History
The Nilgiri Class frigates served as the mainstay & workhorse of the Indian Navy during the 1980s and early 1990s and they formed the 14th Frigate Squadron. The last two vessels (F41, F42) have more powerful engines than the remainder. INS Taragiri (F41) had a serious fire in July 1994, but was repaired and was back in active service in 1995. Westinghouse supplied the Indian Navy with ASW sonar systems, two hull mounted arrays and three visible depth sonar arrays which are installed inside towed bodies built by Fathom Ocean Ltd. Transducer elements in both cases are identical. INS Udaygiri (F35) underwent a refit at Naval Dockyard, Mumbai. The remaining vessels in the series were expected to have their armaments brought into line with later ships.
INS Himgiri (F34) was used as a trial ship for the indigenous APSOH (Advanced Panoramic Sonar Hull) sonar.
Ships of the Class
| Name | Pennant | Commissoned | Decommissioned | Comments |
| INS Nilgiri | F33 | 23rd June 1972 | 1996 | Sunk on 24 April 1997, by a Sea Eagle AShM fired from a Sea Harrier Frs Mk.51 of the Indian Navy from INS Viraat. |
| INS Himgiri | F34 | 23 November 1974 | 06 May 2005 | The vessel holds the distinction of having the maximum number of days at sea in single commission and was the first to shoot down a pilotless aircraft in 1976. Captain K N Zadu, VrC, (Retd.) who served as her first commanding officer, was the chief guest at the decommissioning ceremony along with Commander Ravneet Singh who served as her last commanding officer. |
| INS Udaygiri | F35 | 18 February 1976 | 24 August 2007 | |
| INS Dunagiri | F36 | 5 May 1977 | Named after one of the Himalayan peaks. Her crest depicts the Osprey, a Himalayan bird and the ship's motto is 'Victory Is My Profession'. On 27 September 2006 INS Dunagiri collided with a merchant vessel, MV Kiti, 30 nautical miles off the Mumbai coast. The vessel was returning to port after a joint navy-air force exercise practicing the defending of coast of Gujarat ended ahead of schedule as a result of a cyclone warning, when it rammed into a merchant vessel MV Kiti. The merchant vessel, which was en route to Colombo,Sri Lanka, apparently misread the navigational line of INS Dunagiri. The incident, which happened on the busy fishing lanes off Mumbai left bow of INS Dunagiri damaged and she was dry-docked for repairs. Commander Atul Nag, the commanding officer of INS Dunagiri, was questioned in the incident and a Board of Inquiry was set up to determine the cause of the accident.Westinghouse supplied the Indian Navy with ASW sonar systems, these include two hull mounted arrays and three visible depth sonar arrays which are installed inside towed bodies built by Fathom Ocean Ltd. Transducer elements in both cases are identical. The Udaygiri has underwent a refit at Naval Dockyard, Mumbai. The remaining vessels in the series were expected to have their armaments brought into line with later ships. It has not been reliably confirmed through official channels, whether this has actually occurred. | |
| INS Taragiri | F41 | 16 May 1980 | Named after a hill range in Garhwal Himalayas in Northern India. INS Taragiri had a serious fire in July 1994, but was repaired and was back in active service in 1995. | |
| INS Vindhyagiri | F42 | 08 July 1981 |
Specifications
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | Mazagon Dock Limited |
| Operators: | Indian Navy |
| Succeeded by: | Godavari class |
| Completed: | 6 |
| Retired: | 3 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Frigate |
| Displacement: |
2682 tons (standard) 2962 tons (full load) Vindhyagiri lists as 3039 tons. |
| Length: | 113.4 m |
| Beam: | 13.1 m |
| Draught: | 4.3 m |
| Propulsion: | 2 x 550 psi boilers 2 x 30,000 hp motors and double shafts |
| Speed: | 28 knots, 27 knots on F33,F34,F35,F36 |
| Range: | 4000 miles at 12 knots |
| Complement: |
267 (incl 17 officers) 300 (incl 20 officers on F41 Taragiri |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
|
| Sonar | One Westinghouse SQS-505 / Graesby 750 hull mounted sonar, which provides active search & attack with medium frequency. One Type 162M bottom classification sonar at high frequency. Also has a Type 170 sonar which provides active attack with high frequency. The Westinghouse VDS is fitted in the first four vessels (F33 - F36) and provides active attack with medium frequency. The Thomson Sintra VDS is fitted in the last two (F41 - F42). The Himgiri was used as a trials ship for the indigenous APSOH (Advanced Panoramic Sonar Hull) sonar. |
|
Electronic Countermeasures |
ECM: The Racal Cutlass system is used as an ECM jammer. Decoys: The Graesby G738 system is used as a towed torpedo decoy. ESM: Bharat Ajanta; intercept in F34, F36 and F42. FH5 Telegon D/F in some. |
| Armament: |
2 x MK.6 Vickers 4.5in(twin) Mk6 115mm guns with 80º elevation and 20 rds/min to 3.3n miles range 6 km against aircraft or 10.4n miles; 19 km against surface vessels; 4 x SS-N-2B styx SSM 1 or 2 x Short Bros Seacat SAM grad launchers 4 x AK-230 with 500 rds/min to 2.7n miles; 2 x Oerlikon 20mm guns 6 x 324 mm ILAS 3 (2 triple) tubes, Whitehead A 244S or Indian NST 58 torpedoes |
| Aircraft carried: |
1 HAL Chetak MATCH (Medium range Antisubmarine Torpedo Carrying Helicopter) on F33 - F36. 1 Sea King Mk.42 or 1 HAL Chetak MATCH on F41 and F42. |
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