The Pakistan Navy is the naval warfare branch of Pakistan Armed Forces, responsible for Pakistan's 1,046 kilometres (650 mi) of coastline along the Arabian Sea, and the defence of important civilian harbours and military bases. The Pakistan Navy came into the existence after the independence of Pakistan in 1947, and is headed by Admiral Asif Sandila. Navy Day is celebrated on 8 September in commemoration of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.[1]The Pakistan Navy's current and primary role is to protect the
country's economic and military interests at home and abroad, executing
the foreign and defence policies of the Government of Pakistan through the exercise of military effect, diplomatic activities and other activities in support of these objectives.[2][3]
In the 21st century, the Pakistan Navy also focuses on limited overseas
operations, and has played a vital role in the establishment of the Pakistan Antarctic Programme.[4][5]
The Pakistan Navy is supported by the Pakistan Coast Guard, Pakistan Marines, and the Maritime Security Agency (MSA), the combat paramilitary division of the Pakistan Navy.[citation needed]The Navy is undergoing extensive modernisation and expansion as part of Pakistan's role in the War on Terror.
Since 2001, the Pakistan Navy has increased and expanded its
operational scope, and has been given greater national and international
responsibility in countering the threat of sea-based global terrorism,
drug smuggling, and piracy.[citation needed] In 2004, Pakistan Navy became a member of the primarily NATO Combined Task Forces CTF-150 and CTF-151.[6]The Constitution of Pakistan makes the President of Pakistan
the civilian Commander-in-Chief. The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), by
statute a four star admiral, is appointed by the President with the
consultation and confirmation needed from the Prime Minister of Pakistan. The Chief of Naval Staff is subordinate to the civilian Defence Minister and Secretary of Defence, and commands the Navy.
History
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
The Pakistan Navy came into existence on the Fourteenth of August, 1947 with the establishment of the State of Pakistan.[7] The Armed Forces Reconstitution Committee (AFRC) divided the Royal Indian Navy between 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). Because of the high percentage of delta areas on its coast, Pakistan also received a number of harbour defence motor launches. As part of the Commonwealth of Nations, the prefix "Royal" was used until the state was proclaimed a republic in 1956.[7]
The Navy endured a difficult history, only 200 officers and 3000
sailors were inherited to the Navy, the most senior being Commodore HMS
Chaudhry.[8]
The Navy suffered perennial problems with inadequate staff, lack of
operational bases, and poor technological and personnel resources. It
was also the smallest branch of the armed forces in terms of technical
staff, equipment, and officers, as compared to the army and air force.[8]
Despite these difficulties, the Navy faced the challenges, and launched
a high profile recruitment program for the young nation, starting in East-Pakistan.[8] When it proved difficult to sustain the program in East Pakistan, the Navy shifted its focus to West Pakistan.[8]
The beginning
The Pakistan Navy saw no action during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947, as all fighting was restricted to land. However, Commodore Sidik Chaudhry took part in operational planning,[citation needed] and the Navy evacuated Pakistani nationals from disputed and hostile areas, with its frigates operating continuously.[8] Rear-Admiral James Wilfred Jefford, Chief of Naval Staff, had created a "Short-term Emergency Plan (STEP)" to work up the frigates and naval defences.[8] In 1948, the directorate-general for Naval Intelligence (DGNI), a staff corps, was established under Commander Syed Mohammad Ahsan,
who served as its first Director-General, in Karachi. When the 1947 war
came to an end, the Navy began expanding its facilities and bases,
establishing a headquarters in Karachi. In 1949 it acquired its first O Class destroyer from the Royal Navy.[8]
The operational history of the Pakistan Navy began in 1949 with the Royal Navy's donation of two battle destroyers, the PNS Tippu Sultan and PNS Tariq. The Tippu Sultan was commissioned on 30 September 1949, under Commander P.S. Evans, whilst the Tariq was placed under the command of Lieutenant-Commander Afzal Rahman Khan. The two destroyers formed the 25th Destroyer Squadron. The PNS Jhelum and PNS Tughril, under Commander Muzaffar Hasan, also joined the Royal Pakistan Navy.[citation needed]In 1950, the Navy underwent extensive nationalization and
consolidation programs, in which large numbers of native officers were
promoted. Dockyard, logistics, and engineering services were formed, and
vigorous efforts were made to integrate the navy presence in East-Pakistan
into a full development plan for the navy, thereby creating
opportunities for people in East-Pakistan to participate in the
build-up. During this period, certain key positions in Naval Combatant
Headquarters (NHQ) were given to native officers, in place of Royal Navy officers.[citation needed]
Commander Khalid Jamil was appointed as the navy's first Pakistani Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (DCNS), while Rear-Admiral James Wilfred Jefford served as first chief of naval staff until 1953.[citation needed] Jefford was assisted by Deputy Chief of Staff Commander M. A. Alavi, whilst other administrative positions were redesigned and created by the Pakistan Government.[citation needed] In the mid-1950s, the Ministry of Finance awarded contracts to the Pakistan Army's Corps of Engineers for the construction of NHQ in Karachi and the Karachi Naval Dockyard.
