The sinking of PNS Ghazi is one of the many unsolved mysteries of the 20th century. PNS Ghazi was a Pakistani submarine leased from the USA. It was formerly known as USS Diablo. It was the first submarine in South Asia and the only submarine Pakistan had in their navy. It was given a critical mission to sunk the Indian aircraft carrier INS Vikrant during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. However, Ghazi sunk on the night of 3rd-4th December 1971 near Vishakapatnam. After 3 days, Vikrant launched its first airstrike in East Pakistan.

INS Rajput, a destroyer, sunk Ghazi. Intelligence reports told that Pakistan had deployed Ghazi to counter Vikrant. India hatched a plan to destroy Ghazi. It sent Vikrant to a secret location near the Andaman Islands. A huge order for food and maintenance parts was placed at Vizag. Pakistani intelligence picked up these signals and thought Vikrant was going to dock at Vizag. Rajput was told to generate huge wireless communications traffic, which led the Ghazi to believe that the Vikrant was in Vizag.

INS Rajput

According to reports of the Indian Navy, on the night of 3rd December 1971, Rajput sensed some underwater activity in its sonar systems. The captain soon ordered to change the course of the ship and follow the sonar. A couple of depth charges were released from the ship. And immediately a huge explosion took place underwater. Initially, the captain thought his destroyer was struck by an underwater torpedo, but when no damage took place, Rajput reported the incident to the base at Vizag and later joined the task force headed by Vikrant. The next day, to check the reports of Rajput, INS Akshay was sent over the site. A huge oil slick was reported by Akshay and they found an unused life jacket which had ‘USS Diablo’ written on it. This is when India realized that Rajput has sunken the dreaded Ghazi.

Pakistani Version –

Pakistan intelligence picked up signals which told that Vikrant was headed for Vizag. Ghazi reached Vizag on 2 December and starting laying underwater mines around the Vizag port. On 3rd December, Ghazi finished laying mines and then starting searching for Vikrant outside of the port, but couldn’t find the aircraft carrier. It returned to Vizag to lay more mines. While doing this, it misjudged its position and accidentally hit one of its own mines, resulting in breaking the Ghazi’s hull and filling it with water. The Ghazi sunk on the night of 3rd December.

The sinking of PNS Ghazi was a critical point in the 1971 war. Had the Ghazi not sunken, the war might have had a different outcome.

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