These days India’s aircraft carrier INS Viraat is in the news but not for military reasons. This is about the other aircraft carrier, still alive in pieces as Bajaj Auto made their limited edition bike, Victory with the steel from the hull of INS Vikrant. This was India’s first aircraft , first christened as HMS Hercules during the end of the second world War, was left unfinished after the war and finally purchased by the Indian Government in 1957, was born again as INS Vikrant and completed and commissioned by 1961 in Belfast, at the Harland and Wolf shipyard.
It was powered by two steam turbines, could travel at a maximum speed of 43 KMPH and could carry a fleet of 23 aircraft (British Sea Hawk Fighter planes and the French Alize aircraft).
It sailed just beyond the port of Chittagong and its fleet of sea Hawk fighter planes inflicted heavy damages to the enemy ships and military barracks in the ports of Chittagong, Khulna and Cox Bazar of what was East Pakistan then but now Bangladesh.
The officers and crew of the Vikrant earned two Mahavir chakras and twelve Vir Chakra gallantry medals during the 1971 operations.
Though there were threats of being attacked by the USS Enterprise, the Vikrant couldn’t care less as there were a number of Russian submarines following the US seventh fleet.
In 1984 the Sea hawks were replaced by the VTOL Sea Harriers, however its aging boilers and turbines eventually were becoming increasingly difficult to repair. The Vikrant sailed for the last time on 23rd November 1994 and was formally decommissioned on 31st January 1997.
For some time The Vikrant was a floating museum parked in the Mumbai Harbour, however later because of paucity of funds to maintain the Ship, it was sold as scrap. There were a lot of protests against this action, but finally Bajaj Auto stepped in, purchased the steel and produced their limited edition Victory Motorcycle, dedicated to the brave sons of Vikrant.
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