During this time, a number of goodwill missions were carried out by the
navy's combatant ships, and non-combat missions were conducted under
the auspices of the Royal Navy. Pakistan Navy ships cruised and visited ports worldwide with the Royal Navy. In 1950, Commodore Chaudhry took command of PNS Shamsheer; in 1953 he became the navy's first Pakistani chief of naval staff, handing over command of the 25th Destroyer Squadron to Captain Romould Nalecz Tyminski, the first Polish officer to serve in the Pakistan Navy.[citation needed]
In 1956, the Parliament of Pakistan unanimously passed the 1956 Constitution of Pakistan and proclaimed the State of Pakistan as an Islamic Republic under the new constitution. The prefix Royal was dropped, and the service was re-designated the Pakistan Navy, or "PN". 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.[citation needed]In February 1956, the British government
announced the transfer of several major surface combat ships 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 from 1956 to 1963 – two
destroyers, eight coastal minesweepers, and an oiler − was the direct
result of Pakistan's participation in the anti-Communist defence pacts SEATO and CENTO.
During this time the Navy made an effort to acquire its first
submarine, but the attempts were rebuffed as the political situation in
Pakistan worsened in the 1950s.[8]
Indo-Pakistan war of 1965
The Navy was well-prepared when, following the 1965 Kashmir incursion, war again erupted between Pakistan and India.[8] Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Afzal Rahman Khan
ordered all units of the Pakistan Navy to take up defensive positions
off the coast, but did not order any offensive operations in the Bay of
Bengal.[8] As the Indian Air Force's repeated sorties and raids disrupted PAF operations, the Navy assumed a more aggressive role in the conflict.[citation needed] On 2 September, the Navy deployed its first long-range submarine, the PNS Ghazi, which was charged with gathering intelligence on Indian naval movements.[citation needed] The flagship submarine of Pakistan, it was directed by Commander Karamat Rahman Niazi (later a four-star admiral). In addition to engaging Indian frigates, missiles boats, or corvettes, Ghazi was also tasked with diverting threats posed by the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.[citation needed]
On the night of 7/8 September, a Pakistani squadron comprising four
destroyers, one frigate, one cruiser, and one submarine, under the
command of Commodore S.M. Anwar, launched Operation Dwarka, an attack on radar facilities used by the Indian Air Force in the small coastal town of Dwarka.[citation needed]
The ensuing bombardment failed to damage the radar installation, and no
casualties were reported, but the daring surprise raid - and the Indian
Navy's failure to take any counter-action - was a welcomed symbolic
victory for Pakistan. The destroyer squadron quickly withdrew 100 miles
from Dwarka.[citation needed]Ghazi was deployed against the Indian Navy's western fleet at Bombay (Mumbai).[9] On 22 September, after two weeks of chasing down sonar contacts, the submarine caught up with the roaming frigate INS Kuthar,[citation needed] and fired four homing torpedoes. Two hits were claimed, but the Indian warship didn't sink. On 23 September, Ghazi ended her operations and proceeded to Karachi Naval Dockyard.[citation needed]
Operation Dwarka had greatly increased the prestige of the Pakistan Navy.[10] It had also alerted Indian commanders to the significant threat posed by the Pakistan Navy, and to its own naval shortcomings.[10]
After the war, the Indian Navy began a comprehensive program of
modernization and procurement of naval systems, which the Pakistan Navy
failed to counter.[citation needed] The operational capacity of the Pakistan Navy was limited, and decreased as compared to the Indian Navy in the 1965–70 period.[citation needed] The Pakistanis did, however, acquire three Daphné class submarine from France, while operating Tench class submarine from the United States, and established the Naval special forces in 1966.[8]
The Navy also attempted to establish a naval air service, composed of
fighter jets, but this proved impossible due to budgetary constraints
and the opposition of the Air Force, which was reluctant to risk and
lose its aircraft in open-sea operations.[8]Indifference toward naval affairs by then-President General Ayub Khan
further deteriorated and jeopardized the operational scope of the Navy.
In 1970, General Yahya Khan began a series of reforms which increased
the Navy's role in national defense.[citation needed]
Indo-Pakistan war of 1971
The Pakistan Navy was poorly represented in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), and lacked capacity for conducting offensive operations in the Bay of Bengal.[citation needed] The fleet was almost entirely deployed in (West) Pakistan. In East Pakistan, the Navy deployed the Naval Special Service Group and the entire formation of Pakistan Marines (PM), initially charged with conducting expeditionary operations.[citation needed] The city of Karachi, the hub of Pakistan's maritime trade,
housed the combatant headquarters of the Pakistan Navy. Although
proposals were made to increased the naval presence in East Pakistan, no
serious reforms were made. On 15 March 1971, the Navy special forces launched a counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operation codenamed Operation Jackpot, and in April followed it up with a full scale offensive codenamed Operation Barisal. This was followed by the deployment of PNS Ghazi East Pakistan, initially for the purpose of gathering intelligence on Indian naval movements.
