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INS Delhi (1948)
*** Shopping-Tip: INS Delhi (1948)
{{dablink|This article is about the cruiser INS Delhi, in service between 1948 and 1978. For the present destroyer INS Delhi, see
INS Delhi (D61)}}
The '''INS ''Delhi''''' was a
Leander class cruiser (1931) '''Leander''' class cruiser built for the
Royal Navy in
1933 as
HMNZS Achilles HMS ''Achilles'' and commissioned into the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy in
1937, becoming HMNZS ''Achilles'' on the formation of the
Royal New Zealand Navy in
1941. She was returned to the Royal Navy at the end of the
Second World War and was sold to the
Indian Navy in
1948. For her history prior to 1948, please see the article ''
HMNZS Achilles''.
The ship was recommissioned as '''HMIS ''Delhi''''' on
5 July 1948 (prior to India becoming a republic) under the command of Captain H.N.S. Brown of the Royal Navy. She had 17 British officers and petty officers, the rest of the crew being Indian. Commander R.D. Katari, executive officer, was the most senior Indian officer. She conducted her first major goodwill cruise in 1948, to East Africa, the
Seychelles, and
Mauritius.
In June 1950 Commander A.K. Chatterji (later Chief of Naval Staff) became her first Indian commanding officer; the same month she conveyed Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru to
Indonesia on an official visit.
In
1956 she played herself, as ''Achilles'', in the movie ''
The Battle of the River Plate (movie) Battle of the River Plate''.
On
18 December 1961, during the occupation of
Goa she opened fire on two
Portugal Portuguese vessels, sinking one and forcing the scuttling of the other. She also supported the Indian Army's advance by firing on the citadel and airport control tower.
''Delhi'' missed the Indo-Pakistan war of September
1965 because she was in dry dock at the time.
In
1969 she visited
New Zealand under Vice Admiral Barbosa. The visit was the occasion of many reunions of ''Achilles'' veterans who were plied with large quantities of rum and beer, and taken on a quick trip by the ship.
''Delhi'' was decommissioned and scrapped at
Bombay in
1978. Subsequently one of her gun turrets was sent to New Zealand, where it is preserved. A second turret, or gun, is reported to be preserved at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. The third turret is officially recorded as "eaten by white ants".
{{Leander class cruiser 1931}}
Category:Indian Navy ships
Category:Leander class cruisers Delh
