WESTERN NAVAL COMMAND

	WESTERN NAVAL COMMAND
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The Western Naval Command, with its HQ in Mumbai, is commanded by the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, currently Vice Admiral Sangram Singh Byce. The WNC is the sword arm of the Indian Navy and naval operations conducted on the western seaboard, is central to the outcome of any conflict at sea during war. The flotilla at the WNC is based under Flag Officer Maharashtra Area (FOMA) and provides naval defence in the sensitive north Arabian Sea. The WNC is equipped with submarine pens, a carrier dock and main dockyards. A college of naval warfare has been established at Karanja in the Wardha district of Maharashtra. Full fledged shipbuilding facilities on the western seaboard include the Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai, the Goa Shipyard Ltd and the Cochin Shipyard Ltd in Kerala, which is India's largest repair dry dock. At Lakshadweep, in the Laccadive Islands, there is a patrol craft base.

The FOC-in-C (West) is the submarine operating authority, under whom Commodore Commanding Submarines (West) [COMCOS (W)] operate. The 10th (Shishumar Class) and 12th (Sindhugosh Class) Submarine Squadrons operate under COMCOS (W). INS Vajrabahu, a submarine base commissioned on 01 February 1996, is the shore support unit for providing administrative, logistic and operational support to the submarines based on the West Coast. This submarine base significantly augments the dry docking and berthing facilities for submarines docked at Mumbai. The dry dock is unique, in that it is the first such facility being built into the sea. Its foundation is on solid rock, eliminating the need for marine piles which would have been expensive. It will be made of interlocking concrete blocks. The dry dock's pump hoses, electric sub-stations, compressors and related equipment are underground or within the confines of the out-fitting berths, to enable unhindered movement of personnel & material to dry docked vessels and those berthed alongside. To permit optimum utilization, the dry dock has in addition to the lock gate at its mouth, a second transferable lock gate within. Thus by dividing the docking space, the Navy can use sections of it separately for servicing submarines and even surface vessels of different sizes.

Goa is HQ of Flag Officer Naval Aviation (FONA) which is responsible for all naval aviation aspects. The Directorate of Naval Air Staff at Naval HQ lays down the general principles of operational deployment, organisation, administration and operational/training standards for the flying units. FONA was established in 1986 and exercises control on matters concerning training, maintenance and other functions of naval aviation. The two naval aircraft yards at Kochi, Kerala and Dabolim, Goa provide maintenance support of the fleet's air arm. Depending upon the depth of maintenance, four echelons of maintenance have been established. The shipborne flights and squadrons carry out frontline maintenance, the aircraft carriers and air stations provide the second line of support to the operating squadrons and flights of aircraft/helicopters. The NAY (Kochi) provides maintenance support to Western origin aircraft and NAY (Goa) supports the Russian origin aircraft.

• INS Kadamba, located at Binaga Bay near Karwar (midway between Mumbai and Cochin), is the site for Project Seabird, a new naval base which will eventually become the Western Naval Command's Headquarters. The first phase of the project was completed by mid-2005 and the base was commissioned on 31 May 2005. The first phase includes the building of a state-of-the-art ship lift facility - the only one of its kind in India, the construction of harbour and anchorage, a 420 x 185 metre jetty, berthing facilities for around 11 ships, logistics to administer & accommodate over 1000 officers and sailors and their families, and a modern naval ship repair yard. The second phase would include a naval air station, a naval research institute, a transmitting station and a naval armament yard. The first phase can accommodate 11 ships, while the second phase will increase that number to 22 ships. Ultimately the harbour is designed to berth as many as 42 vessels. The depth at the bay will allow large vessels, such as the 44,570-ton Kiev Class aircraft carrier, to enter the harbour.

Spread over 11,200 acres (4480 hectares), this is the first operational base with a port controlled exclusively by the Indian Navy, allowing it to strategically operate its naval fleet without worrying about the movement of merchant vessels, which is presently the case with the Mumbai naval base. The base also enables to relieve congestion at the Mumbai naval base and will have facilities for the berthing & repair of the fleet and other strategic assets. The base is an ideal location for a naval port, as it is sandwiched between the Western Ghats in the east and the Arabian Sea in the west, deep bays which offer natural protection and a strategic depth of nearly half a mile into the sea. The base will allow naval ships to come in, be berthed, ship lifted, dry-docked, repaired and turned around. Providing cover to the bay are the Anjadip, Arge Button and Round islands. Karwar's hilly terrain provides excellent camouflage to ground installations. And crucially, the extent of land available will not only enable the Navy to disperse its forces, a necessity in times of an attack, but enable any future expansion of the base.