At then end of East-Pakistan crisis.... We (Pakistan Navy, Eastern Command) had no intelligence and hence, were both deaf and blind with the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force pounding us day and night....
In 1969, former Commander of the Navy Admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan was sent to East Pakistan, and became overall commander of Pakistani armed forces there.[12] Under his direction, the navy's presence in East Pakistan was tripled.[12]
Command-size naval assets were expanded, with an administrative unit
operating in East Pakistan. The Eastern Naval Command posed a
significant threat to the Indian Navy's counterpart Eastern Naval Command.[12]
Therefore, the Indian Navy launched an operation (somewhat confusingly,
also codenamed 'Jackpot'), to disrupt the Eastern High Command and
threaten its existence in the Eastern wing. With East Pakistan having
been surrounded on all three landward sides by the Indian Army, the PN was attempting to prevent India from blocking the coast as well.[12]
On 4 December, the Indian Navy launched a naval attack, Operation Trident, consisting of 3 OSA class missile boats escorted by two anti-submarine patrol vessels. Nearing Karachi's port area, they launched SS-N-2 Styx anti-ship missiles, which the obsolescent Pakistani naval ships had no viable defense against.[13] PNS Muhafiz and PNS Khyber were both sunk, while PNS Shahjahan was damaged beyond repair. It was a stunning victory for India, with no damage to their navy's attacking squadron. On 8 December 1971, the Hangor, a Daphné class submarine, sank the Indian frigate INS Khukri off the coast of Gujarat, India. This was the first sinking of a warship by a submarine since World War II,
and resulted in the loss of 18 officers and 176 sailors of the Indian
navy.
The same submarine also severely damaged another warship, INS Kirpan.[14]
Attempts were made by Pakistan to counter the Indian missile boat
threat by carrying out bombing raids over Okha harbour, the forward base
of the missile boats. The Indian Navy retaliated with an attack on the
Pakistani coast, named Operation Python,
on the night of 8 December 1971. A small group of Indian vessels,
consisting of a missile boat and two frigates, approached Karachi. The
Indian ships sank the Panamian vessel Gulf Star, while the Pakistan
Navy's PNS Dacca and the British ship SS Harmattan were damaged. Python
was a complete success for the Indian Navy, and a psychological trauma
for Pakistan Navy, the human and material cost severely cutting into its
combat capability.[15] Civilian pilots from Pakistan International Airlines volunteered to conduct surveillance missions with the PAF, but this proved less than helpful when they misidentified a Pakistan Navy frigate, PNS Zulfikar, as an Indian missile boat.[15] PAF planes made several attack runs before finally identifying the Zulfikar.[15]
The friendly attack resulted in further loss of navy personnel, as well
as the loss of the ship, which was severely damaged. The Pakistan
Navy's operational capabilities were now virtually extinct, and morale
plummeted.[15] Indian Navy observers noted that the "PAF pilots failed to recognize the difference between a large PNS Zulfikar frigate and a small Osa missile boat.".[15] After the friendly attack, all naval surface operations came to a halt under the orders of chief of naval staff.[15]
The Navy only long range submarine, Ghazi, was deployed to the area but, according to neutral sources, it sank en route under mysterious circumstances.[16]
Pakistani authorities state that it sank either due to internal
explosion or detonation of mines which it was laying at the time.[17] The Indian Navy claims to have sank the submarine.[18][19][20][21] The submarine's destruction enabled the Indian Navy to enforce a blockade on then East Pakistan.[22] According to the defence magazine, Pakistan Defence Journal, the attack on Karachi, Dhaka, Chittagong and the loss of Ghazi,
the Navy no longer was able to match the threat of Indian Navy as it
was already outclassed by the Indian Navy after the 1965 war.[citation needed]
The damage inflicted by the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force on the PN stood at seven gunboats, one minesweeper, two destroyers, three patrol crafts belonging to the Pakistan Coast Guard,
18 cargo, supply and communication vessels, and large-scale damage
inflicted on the naval base and docks in the coastal town of Karachi.
Three merchant navy ships; Anwar Baksh, Pasni and Madhumathi;[23] and ten smaller vessels were captured.[24] Around 1900 personnel were lost, while 1413 servicemen were captured by Indian forces in Dhaka.[25] The Indian Navy lost 18 officers and 176 sailors[14][26] and a frigate, while another frigate was damaged and a Breguet Alizé naval aircraft was shot down by the Pakistan Air Force. According to one Pakistan scholar, Tariq Ali, the Pakistan Navy lost a third of its force in the war.[27]
Despite the limited resources and manpower, the Navy performed its task
diligently by providing support to inter-services (air force and army)
until the end.[28]
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.[citation needed]
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
an adversary.[citation needed]
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