President Ram Nath Kovind will award the President’s Standard to the 22nd Missile Vessel Squadron, also known as the Killer Squadron at a ceremonial parade to be held at Naval Dockyard, Mumbai on 8 December.
To mark the occasion, a Special Day Cover along with a commemorative stamp will also be released by the Postal Department.
The ceremony is expected to be attended by the Governor and the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Chief of the Naval Staff as well as several other civil and military dignitaries.
The President’s Standard is the highest honour bestowed by the Supreme Commander to a military unit in recognition of the service rendered to the nation. The Indian Navy was awarded the President’s Colours on 27 May 1951 by the then President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad.
The President’s Standard is the same honour as the President’s Colours, awarded to a relatively smaller military formation or unit.
The 22nd Missile Vessel Squadron was formally established at Mumbai in October 1991 with ten Veer Class and three Prabal Class missile boats. However, the genesis of ‘Killers’ dates back to the year 1969, with the induction of OSA I Class missile boats from erstwhile USSR to bolster the strength of the Indian Navy.
These missile boats were transported to India on heavy lift merchant ships and commissioned in early 1971 at Kolkata. They were baptised by fire in the same year during the Indo – Pak war of 1971 where they played a decisive role in the outcome of the war.
On the night of 4-5 December 1971, the youngest warriors of a young Indian Navy drew first blood when they launched a devastating offensive on the Pakistan Navy. Indian Navy ships Nirghat, Nipat and Veer fired their Styx missiles and sank Pakistan Navy ships Khyber and Muhafiz, delivering a deathly blow to aspirations of the Pakistan Navy and crippling them for years to come. Codenamed Op Trident, this operation is considered to be one of the most successful operations in modern naval history, with no casualties being sustained by the Indian forces.
The relentless Indian Navy carried out another daring attack on the night of 8/9 December, when INS Vinash, along with two frigates, launched four Styx missiles, sinking the Pakistan Naval Fleet Tanker Dacca and causing substantial damage to Keamari Oil Storage Facility at Karachi. Again, there were no damages reported to the Indian forces. It is because of these heroic deeds of the ships and men of the Squadron that they earned the title of ‘Killers’ and the Indian Navy celebrates 04th December as Navy Day.