Naval Battle at Mormugoa Harbour
Goa Liberation: Naval Battle at Mormugoa Harbour
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Below: The truth about the Indo-China agreement?
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The story of NRP Afonso de Albuquerque was the last hope for the Portuguese. NRP Afonso de Albuquerque was a warship of the Portuguese Navy, named after the 16th-century Portuguese navigator Afonso de Albuquerque. She was destroyed in combat on 18 December 1961 in Goa, defending Portuguese interests in Goa against the Indian armed forces during the liberation of Goa……….
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The present generation must not be knowing much about
the liberation of Goa on December 1961. After numerous talks, discussions, and
diplomacy with the Portuguese government and facing international pressure, the
Indian government under Nehru decided to act. The Indian government ordered a
military operation. The army was sent in to neutralize the Portuguese army. In
a swift action, the Indian army took over the territory, and the Portuguese
army surrendered as they knew they were no match to the well-equipped Indian
army. There were few causalities on both sides. Though there were some pockets
of resistance, it was put down quickly. Indian troops captured Goa without much
fight. But in the sea, a naval battle took place at Mormugoa harbor as a
last-ditch effort to save face. This blog describes the action here and how the
Indian forces took charge in defeating the Portuguese last fight.
The story of NRP Afonso de Albuquerque was the last
hope for the Portuguese. NRP Afonso de Albuquerque was a warship of the
Portuguese Navy, named after the 16th-century Portuguese navigator Afonso de
Albuquerque. She was destroyed in combat on 18 December 1961 in Goa, defending
Portuguese interests in Goa against the Indian armed forces during the
liberation of Goa. With the defeat and destruction of this warship, Portuguese
lost all hope of holding on for some days till reinforcements arrived from
Portugal.
On the morning of 18 December 1961, the Portuguese
ship NRP Afonso de Albuquerque was anchored off Mormugoa harbor. Besides
engaging Indian naval units, the ship was also tasked with providing a coastal
artillery battery to defend the harbor and adjoining beaches and providing
vital radio communications with Lisbon after on-shore radio facilities had been
destroyed in Indian airstrikes.
At 09:00, three Indian frigates led by the INS Betwa
(F139) took up position off the harbor, awaiting orders to attack the Afonso
and secure sea access to the port. At 11:00, Indian planes bombed Mormugoa
harbor. At 12:00, upon receiving clearance, the INS Betwa and the INS Beas
(F137) entered the harbor and fired on the Afonso with their 4.5-inch guns
while transmitting requests to surrender in morse code between shots. In
response, the Afonso lifted anchor, headed out towards the enemy, and returned
fire with its 120 mm guns.
The Afonso was outnumbered by the Indians and was at a
severe disadvantage since it was in a confined position that restricted its
maneuvering and because its four 120mm guns could fire only two rounds a
minute, as compared to the 16 rounds per minute of the guns aboard the Indian
frigates. A few minutes into the exchange of fire, at 12:15, the Afonso took a
direct hit in its control tower, injuring its weapons officer. At 12:25, an
anti-personnel shrapnel bomb fired from an Indian vessel exploded directly over
the ship, killing its radio officer and severely injuring its commander,
Captain António da Cunha Aragão, after which First Officer Pinto da Cruz took
command of the vessel. The ship’s propulsion system was also badly damaged in
this attack.
At 12:35, the Afonso swerved 180 degrees and was run
aground against Bambolim Beach. At that time, against the commander’s orders, a
white flag was hoisted under instructions from the sergeant in charge of
signals, but the flag coiled itself around the mast and, as a result, was not
spotted by the Indians, who continued their barrage. The flag was immediately
lowered.
Eventually, at 12:50, after the Afonso had fired
nearly 400 rounds at the Indians, hitting two of the Indian vessels, and had
taken severe damage, the order was given to start abandoning ship. Under heavy
fire directed at both the ship and the coast, non-essential crew, including
weapons staff, left the ship and went ashore. They were followed at 13:10 by
the rest of the crew, who, along with their injured commander, set fire to the
ship and disembarked directly onto the beach. Following this, the commander was
transferred by car to the hospital at Panaji. On the Indian side, as per
reports, two frigates were hit, killing five sailors and injuring thirteen.
The ship’s crew formally surrendered with the
remaining Portuguese forces on 19 December 1961 at 20:30. As a gesture of
goodwill, the commanders of the INS Betwa and the INS Beas later visited
Captain Aragão as he lay recuperating in bed in Panaji.
The Afonso, having been renamed Saravastri by the
Indian Navy, lay grounded at the beach near Dona Paula until 1962, when it was
towed to Bombay and sold for scrap. Parts of the ship were recovered and are on
display at the Naval Museum in Mumbai.
The Portuguese patrol boat NRP Sirius, under the
command of Lieutenant Marques Silva, was also present at Goa. After observing
Afonso running aground and not having communications from the Goa Naval
Command, Lieutenant Marques Silva decided to scuttle the Sirius. This was done
by damaging the propellers and making the boat hit the rocks. The eight men of
the Sirius’s crew avoided being captured by the Indian forces and boarded a
Greek freighter on which they reached Pakistan.
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The truth about the Indo-China agreement?
A tweet by Dr. Jaishankar on India-China agreement, back to 2020
position. What does it mean? Chinese had occupied the area since! And what we
were told by the authorities, ministers, and ruling politicians is that no
Chinese have come nor have they occupied Indian areas. They simply crossed and
occupied Indian territory since 2020. It is believed 2,000 sq km of
India-claimed territory was estimated to have been taken over by the Chinese
since May 2020. And nobody from the government talked about it, nor the
friendly media, though the opposition raised the issue and was vocal about it,
so were some of the ex-officers and retired generals of the Indian forces. The
authorities just ignored it
Responding to a question on the patrolling and disengagement
agreement in the Depsang and Demchok areas in Eastern Ladakh and what can be
expected from the future of India-China relations, the minister said, ‘From
2020, the situation at the border has been very disturbed, and that has,
understandably, had a very negative impact on the overall relationship. Since
September 2020, we have been negotiating with the Chinese on how to find a
solution.’
He further added, ’The focus, for now, is disengagement, the
minister said, stressing that while there had been understandings in some areas
after 2020, blocking of patrolling remained an issue that was being negotiated
for two years.
Dr. Subramanya Swami, a prominent BJP member and known critic of
Mody and his policies, pointed it out in numerous interviews on the social
media, and also stated, If the government wants to be transparent and clear all
doubts of China occupying India areas after 2020, as claimed by Swamy, the
opposition, and others, the government should place the copy of the agreement
in Parliament and clear all doubts once and for all.
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| Sriharikota Launch Station, AP |
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