Indian navy chief quits after embarrassing sub accidents

TomoNews US 2015-05-13

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India's navy Chief Admiral D.K. Joshi is calling it quits as chief of the Indian navy after another accident occurred on a Kilo-class submarine early on Wednesday. The admiral's resignation was accepted by Defense Minister A.K. Antony.

Admiral Joshi is the first Indian military commander to have resigned since General Kodandera Subayya Thimmaiah in 1959 and the only one to have his resignation accepted by the government.

Joshi's resignation came hours after a fire broke out on board the newly-refitted Sindhuratna and claimed the lives of two naval officers and injured seven others. The fire happened Wednesday when the Sindhuratna had just started its "sea workup phase" after getting refitted at the Mumbai naval dockyard from May to December of last year.

This submarine accident is the third in a series of embarrassing accidents. In August 2013, the Sindhurakshak exploded and sank in Mumbai's naval dockyard killing 18 crew members. Last month, the Sindhughosh ran aground on its way into Mumbai harbor.

The problem for India's navy is that its thirteen Russian Kilo-class submarines are old as hell. The INS Sindhughosh, Sindhudhaj, the Sindhuraj, Sindhuvir and Sindhuratna, all Russian-manufactured Kilo-class submarines, were all inducted in the eighties. The most recent of the Kilo-class fleet, the Sindhushastra, was bought in 2000, preceded by the Sindhurakshak in 1997, and the Sindhuvijay was inducted in 1991.

Joshi's resignation is the first one ever to be accepted by the government, no doubt to take the heat off themselves. Maybe they should be worried about China's navy instead? Nah.

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