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INS ''Vikrant'' (Hindi : भा नौ पो विक्रान्त; (サンスクリット:विक्रान्त), for ''courageous'') was a of the Indian Navy. She played a key role in enforcing the naval blockade on East Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971. The ship was built under the name ''Hercules'' for the British Royal Navy during World War II, but construction was put on hold after the war's end, and she never entered British service. India purchased the incomplete carrier from the United Kingdom in 1957, and construction was completed in 1961. INS ''Vikrant'' was commissioned as the first aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy. After years of distinguished service, she was decommissioned in January 1997. From 1997 to 2012, she was preserved as a museum ship in Cuffe Parade, Mumbai, until it was closed in 2012 due to safety concerns. At the end of January 2014, ''Vikrant'' was sold through an online auction to a Darukhana ship-breaker, where she underwent preparations to be broken up. Although a public-interest litigation was filed and heard by the Supreme Court of India challenging ''Vikrant'' 's sale and scrapping, on 14 August 2014, the Supreme Court rejected the PIL and cleared the way for the warship to be scrapped. Vikrant remained beached off Darukhana in Mumbai Port while awaiting the final clearances of the Mumbai Port Trust. On 12 November 2014, the Supreme Court gave its final approval for the carrier to be scrapped. The scrapping of ''Vikrant'' began on 22 November, and is intended to be completed by mid-2015. ==History== ''Vikrant'' was ordered as ''Hercules'' by the Royal Navy. She was laid down on 12 November 1943 by Vickers-Armstrong on the River Tyne. She was launched on 22 September 1945. However, with the end of World War II, her construction was suspended in May 1946 and she was laid up for possible future use.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=HMS Hercules )〕 In January 1957 she was sold to India. She was towed to Belfast to complete her construction and for modifications by Harland and Wolff. A number of improvements to the original design were ordered by the Indian Navy, including an angled deck, steam catapults and a modified island. ''Vikrant'' was commissioned into the Indian Navy by then Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Vijayalakshmi Pandit on 4 March 1961 in Belfast. The name ''Vikrant'' was taken from Sanskrit ''vikrānta'' meaning "stepping beyond", i.e. "courageous" or "bold". Captain Pritam Singh was the first commanding officer of the carrier. ''Vikrant''s initial air wing consisted of British Hawker Sea Hawk fighter-bombers and a French Alize anti-submarine aircraft. On 18 May 1961, the first jet landed on her deck piloted by Lieutenant (later Admiral) Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani. She formally joined the Indian Navy's Fleet in Bombay on 3 November 1961, when she was received at Ballard Pier by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. During the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965, Pakistan reported that it had sunk ''Vikrant''.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=Global Security )〕 However, at the time the ship was in dry dock undergoing modifications. In June 1970, ''Vikrant'' was at the Naval Dockyard for repairs due to a crack in a water drum of one of the boilers powering her steam catapult. Unable to procure a replacement drum from the United Kingdom due to an embargo, Admiral Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda ordered the routing of steam from her forward machinery to the steam catapult to bypass the damaged boiler. This repair enabled her to launch both the Sea Hawks as well as the Breguet Alizé, although she lost some cruising power. In March 1971, she was put through trials to test the fix. These modifications turned out to be valuable, enabling ''Vikrant'' to enter combat against East Pakistan in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 despite the cracked boiler.〔 Stationed off the Andaman & Nicobar Islands along with frigates, and , ''Vikrant'' redeployed towards Chittagong at the outbreak of hostilities.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Indian Navy at War 1971 East )〕 Based on naval intelligence reports that the Pakistan Navy intended to break through the Indian Naval blockade using camouflaged merchant ships, the Sea Hawks struck shipping in the Chittagong and Cox's Bazar harbours, sinking or incapacitating most ships there. On the morning of 4 December 1971, ''Vikrant''s eight Sea Hawk aircraft launched an air raid on Cox's Bazar from offshore. On the evening of 4 December, the air group struck Chittagong Harbour. Later strikes targeted Khulna and Port of Mongla. A Press Trust of India report of 4 December read, "Chittagong harbour ablaze as ships and aircraft of the Eastern Naval Fleet bombed and rocketed. Not a single vessel can be put to sea from Chittagong." Air strikes continued until 10 December 1971 with not a single Sea Hawk lost. The Pakistan Navy deployed the submarine to specifically target and sink ''Vikrant''. However, ''Ghazi'' sank off Visakhapatnam harbour, probably due to depth charge attacks by .〔(Seapower: A Guide for the Twenty-first Century ) By Geoffrey Till〕 During the war, the crew of ''Vikrant'' earned two Mahavir Chakras and 12 Vir Chakras. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「INS Vikrant (R11)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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