After serving the Indian Navy for 29 years, the oldest serving aircraft carrier, INS Viraat will be decommissioned on March 6. Significantly, INS Viraat is the last of the British-built ship and served a combined 56 years for the navy in two countries.
The aircraft commissioned into the Royal Navy in November, 1959, as HMS Hermes. She served the British for 27 years before being decommissioned in 1984. Following India bought the vessel and rechristened it INS Viraat, to be commissioned into the Indian Navy on May 12, 1987.
In July 2016, INS Viraat sailed under her own command for the last time from Mumbai to Kochi. In October 2016, she was drawn out of Kochi and returned to Mumbai. She will be officially decommissioned on March 6, in Mumbai.
Shortly after commissioning, the aircraft saw active involvement when it turned out to be a part of Operation Jupiter in July 1989. It played a major role as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka after the Indo-Sri Lankan accord broke down.
Nonetheless it was not the first time that she had witnessed active operations. With the Royal Navy, she had played a key role in the Falkland battles.
The last of functioning duties for the aged INS Viraat came when she was positioned in the International Fleet Review in Viskhakapatnam in Feb 2016. However, the Navy had to choose on its luck, mainly owing to the ever growing operational prices involved to keep her battle ready.
