The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Visakhapatnam News : Citizens make a beeline for the beach

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 05, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

Citizens make a beeline for the beach

Sumit Bhattacharjee

Eastern Naval Command shows off its capabilities

As many as 19 vessels participate in the show
Marine commandos display their prowess

— Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam

SPECIAL OCCASION: People in large numbers throng the R.K. Beach to witness the naval exercises as part of the Navy Day celebrations in the city on Tuesday.

VISAKHAPATNAM: The silence of the Ramakrishna Beach that is broken by the sound of the breaking waves and the occasional honking of the horn on normal day was shattered by gunfire from automatic weapons, rocket firing and staccato of the anti-aircraft guns. The mood was battle like and the beach was transformed into a war theatre on Tuesday evening. The occasion was Navy Day and the Eastern Naval Command put up an impressive show of its operational might.

For a change, the sea of humanity overshadowed the splendour of the blue waters of the Bay, as people turned out in thousands to witness the operational demo.

A total of 19 ships comprising missile corvettes, destroyers, fast attack crafts, missile boats and two subs apart from an array of rotor and fixed wing aircrafts participated in the show. The crowd gave a thunderous applause when the commentator announced that the missile boats were the ones that launched the deadly attack on the Karachi Harbour and which played a decisive role in the 1971 war against Pakistan. Navy Day is celebrated on December 4 to commemorate that attack.

Star attraction

The star attraction of the show was the scintillating display of aerobatics by the Indian Navy’s formation aerobatic team Sagar Pavan. A few skipped a beat as the three Kiran MK-IIs broke open from a shadow formation a few hundred mteres above the crowd. They thrilled the crowd; especially the children with various formations, patterns and close fly past. The pilots exhibited dexterity at high speed and held the crowd spellbound.

The sky diving team also gave a display of precision landing and the crowd were seen craning their necks to spot the divers who slowly turned to figures from mere specks in the azure sky.

The Marine Commandos and the commandos drawn from various regiments in the army also thrilled the audience with macho display of amphibious assault.

The naval authorities informed that the crowd started to stream in from 2 p.m. onwards despite vehicular restrictions imposed by the city police.

The show was witnessed by the Governor N.D. Tiwari who was accompanied by the Flag Officer Commanding in Chief of ENC Raman Prem Suthan and other naval officials.

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