INS Kursura (S20)

INS Kursura (S20) was a Kalvari-class

(variant of the Foxtrot-class) diesel-
electric submarine of the Indian Navy. It
was India's fourth submarine. Kursura
was commissioned on 18 December
1969 and was decommissioned on 27
February 2001 after 31 years of service.
It participated in the Indo-Pakistani War
of 1971, where it played a key role in
patrol missions. It later participated in
naval exercises with other nations and
made many goodwill visits to other
countries.

After decommissioning, It was dedicated

to the Nation by the Chief minister N.
Chandrababu Naidu on 9 August
2002[1][2] and was preserved as a
museum for public access from 24
August 2002 making its final journey to
Visakhapatnam on RK Beach. Kursura
has the distinction of being one of the
very few submarine museums to retain
originality and has been called a "must-
visit destination" of Visakhapatnam.
Despite being a decommissioned
submarine, she still receives the navy's
"Dressing Ship"
honour, which is
usually awarded
only to active INS Kursura
ships. underway

History
Description
India
Name INS
Kursura

Builder Sudomekh,
Admiralty
Shipyard,
The six torpedo tubes of Kursura.
Note two of them are loaded with
Leningrad,
torpedoes

Soviet
Kursura has a Union
length of 91.3 m
Launched 25
(300 ft) overall, a February
beam of 7.5 m 1969
(25 ft) and a Commissioned 18
draught of 6 m Dece
(20 ft). She 1969

displaces 1,950 t Decommissioned 27

(1,919 long tons) Fe
surfaced, 2,475 t 20

(2,436 long tons) Identification S20

submerged and Fate Museum ship

has a maximum at RK Beach,
diving depth of Visakhapatnam
985 ft (300 m). The General
complement is characteristics
about 75, including
Class Kalvari-
8 officers and 67 and type class
sailors.[3] submarine
 Displacement 1,95
(1,9
Telegraph dials aboard the
submarine ton
sur
The submarine has
three shafts, each 2,47
(2,4
with a six-blade
ton
propeller. She is
sub
powered by three
Length 91.3 m
Kolomna 2D42M
(300 ft)
diesel engines,
Beam 7.5 m
each with 2,000
(25 ft)
horsepower
Draught 6m
(1,500 kW). She
(20 ft)
also has three
electric motors, Speed 16 knots
(30 km/h;
two of them with
1,350 hp
(1,010 kW) and 18 mph)
one with 2,700 hp surfaced

(2,000 kW). She 15 knots

can achieve a (28 km/h;

17 mph)
maximum speed
submerged
of 16 knots
(30 km/h) when on Range 20,000 mi
(32,000 km
surface, 15 knots
at 8 kn
(28 km/h) when
(15 km/h;
submerged and 9
9.2 mph)
knots (17 km/h) surfaced
while snorkelling.
380 mi
She has a range of (610 km) a
20,000 mi 10 kn
(32,000 km) at 8 kn (19 km/h;
(15 km/h; 9.2 mph) 12 mph)
when surfaced and submerged
380 mi (610 km) at Test 985 ft
10 kn (19 km/h; depth (300 m)
12 mph) when Complement 75 (incl
submerged. There 8
are 10 torpedo officers

tubes to carry 22 Armament 10 ×

Type 53 533 m
torpedoes. She (21 in)

could lay 44 mines torped

tubes
instead of
with 22
torpedoes. She
Type 5
also had a snoop
torped
tray and I-Band
44 mine
radar for surface
in lieu
search.[3] torped
Operational history
Kursura was commissioned on 18
December 1969 at Riga, Soviet Union. She
was India's fourth submarine.[4] Kursura's
first commanding officer was
Commander Arun Auditto. She began her
maiden voyage to India on 20 February
1970.[5] During her homecoming voyage,
which lasted from February to April 1970,
she visited Göteborg, La Coruña,
Takoradi and Mauritius.[6] Kursura, along
with sister boat INS Karanj, were made
operational under the Indian Navy's
Western Naval Command, and reported
to the Flag officer Commanding-in-Chief
Western Naval Command
(FOCINCWEST). They were ordered to
patrol approaches to Pakistan's Karachi
harbour and Makran Coast, for which
they established waiting stations and
submarine havens.[7]

