New Delhi: Navy Chief Admiral DK Joshi resigned on Wednesday in the wake
of submarine INS Sindhuratna accident. The Defence Ministry has
accepted his resignation.
Vice Admiral Robin Dhowan will take over as acting Naval Chief till a regular Naval Chief is appointed. 59-year-old Joshi had about 15 months more left in service. He was a specialist in anti-submarine warfare and had taken over as the Navy Chief on August 31, 2012.
The Navy was today hit by yet another mishap as smoke engulfed Russian-made submarine INS Sindhuratna off the Mumbai coast, causing serious illness to seven sailors and leaving two officers missing.
The seven sailors had to be airlifted to a hospital after they inhaled smoke. Defence Minister AK Antony had briefed President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today's accident. The President is the Supreme Commander of Armed Forces.
Vice Admiral Robin Dhowan will take over as acting Naval Chief till a regular Naval Chief is appointed. 59-year-old Joshi had about 15 months more left in service. He was a specialist in anti-submarine warfare and had taken over as the Navy Chief on August 31, 2012.
The Navy was today hit by yet another mishap as smoke engulfed Russian-made submarine INS Sindhuratna off the Mumbai coast, causing serious illness to seven sailors and leaving two officers missing.
The seven sailors had to be airlifted to a hospital after they inhaled smoke. Defence Minister AK Antony had briefed President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today's accident. The President is the Supreme Commander of Armed Forces.
"Taking moral responsibility for the accidents and incidents which
have taken place during the past few months, the Chief of Naval Staff
Admiral D K Joshi today resigned from the post of Navy Chief," PTI
quoted Defence Ministry as saying. "The Government has accepted the
resignation of Admiral Joshi with immediate effect," it said.
An upset Defence Ministry sought a detailed report from the Navy on the mishap, which is the 10th involving an Indian Navy warship and the third submarine mishap in the last seven month after the sinking of INS Sindhurakshak in August in which all 18 personnel on board were killed.
INS Sindhurakshak was the second biggest tragedy after the sinking of INS Khukri on the fateful night of December 9, 1971. It sank 40 nautical miles off the coast of Diu after being torpedoed by Pakistani submarine PNS Hangor. The ill-fated ship had 18 officers and 176 sailors on board.
Though INS Khukri was lost in war, INS Sindhurakshak, a frontline submarine, sunk at the naval dockyard in Mumbai on Auguts 14 after it was hit by a series of explosions and subsequent fire.
This is the first time in the last 15 years that a chief of Navy has had to leave office in controversial circumstances. In 1998 Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat was sacked by the NDA government. George Fernandes was the Defence Minister then.
An upset Defence Ministry sought a detailed report from the Navy on the mishap, which is the 10th involving an Indian Navy warship and the third submarine mishap in the last seven month after the sinking of INS Sindhurakshak in August in which all 18 personnel on board were killed.
INS Sindhurakshak was the second biggest tragedy after the sinking of INS Khukri on the fateful night of December 9, 1971. It sank 40 nautical miles off the coast of Diu after being torpedoed by Pakistani submarine PNS Hangor. The ill-fated ship had 18 officers and 176 sailors on board.
Though INS Khukri was lost in war, INS Sindhurakshak, a frontline submarine, sunk at the naval dockyard in Mumbai on Auguts 14 after it was hit by a series of explosions and subsequent fire.
This is the first time in the last 15 years that a chief of Navy has had to leave office in controversial circumstances. In 1998 Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat was sacked by the NDA government. George Fernandes was the Defence Minister then.
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