INS Valsura awarded President’s colour

It is the Navy’s premier technological training establishment

President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday presented the President’s colour to INS Valsura, the Navy’s premier technological training establishment.

The President’s Colour is bestowed on a military unit in recognition of the exceptional service rendered to the nation, both in peace and in war.

‘Nishan Adhikari’ Lt. Arun Singh Sambyal received the President’s Colour on behalf of the unit in an impressive parade, the Navy said. A special postal cover was also released to commemorate the occasion.

“The award ceremony commenced with insertion of Drum Toli for Pile-of-Drums ceremony. It traces its history back to a time when soldiers on field used to arrange their drums in a pile to form an altar,” the defence spokesperson said on social media.

INS Valsura trains officers and men on operation and maintenance of sophisticated and technologically advanced equipment on board warships.

The Navy was the first Indian armed force to be awarded the President’s Colour by Dr Rajendra Prasad on May 27, 1951.

Torpedo school in 1942

INS Valsura, started on 30 acres of land as a torpedo school in 1942 under the British, has today grown into one of the foremost technological training institutions of the country spread over 600 acres.

In line with the Navy’s futuristic road map to power its warships, including the proposed Indigenous Aircraft Carrier-II with electric propulsion, in 2018 a medium voltage laboratory was set up by Siemens, Germany, at INS Valsura to familiarise and train naval engineers in the nuances of medium voltage power generation, protection and distribution.

The Navy stated that INS Valsura imparted quality training on contemporary and niche technologies through progressive augmentation of training infrastructure. “Setting up of Artificial Intelligence, big data and medium voltage labs in the recent years exemplify its quest for technological excellence in contemporary technology also in training officers and sailors.”

Overall, the establishment conducts more than 262 courses a year and has an annual training throughput of more than 750 officers and 4,200 sailors. In addition, 1,800 trainees from 15 Friendly Foreign Navies have been trained till date.

The genesis

During the peak of the Second World War, HMIS Valsura was created to augment training facilities in the domain of torpedo handling and operations for the Royal Navy. The establishment was built on Rozi Island in Jamnagar, donated by ruler of Nawanagar State Colonel Digvijay Singhji Jadeja Sahed Bahadur Jamsaheb for a token rent of ₹1 per annum.

In 1948, there was a proposal to shift the Torpedo School to the Naval Base in Cochin but the Jamsaheb was keen that Valsura continued where it was and sealed it by donating another 600 acres on the same terms.

The establishment was commissioned on December 15, 1942 by then Maharani Gulab Kunverba Sahiba of Nawanagar. After Independence, HMIS Valsura was renamed as Indian Naval Ship Valsura on July 1, 1950.

Remarkable ‘Outreach’ activity

In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Gujarat, Valsura performed a remarkable ‘Outreach’ activity- the restoration of the earthquake-ravaged Moda village and the construction of a new Navy Moda village in record time. This achievement was recognised by the Navy when the Special Unit Citation was bestowed on the unit in December 2001, an honour normally reserved for operational units.

The name “Valsura” was derived from the combination of two Tamil words, ‘Vaal’ (meaning sword) and ‘Sorrah’ (shark). It was considered appropriate due to a variety of swordfish found off the coast of Saurashtra. Swordfish was also the name of the famous Second World War torpedo carrying aircraft.