Key Points and Summary on Submarine Accident – The Indian Navy suffered its worst peacetime submarine disaster in 2013 when the INS Sindhurakshak, a Russian-built Kilo-class submarine, exploded and sank at its dock in Mumbai, killing all 18 sailors aboard.
-A subsequent investigation concluded that the tragedy was caused by a catastrophic failure to follow standard operating procedures during the loading of torpedoes, which led to a detonation in the forward weapons compartment.
-The incident was a major embarrassment and a severe setback for India’s undersea warfare capabilities, highlighting critical lapses in training and safety protocols within the fleet.
The Time When an Indian Submarine (Built by Russia) Exploded and Sank, Killing 18
It was an undersea warfare sailor’s worst nightmare come true. In 2013, an explosion and fire sank an Indian submarine that killed 18 people. The INS Sindhurakshak was sitting at a dock in Mumbai when what proved to be a torpedo detonated on board. Divers tried to find survivors, but all hands were lost. The submarine was built by Russia and part of the Kilo-Class, a sub many experts call the ‘black hole’ for being so quiet while submerged.
Context Around the Accident
The Sindhurakshak had just returned from India following a major refit period in Russia. At the time, the Indian Navy was struggling. The country has an extensive coastline, and it needed every submarine it could get to police its shores. The Navy had to rely on older subs like the Sindhurakshak to protect the homeland. The problem was that the clunky boat was prone to breakdowns and lengthy maintenance periods. This incident hurt the readiness of the Indian Navy.
The sinking of the submarine was “an unprecedented setback to the national effort to strengthen undersea defense capabilities,” the Hindu media outlet said in an editorial.
This Should Have Been A Time of Rejoicing, Not Tragedy
The incident came as the Indians were celebrating the 66th anniversary of their independence from Great Britain. It spoiled the party, as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had wanted to celebrate the commissioning of the country’s first nuclear submarine, INS Arihant, and the aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant. Both advanced vessels were manufactured by India, which had long depended on Russian military hardware.
The destruction on board the Sindhurakshak was at first a mystery. The Indian Navy struggled to determine the cause of the tragedy. The sub had just received a sterling fitness report, and there were no known problems after the refit in Russia.
More About the Kilo-class
The Sindhurakshak was a Russian-built Kilo-class diesel-electric boat. There are ten Indian subs in the class. The Kilo-class boats were seen as outdated. They can dive only around 300 feet with a top speed of just 18 knots. Fifty-three sailors serve on board, and the 200-foot-long sub has an endurance of 45 days with a range of 400 nautical miles. The Kilos entered service with the Russians in 1980, and they were continually built until just this year. The Sindhurakshak was commissioned in 1997.
The $80 million Russian refit fixed many problems. CNN said, “The redesign included the installation of new missile, communication and cooling systems, as well as a new radar.”
What Did the Final Report Say?
An after-action review concluded in 2014 that the sailors onboard the Sindhurakshak did not follow standard operating procedures. Sailors had not been careful when loading torpedoes onto the boat the previous year while docked in Mumbai. The personnel violated the checklist of SOPs governing the safe handling of the weapons, an admiral explained in the report.
This was the worst peacetime submarine tragedy in the history of the Indian Navy at the time. The explosion occurred in a forward compartment where torpedoes were stored, and the deadly fire spread throughout the boat, killing the sailors on board.
NDTV described one damning paragraph in the report. “Forensic examination of the 14 missiles and torpedoes recovered from the damaged submarine ruled out malfunction of ordnance, which could have caused the explosion. Of the 16 warheads, two had exploded. The rest disintegrated but didn’t explode. This indicates that the warheads were stable and processes were violated during loading,” the Navy explained in the review.
The Need for Following the SOPs Closely
As a result, the Navy focused on training its sailors to handle torpedoes and missiles safely. This should have been taught better at training schools. Indian submarine personnel learned to follow accurate checklists and adhere to procedures when preparing a boat for missions. The tragedy could have been averted if proper SOPs had been adhered to.
Today, the Indian Navy has 17 diesel-electric submarines and one nuclear-powered ballistic missile (SSBN) submarine, as noted above.
“Currently, India is indigenously building six new Scorpène-class vessels at the state-owned Mazagon Dock Ltd. (MDL) in Mumbai in partnership with France’s Naval Group,” according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative.
India has moved on from the INS Sindhurakshak, but the tragedy forced the Navy to seek ways to keep proper weapons loading procedures at the forefront of training. India lives in an increasingly dangerous neighborhood with the threat of Pakistan and China front and center for naval strategy. It cannot afford to lose any submarines, particularly its nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines.
The Indian Navy has learned valuable lessons from the Sindhurakshak disaster. When it happened, the fleet was struggling. “Plans to modernize the fleet have been delayed by about five or six years because of technical problems, bureaucratic wrangling and cost overruns,” an admiral quoted by CNN said.
Now the submarine fleet has recovered, but it could use another nuclear-powered SSBN to bolster the country’s nuclear program. This is a fraught time for the entire Indian military, which has just struggled in clashes with Pakistan. India cannot afford another naval disaster that claimed the lives of 18 sailors and one of its valuable submarines. The stakes are too high for mistakes when loading weapons, especially if they are nuclear missiles that are onboard the INS Arihant.
About the Author: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood
Brent M. Eastwood, PhD is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former U.S. Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.
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