The Pakistan Navy (Urdu: پاک بحریہ) is the naval branch of the military of Pakistan. It is responsible for Pakistan’s 1,046 kilometer (650 mile) coastline along the Arabian Sea and the defense of important harbors. Navy day is celebrated on September 8 in commemoration of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.

History

The birth of the Royal Pakistan Navy came with the creation of Pakistan on 14 August 1947. The Armed Forces Reconstitution Committee (AFRC) divided the Royal Indian Navy between both India and Pakistan. The Royal Pakistan Navy secured two sloops, two frigates, four minesweepers, two naval trawlers, four harbour launches and some 358 personnel (180 officers and 34 ratings), and given the high percentage of delta areas on the Pakistan coast the Navy was given a number of Harbour Defence Motor Launches.

“ “ Today is a historic day for Pakistan, doubly so for those of us in the Navy. The Dominion of Pakistan has come into being and with it a new Navy – the Royal Pakistan Navy – has been born. I am proud to have been appointed to command it and serve with you at this time. In the coming months, it will be my duty and yours to build up our Navy into a happy and efficient force.” Quaid-E-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. ”

 

The beginning

The Royal Pakistan Navy saw no action during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 as all the fighting was restricted to land warfare. In 1956 the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was proclaimed under the 1956 constitution. The prefix Royal was dropped and the service was re-designated as the Pakistan Navy, or “PN” for short. The PN Jack and Pakistan flag replaced the Queen’s colour and the white ensign respectively. The order of precedence of the three services changed from Navy, Army, Air force to Army, Navy, Air Force. In February 1956, the British government announced supplying of several major surface combatants to Pakistan. These Warships, a cruiser and four destroyers were purchased with funds made available under the US Military Assistance Program. The acquisition of a few additional warships that is two destroyers, eight coastal minesweepers and an oiler (between 1956-63) was the direct result of Pakistan’s participation in the anti-Communist defence pacts of SEATO and CENTO.

 

Indo-Pakistan war of 1965

During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 the navy was involved in a conflict for the first time. Apart from carrying out a limited bombardment of the coastal town of Dwaraka – codenamed Operation Dwarka, the navy’s submarine PNS Ghazi which was Pakistan’s first submarine and remained the flagship submarine for Pakistan Navy till deployed against Indian Navy’s western fleet at Bombay (Mumbai) port.

Indo-Pakistan war of 1971

Karachi housed the headquarters of the Pakistani Navy and almost the entire fleet was based at Karachi Harbour. Karachi was also the hub of Pakistan’s maritime trade, meaning that a blockade would be disastrous for Pakistan’s economy. The defence of Karachi harbour was therefore paramount to the Pakistani High Command and it was heavily defended against any airstrikes or naval strike. Karachi received some of the best defence Pakistan had to offer as well as cover from strike aircraft based at two airfields in the area. On December 4 the Indian Navy launched a fast naval strike Operation Trident on the port. The task group for the operation consisted of 3 OSA class Missile boats, escorted by two Anti-submarine patrol vessels. Nearing the Karachi port, they detected Pakistani presence and launched missiles, hitting PNS Muhafiz and PNS Khyber, which both sank. PNS Shahjahan was also severely damaged.

The success of this operation prompted another attack on Pakistan coast named Operation Python on the night of December 8, 1971. In rough seas a small strike group, consisting of missile boat Vinash and two multipurpose frigates, approached Karachi. In the ensuing battle, the Indian ships sank the Panamian vessel Gulf Star, while the Pakistan Navy’s Dacca and the British ship SS Harmattan were badly damaged. The Pakistani fuel reserves for the sector were destroyed. The same day (8 December 1971), PNS Hangor, a Pakistani Daphné class submarine, sank an Indian frigate INS Khukri off the coast of Gujarat, India. This was the first sinkings by a submarine since World War II. 18 officers and 176 sailors of the Indian navy were killed in this operation. The same submarine also damaged another warship, INS Kirpan.[4] Pakistan also attempted to counter the Indian missile boat threat by carrying out bombing raids over Okha harbour—the forward base of the missile boats.

