Indian Navy hands over Soviet era submarine to Tamil Nadu

Chennai:
INS Vagli, the oldest operational submarine of the Indian Navy, that was decommissioned at Visakhapatnam on December 2010 was handed over to the state government to be converted into a museum in Mamallapuram.
The submarine, which arrived at Chennai Port from Visakhapatnam on March 25 was handed over to State Finance Minister O Paneerselvam and Tourism Minister P Chendur Pandian by Vice Admiral Anil K Chopra, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command.
The submarine is likely to be stationed in harbour till September before being transferred to the 30 acres of land abutting the beach near the UNESCO declared World Heritage site, “Shore Temple”.
Chopra said that the submarine was towed to Chennai port Visakhapatnam free of cost. Paneerselvam thanked the vice admiral and sought his help in installing the submarine on the platform at selected site.
Sources said the submarine which will be converted into museum will also have facilities such as marine technology, food courts, audio-visual studio, souvenir shops, aquarium, toilet complex and it will be planned and executed in a phased manner on build own operate and transfer model.
The submarine, a Foxtrot class submarine Type 641B, was commissioned by then Lieutenant Commander Lalit Talwar on August 10, 1974 at Riga, Latvia, in the erstwhile Soviet Union. She was the first of the 'Vela' class of submarines to be commissioned into the Indian Navy and has completed 36 years of dedicated service under 23 Commanding Officers and is probably the oldest submarine of its class in the world and the oldest unit in the Indian Navy.