In 1970, Karanj was badly damaged after

a collision with the destroyer Ranjit when
she surfaced directly below the ship. As
no drawings of the damaged portions of
the boat were available with the Bombay
Dockyard or the Indian Navy, it was
decided to use Kursura, which was
already docked at Bombay, as the design
template for the metal work, and Karanj
was repaired within months, in time to
join the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.[8]
Indo-Pakistan War of 1971

During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971,

Kursura operated in the Arabian Sea. She
was given the patrol duties at two
designated areas before the war started,
but was ordered to operate under two
restrictions: she was not to cross
demarcated shipping corridors and she
could attack a target only after positive
identification. The aims of her patrol were
to sink any Pakistani naval warships, to
sink merchant shipping when specifically
ordered, and to conduct general patrol
and surveillance.[9]
She started from her home port on 13
November 1971 and reached her patrol
location by 18 November. She remained
there until 25 November when she was
shifted to a new patrol location and
remained there until 30 November. On 30
November, she rendezvoused with Karanj
at sea to transfer instructions and
subsequently then left for Bombay and
reached there by 4 December 1971.
During her patrols, she encountered fair
weather and monitored a number of
tankers and commercial aircraft flying on
international routes.[10] She was originally
intended to lay mines but the plan was
later cancelled.[11]
Later service

Kursura was used for test firing the NSTL

58 torpedo in 1975. She was laid off for
many years to be cannibalised for spare
parts for other submarines, but
underwent a refit in the Soviet Union
between September 1980 and April 1982,
and was made operational again in
1985.[12]

Along with INS Taragiri, she participated

in the first anti-submarine warfare(ASW)
training exercise with the RSS Victory of
Singapore off the coast of Port Blair
between 21–24 February 1994. She
participated in the second ASW exercise
with Singapore along with INS Dunagiri,
RSS Valour and RSS Vigilance. She visited
Singapore and Jakarta, Indonesia, in
December 1994 on a good-will visit.[13]

After a service of 31 years and traversing

73,500 nautical miles (136,100 km;
84,600 mi), she was decommissioned on
27 February 2001.[5] Despite being a
decommissioned submarine, she still
receives the navy's "Dressing Ship"
honour, which is usually only awarded to
active ships.[14]
Museum ship (2002 –
present)

Kursura as a museum ship in

Visakhapatnam

Kursura undergoing repairs in

2013

After decommissioning, the ship was

towed to RK Beach in Visakhapatnam
and was established as a museum ship,
which is the first submarine museum in
South Asia. The idea of the boat's
conversion to a museum is credited to
Admiral V Pasricha.[15] Towing the
submarine 600 metres to its final location
took 18 months and cost ₹ 55 million. It
was converted as a museum by N.
Chandrababu Naidu government
launching from 9 August 2002, and it was
open to the public from 24 August
2002.[5][16][17] Six retired naval personnel
serve as guides and another one as the
curator.[18]

Kursura has the distinction of being one

of the very few submarine museums to
retain originality.[14] She has become a
famous tourist attraction of the city and
has been called a "must-visit destination"
of Visakhapatnam by The Hindu.[17] Out
of the ₹ 10 million revenue generated
every year by the museum, ₹ 8 million is
used for the submarine's maintenance.
During the first four months of the
museum's operation, it was visited by
about 93,000 people.[17] Daily visitors
usually range between 500 and 600 and
shoot up to 1,500 during the tourist
season.[14]

In September 2007, Vice Admiral Carol M.

Pottenger of the United States Navy
visited the submarine when she wrote in
the guestbook "What a fantastic
experience. The Indian Navy should be
very proud of this awesome display". She
said that the submarine was very well
preserved and they did not have anything
similar to it in the United States.[19] A
major overhaul was done in December
2007 to repair her hull's corrosion. New
steel plates were arranged at a cost of ₹
1.5 million.[14] As of August 2008, about
1.5 million people had visited the
museum,[20] and in 2010, she was visited
by 270,000 people.[18]
Gallery
Wikimedia
Commons
has media
related to
INS
Kursura
(S20).
Stern An
view of officer's
the cabin
submarin
e

References
1. "Submarine Museum | Indian Navy" (http
s://www.indiannavy.nic.in/content/submar
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2. "Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region

Development Authority-VMRDA" (http://v
mrda.gov.in/kursura.aspx) . vmrda.gov.in.
Retrieved 17 March 2021.

3. "S 20 Kalvari Class" (http://www.globalse

curity.org/military/world/india/s-kursura.h
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4. "Walk down the corridor of history" (http://
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6. Hiranandani, G.M. (2000). Transition to
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