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Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla, MVC (15 May 1926 – 9 December 1971) was an officer of the Indian Navy. As the Commanding Officer of Template:INS, he chose to go down with his ship when his ship was sunk during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
Early life
Mulla was born on 15 May 1926 in a Kashmiri family in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh to T. N. Mulla in a family well-known in Allahabad judicial circles.[1][2][3] He joined the Royal Indian Navy as a cadet in January 1946 and underwent training in the United Kingdom.[1]
Military career
Mulla was commissioned in the Royal Indian Navy on 1 May 1948.Template:Citation needed He was promoted to Lieutenant Commander on 16 September 1958. In April 1961, he was selected to attend the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington.[4] He was promoted to the rank of Commander on 30 June 1964.[5][6] He served on the Hunt-class destroyer Template:Ship and the Bathurst-class Minesweeper Template:Ship. He also served as the executive officer of the Black Swan-class sloop Template:Ship and commanded the R-class destroyer Template:Ship.[1]
He served as the Deputy Naval Adviser to the High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom from 1965 to 1967.[1]
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
During the 1971 War, Mulla was commanding the 14th anti submarine squadron, a task force which formed part of the Western Fleet. The squadron consisted of the Template:Ship, Template:Ship and Template:Ship.[7] The squadron was assigned the task of hunting and destroying enemy submarines in the North Arabian Sea. At 2050 hours on 9 December 1971, his vessel, INS Khukri, was hit by a torpedo fired by an enemy submarine, Template:Ship, about Template:Convert off Diu. He issued orders for the ship to be abandoned because it was sinking.[8] He chose to go down with the ship in the highest traditions of the Indian Navy. Mulla was decorated with the Maha Vir Chakra, the second-highest gallantry award.
The citation for the Maha Vir Chakra reads as follows:[9][10] Template:Quotation
Legacy
Mulla was regarded among the finest seamen in the Navy and highly-intelligent officer.[1] On 28 January 2000, the Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee released a commemorative postage stamp issued by India Post paying tribute to Mulla.[11]
A memorial for the tribute to Mulla and other martyred sailors exists at Diu Template:Coord. The memorial constitutes a full-scale model of INS Khukri encased in a glass house, placed on a hillock facing the sea. The Captain M. N. Mulla Auditorium, at Navy Nagar, Colaba in Mumbai, is named after him. A bust of Capt. Mulla stands in the foyer. The then Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Madhvendra Singh inaugurated the auditorium.[12]
In Selection Centre South (SCS), Banglore, there is a hall named Capt.(IN) MN Mulla Hall after Capt. MN Mulla, MVC.[13]
An auditorium at the DSSC Wellington is also named after him.Template:Cn
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Captain MN Mulla, Indian Navy. pibarchive.nic.in(18 December 1971).
- ↑ Sinking Of INS Khukri. Mangalorean.com(2 March 2007).
- ↑ The Sinking of INS Khukri: Survivor's Stories{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Roli Books Private Limited(December 2006). ISBN 978-93-5194-099-9
- ↑ NAVAL OFFICERS SELECTED FOR STAFF COURSE. pibarchive.nic.in(29 April 1961).
- ↑ [{{{url}}} Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch)](6 June 1959).
- ↑ [{{{url}}} Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch)](12 September 1964).
- ↑ Transition to triumph : history of the Indian Navy, 1965-1975{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Director Personnel Services (DPS)(2000). ISBN 978-1897829691
- ↑ Never Forget Our Martyrs. Press Reader(30 January 2014).
- ↑ MN MULLA | Gallantry Awards. gallantryawards.gov.in.
- ↑ Mahavir Chakra (MVC), Awardee: Capt Mahendra Nath Mulla, MVC @ TWDI. twdi.in.
- ↑ PRIME MiNISTER RELEASES COMMEMORATIVE POSTAGE STAMPS ON GALLANTRY AWARDS WINNERS. pibarchive.nic.in(28 January 2000).
- ↑ A hero for generations of Indian navy - Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla. www.aviation-defence-universe.com(14 August 2021).
- ↑ Indian Navy Spokeperson Tweet. Twitter(18 December 2017).
Further reading
External links
- Bharat Rakshak
- [1] India Defence
- Template:Webarchive
- [2] Orbat
- Magalorean
- PrideofIndia