The 10,000 tonne, 175m x 28m shiplift and ship transfer system at Karwar, can lift virtually all of the Indian Navy's naval vessels, excluding large tanker-sized vessels and the aircraft carrier, INS Viraat. A shiplift serves as a large elevator platform which can be lowered into water, have a vessel hauled in and positioned over the cradle/blocks preset on the platform, and lifted vertically to the yard level, so that the vessel can be moved from the platform on to a dry repair berth on land. The shiplift at Seabird consists of a 2000-tonne steel-lifting platform suspended by 42 wire ropes attached to hoist drums. Distributed in equal numbers on either side of the platform and located on piers, the synchronised and electrical motor-driven hoists lift or lower the platform uniformly and in a horizontal plane. The ship is then moved by a system of trolleys and railings onto the wash-down berth (where it is cleaned), then to the transfer bay and finally onto the dry berth/dock. The shiplift will give the Indian Navy, 625 metres of berthing space and with the usual double and triple banking, up to 10 ships can be berthed at any given time.

• INS Shivaji, located at Lonavala, is the premier training institution for ab initio, professional and specialisation marine engineering courses for personnel of technical branches of the Navy, the Coast Guard and foreign navies. In addition it conducts marine engineering orientation courses for personnel of other branches and pre-commissioning training for various classes of ships. Officers undergo BTech level training here while sailors do their basic artificer and specialized courses. The NBCD School is a part of the training establishment and imparts specialised training and skills to the naval personnel in nuclear, biological and chemical defence, damage control and fire fighting. A new training facility, the Damage Control Simulator, appropriately named Akshat or the un-damageable, was inducted into the Navy at the NBCD School. The state-of-the-art simulator will improve the training of personnel on damage control aspects. The simulator is a three-deck structure, mounted on pivots, whose interiors resemble a naval war vessel. The entire structure can be rolled by hydraulic actuators up to 15º on either side at various speeds. Various types of damages like deck leaks, bulkhead leaks, distorted hatches, bulkheads and ruptured high-pressure pipes can be treated in the simulator. The simulator incorporates a large number of safety features in order to ensure safety of the trainees. The facility provides realistic damage scenarios and prepares naval personnel for the hardships of battle at sea. Training provided in the simulator shall prove invaluable in rendering damaged warships combat-worthy quickly during war.

• INS Valsura, located in Rozi Island in the Gulf of Kutch, 5 km from Jamnagar, is a premier training establishment of the Indian Navy. The establishment was commissioned on 15 December 1942 by Colonel Digvijay Singhji, the Jamsaheb of Nawanagar, as a torpedo training school to counter the menace created by the German U-boats to Allied shipping during World War II. Formation of the Electrical Branch in the Indian Navy in 1947, resulted in INS Valsura becoming the alma mater for the electrical branch. Since then, thousands of officers and sailors have passed out of its portals to take care of a wide array of systems on-board and offshore in combat. INS Valsura is one of the oldest establishments of the Indian Navy. While keeping pace with the recent technological developments, the establishment is striving for excellence in technology. It has its roots firm in the service ethos of character building and an all-round development of the trainees. INS Valsura undertakes training of officers, sailors and civilian personnel of the Navy, Coast Guard and friendly foreign navies in electrical, electronics, computer and weapon engineering disciplines. Professional training for electrical artificers and power & radio branch sailors is also conducted here.

• INS Jawarhalal Nehru, located at Ezhimala in Kerala, is keeping in view the requirements of the 21st century and an integrated approach towards officers' training, with practically every possible training mechanism available under one roof. The naval academy, to be constructed on a 1000 hectare coastal site, will witness a sea change and give physical expression to the seafaring traditions of Ezhimala, the Malabar region, Kerala in particular and the country at large. The academy will be incorporated under a full-fledged university, and will have an engineering college and other technical naval schools. Simulators and life-size models of equipment will form the essential elements of practical training at the academy. In addition the campus will be a planned township with all modern amenities. The site has tranquil backwaters to the north for seamanship training while Ettikulam to the south will provide access to the sea for ocean sailing. The aspirations of the Navy are to set up an outstanding institution of maritime learning and it is expected that Ezhimala will be one of the most modern naval academies in the world. INS Zamorin - a depot base for coordinating administrative matters for the new naval academy - was commissioned on 06 April 2005.

• INS Mandovi, located at Goa, is the officers' basic training institution. All officer candidates (other than NDA entry) undergo their initial naval training here which varies from six months to three years. The present academy is insufficient to meet the future requirements of the Navy and a new school is being built at Ezhimala, Kerala.

• INS Hamla, located at Mumbai, is where logistic & catering personnel are trained. Officers graduate in Long Logistics Management Course while sailors undergo courses related to stores management, catering and computers. The computer courses, which is offered to both officers and sailors, include programming and system analysis & design.

• INS Angre, located at Mumbai, is a major logistics base for the Western Naval Command.

• INS Agnivahu, located at Colaba (Mumbai), is the Navy's Missile Boat Headquarters.

• INS Tunir, located at Karanja (Mumbai), is the Navy's Missile Preparation Facility.

• INS Abhimanyu, located at Mumbai, is a Marine Commando training base.

• INS Dwarka, located at Okha (Gujarat), is an advance base.

• INHS Aswini, located at Mumbai, is a Naval Hospital.

• INHS Jeevanti, located at Goa, is a Naval Hospital.