Operation Trident

On the night of 04/05 Dec 1971, Indian Naval Ships Kiltan, Katchall, Nipat, Nirghat and Veer carried out their first missile attack over Karachi harbour. When Indian fleet reached 70 nautical miles South of Karachi around 10:30 PM, one of the officers on INS Nipat observed a blip on the radar indicating approaching enemy ship and fired a number of missiles to sink it. It was later identified as PNS Khaibar (Pakistani destroyer). On approaching harbour, INS Veer fired missiles on to PNS Muhafiz (Pakistan coastal minesweeper) to sink it along with its crew. In its maiden missile boat operation after independence, the Indian Navy destroyed four Pakistani ships and damaged another two. The Pakistani fuel reserves and harbour were also destroyed. In this fiercest battle, Indian Navy ships bombarded Karachi harbour with devastating fire power inflicting huge losses on to the adversary.