruva in the North to Vadarevu in the South. With expansion of naval support facilities, the need to have a Naval Operational Repair Organisation was felt increasingly. Thus, HMIS Circars came into being as a refitting and operational establishment on 12 Apr 1942.

The word ‘Circar’ in Urdu language stands for ‘His Highness’ and perhaps the name was so chosen as the Nizam of Hyderabad in those days was addressed as ‘Circar’ by the natives as well as the European merchants. Subsequently, the Nizam of Hyderabad ceded the control of the districts of Nellore, Krishna, West Godavari, East Godavari and the composite Visakhapatnam to the French. As recognition of the Nizam’s original ownership, these districts were named ‘Circars’ by the French and the British. Against this historical and geographical backdrop, the first naval establishment on the East Coast was also named ‘Circars’. The legacy continues.

Over the years, the role of INS Circars has changed from coordinating Naval Opearations, functioning as a Repair Organisation and being an establishment for Boys Training, to its present status of the premier depot ship of the Eastern Naval Command. The sphere of responsibility of this establishment has also increased manifold with substantial naval assets in and around Visakhapatnam being controlled by INS Circars.

The establishment provides logistic and administrative support to 43 additional units with strength of approximately 2500 sailors and 450 officers, besides providing accommodation facilities to inliving sailors of Circars/ Additional units. The establishment caters for the accommodation, messing and other logistics support of ships undergoing refit at HSL and to cells formed prior to commissioning of ships on the East Coast.

Functions/ Roles

INS Circars is presently entrusted with the following major functions/ roles :-

  • To provide administrative, logistics and medical support to HQENC and additional units.
  • To allot, administer and maintain the Sailors’ Married Accommodation Areas at Nausena Baugh, Vijayanagar Colony, 104 Area and Nausainik Vihar at Dolphin Hill.
  • To administer and exercise jurisdiction over the assets in Naval Base, Nausena Baugh, 104 Area, TS Dolphin, RS Malkapuram, NCB(VZG) and defence assets on Dolphin hill.
  • To carry out duties of Naval Recruitment Establishment (NRE).
  • To store, account and maintain AMPHEX / STUFT stores in conjunction with the Fleet.
  • To maintain the integrated security of the Naval Base and its perimeter, including HQENC.
  • To oversee the functioning of the Ex - Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS).
  • To monitor progress of Married Accommodation Project (MAP) Phase II.
  • To exercise administrative control over and ensure smooth functioning of the NCB, NOFRA, CT Pool, ENC(O)Mess, Kremlin / Leherika and ENCSI (Tarang).

Major Achievements

It has been the endeavor of this unit to relentlessly fulfill the mandate given to us by HQENC. Notable achievements of INS Circars in various fields are as follows :-

  • Local Ashore team stood first position in ENC Musketry 2012 – 13.
  • ENC Musketry Team was trained for 45 days prior to participating in INAMC 11.
  • Indian Naval Yachting Championship (INYC - 11) was conducted at Rishikonda Beach for first time at Eastern Naval Command from 14 – 18 Mar 11. Approximately 100 participants from all Commands took part.
  • 8th Hobie - 16 National championship conducted by national hobie-16 class association from 18 - 22 Mar 12 at RK beach Visakhapatnam. A team consisting of 02 personnel participated in the event.
  • ENC Swimming & Water Polo, Volleyball and Musketry for the current sports calendar 2012 – 13.
  • In keeping with the need of the hour towards preserving our environment and saving the planet from the adverse effects of climate change, lot of initiatives have been taken and continual efforts are on to ensure a clean and green environment i.e Tree Plantation Drive, Ecology Watch Boards, Screening of Environment Movies.
  • 100% e-transfer of all sundry payments through single cheque system.
  • Effective and large scale utilization of e-ticketing facility by the service personnel.
  • Policlinic at Kakinada came under jurisdiction of Station Headquarters Visakhapatnam w.e.f.01 Apr 12.
  • INS Circars has been made the Designated Examination Centre for the newly set-up Indian Navy Online Examination System.
  • FAMC examination was successfully conducted on 06 May 2012 where in 1992 candidates appeared for the exam at Visakhapatnam centre in AP.
  • Polyclinic at Srikakulam was inaugurated by Rear Admiral T Sudhakar, NM, Chief Staff Officer (P & A), Eastern Naval Command on 08 May 12 and came under the jurisdiction of Station Headquarter Visakhapatnam with effect from that date.
  • Official Twitter Handle - INS Circars : @IN_Circars
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