Frontline missile destroyer of Indian Navy ‘INS Ranjit’ recently decommissioned

Frontline missile destroyer of the Indian Navy ‘INS Ranjit’ has recently decommissioned at a solemn ceremony at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam, after serving the Indian navy for 36 years. INS Ranjit is the third of the five Kashin-class destroyers built by the erstwhile USSR and was commissioned on September 15 1983 by Captain Vishnu Bhagwat . Since being commissioned, INS Ranjit has sailed for 2,190 days, covering over 7,43,000 nautical miles, equivalent to navigating around the world 35 times and 3.5 times the distance from the earth to the moon. The ship was at the forefront of major naval operations and served on both the Eastern and Western seaboards. Apart from naval operations like ‘Op Talwar’ and various multinational exercises, the ship participated in relief operations post Tsunami in 2004 and Hud-hud on 2014. In recognition of the service rendered by INS Ranjit to the nation, the ship was awarded Unit Citations by the Chief of Naval Staff in 2003-04 and in 2009-10.