With East Pakistan having been surrounded on all three sides by the Indian Army, the Navy was under immense pressure to protect the coast. The major threat from the PNS Ghazi—the only long range submarine—was nullified when it was sunk in the Bay of Bengal, directly or indirectly through the depth charges dropped by the Indian Navy’s destroyer INS Rajput or by its own antiship mine that came back due to the rough sea.[5] This enabled an easy blockade on East Pakistan by the Indian Navy.[6]

The damage inflicted by both Indian Navy and Indian Air Force on Pakistan Navy stood at seven gunboats, one minesweeper, two destroyers, three patrol crafts belonging to the coast guard, 18 cargo, supply and communication vessels, with some more crafts damaged, and large scale destruction inflicted on the naval base and Docks in the coastal town of Karachi. Three merchant navy ships—Anwar Baksh, Pasni, Madhumathi[7]—and ten smaller vessels were captured.[8] The total number of personnel losses came to about 1900 and 1413 servicemen were captured by Indian forces in Dhaka(Official Pakistan losses).[9] In contrast the Indian Navy lost 212 personnel, a frigate (another frigate damaged) and a naval plane Breguet Alizé to the Pakistan Air Force (PAF).[9] According to one Pakistan scholar, Tariq Ali, Pakistan Navy lost a third of its force in the war.[10] The primary reason for this loss has been attributed to the central command’s failure in defining a role for the Navy—or the military in general, in East Pakistan. Since then the Navy has sought to improve the structure and fleet by putting special emphasis on sub-surface warfare capability as it allows for the most efficient way to deny the control of Pakistani sea lanes to the adversary.

Post war

The Navy sought to diversify its purchases instead of depending solely on the United States, which had placed an arms embargo on both India and Pakistan. It sought more vessels from France and China. The Pakistan Navy thus became the first navy in South Asia to acquire land based missile capable long range reconnaissance aircraft.[11] During the 1980s the Pakistan Navy enjoyed un-preceded growth. It doubled its surface fleet from 8 to 16 surface combatants in 1989. In 1982, the Reagan administration approved US$3.2 billion military and economic aid to Pakistan. Pakistan acquired eight Brooke and Garcia-class frigates from US Navy on a five year lease in 1988. A depot for repairs, ex-USS Hector followed the lease of these ships in April 1989. However after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989 US President George Bush was advised to no longer certify that Pakistan was not involved in the development of nuclear weapons and the Pressler’s Amendment was invoked on 1 October 1990. The lease of the first Brooke class frigate expired in March 1993, the remaining in early 1994. This seriously impaired the Pakistan Navy, which was composed almost entirely of former US origin ships. Pakistan began to concentrate on self-reliance for its defense production.[citation needed]

Atlantique incident

The Atlantique Incident was a major international incident on 10 August 1999 where a Pakistan Navy plane (Breguet Atlantic) with 16 on board was shot down in the border area of the Kutch region with Pakistan and India both claiming the aircraft to be in their respective airspace by Indian Air Force jets. The wreckage however, fell well within Pakistani territory, giving credence to the Pakistani claim. The Indian Air Force stated that the Atlantique was trying to return to Pakistani airspace after intruding more than 10 nautical miles and as such was headed towards Pakistan. At the speed of 400 knots at which the shootdown occurred most of the wreckage was expected to land at least 25 miles from the shootdown so Pakistani Army claims that the wreckage was found in Pakistan can be true even though the shootdown occurred in Indian Airspace. It resulted in escalated tensions between the two neighboring countries.[citation needed] However International Court of Justice did not decide in favour of Pakistan.

Tsunami relief activities

The Navy has been involved in some peacetime operations, most notably during the tsunami tragedy that struck on December 26, 2004. Pakistan sent vessels to Sri Lanka and the Maldives to help in rescue and relief work.

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