Goa Liberation: Naval Battle at Mormugoa Harbour
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Below: The truth about the Indo-China agreement?
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The story of NRP Afonso de Albuquerque was the last hope for the Portuguese. NRP Afonso de Albuquerque was a warship of the Portuguese Navy, named after the 16th-century Portuguese navigator Afonso de Albuquerque. She was destroyed in combat on 18 December 1961 in Goa, defending Portuguese interests in Goa against the Indian armed forces during the liberation of Goa..........
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The present generation must not be knowing much about the liberation of Goa on December 1961. After numerous talks, discussions, and diplomacy with the Portuguese government and facing international pressure, the Indian government under Nehru decided to act. The Indian government ordered a military operation. The army was sent in to neutralize the Portuguese army. In a swift action, the Indian army took over the territory, and the Portuguese army surrendered as they knew they were no match to the well-equipped Indian army. There were few causalities on both sides. Though there were some pockets of resistance, it was put down quickly. Indian troops captured Goa without much fight. But in the sea, a naval battle took place at Mormugoa harbor as a last-ditch effort to save face. This blog describes the action here and how the Indian forces took charge in defeating the Portuguese last fight.
The story of NRP Afonso de Albuquerque was the last hope for the Portuguese. NRP Afonso de Albuquerque was a warship of the Portuguese Navy, named after the 16th-century Portuguese navigator Afonso de Albuquerque. She was destroyed in combat on 18 December 1961 in Goa, defending Portuguese interests in Goa against the Indian armed forces during the liberation of Goa. With the defeat and destruction of this warship, Portuguese lost all hope of holding on for some days till reinforcements arrived from Portugal.
On the morning of 18 December 1961, the Portuguese ship NRP Afonso de Albuquerque was anchored off Mormugoa harbor. Besides engaging Indian naval units, the ship was also tasked with providing a coastal artillery battery to defend the harbor and adjoining beaches and providing vital radio communications with Lisbon after on-shore radio facilities had been destroyed in Indian airstrikes.
At 09:00, three Indian frigates led by the INS Betwa (F139) took up position off the harbor, awaiting orders to attack the Afonso and secure sea access to the port. At 11:00, Indian planes bombed Mormugoa harbor. At 12:00, upon receiving clearance, the INS Betwa and the INS Beas (F137) entered the harbor and fired on the Afonso with their 4.5-inch guns while transmitting requests to surrender in morse code between shots. In response, the Afonso lifted anchor, headed out towards the enemy, and returned fire with its 120 mm guns.
The Afonso was outnumbered by the Indians and was at a severe disadvantage since it was in a confined position that restricted its maneuvering and because its four 120mm guns could fire only two rounds a minute, as compared to the 16 rounds per minute of the guns aboard the Indian frigates. A few minutes into the exchange of fire, at 12:15, the Afonso took a direct hit in its control tower, injuring its weapons officer. At 12:25, an anti-personnel shrapnel bomb fired from an Indian vessel exploded directly over the ship, killing its radio officer and severely injuring its commander, Captain António da Cunha Aragão, after which First Officer Pinto da Cruz took command of the vessel. The ship's propulsion system was also badly damaged in this attack.
At 12:35, the Afonso swerved 180 degrees and was run aground against Bambolim Beach. At that time, against the commander's orders, a white flag was hoisted under instructions from the sergeant in charge of signals, but the flag coiled itself around the mast and, as a result, was not spotted by the Indians, who continued their barrage. The flag was immediately lowered.
Eventually, at 12:50, after the Afonso had fired nearly 400 rounds at the Indians, hitting two of the Indian vessels, and had taken severe damage, the order was given to start abandoning ship. Under heavy fire directed at both the ship and the coast, non-essential crew, including weapons staff, left the ship and went ashore. They were followed at 13:10 by the rest of the crew, who, along with their injured commander, set fire to the ship and disembarked directly onto the beach. Following this, the commander was transferred by car to the hospital at Panaji. On the Indian side, as per reports, two frigates were hit, killing five sailors and injuring thirteen.
The ship's crew formally surrendered with the remaining Portuguese forces on 19 December 1961 at 20:30. As a gesture of goodwill, the commanders of the INS Betwa and the INS Beas later visited Captain Aragão as he lay recuperating in bed in Panaji.
The Afonso, having been renamed Saravastri by the Indian Navy, lay grounded at the beach near Dona Paula until 1962, when it was towed to Bombay and sold for scrap. Parts of the ship were recovered and are on display at the Naval Museum in Mumbai.
The Portuguese patrol boat NRP Sirius, under the command of Lieutenant Marques Silva, was also present at Goa. After observing Afonso running aground and not having communications from the Goa Naval Command, Lieutenant Marques Silva decided to scuttle the Sirius. This was done by damaging the propellers and making the boat hit the rocks. The eight men of the Sirius's crew avoided being captured by the Indian forces and boarded a Greek freighter on which they reached Pakistan.
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The truth about the Indo-China agreement?
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A tweet by Dr. Jaishankar on India-China agreement, back to 2020 position. What does it mean? Chinese had occupied the area since! And what we were told by the authorities, ministers, and ruling politicians is that no Chinese have come nor have they occupied Indian areas. They simply crossed and occupied Indian territory since 2020. It is believed 2,000 sq km of India-claimed territory was estimated to have been taken over by the Chinese since May 2020. And nobody from the government talked about it, nor the friendly media, though the opposition raised the issue and was vocal about it, so were some of the ex-officers and retired generals of the Indian forces. The authorities just ignored it
Responding to a question on the patrolling and disengagement agreement in the Depsang and Demchok areas in Eastern Ladakh and what can be expected from the future of India-China relations, the minister said, ‘From 2020, the situation at the border has been very disturbed, and that has, understandably, had a very negative impact on the overall relationship. Since September 2020, we have been negotiating with the Chinese on how to find a solution.’
He further added, ’The focus, for now, is disengagement, the minister said, stressing that while there had been understandings in some areas after 2020, blocking of patrolling remained an issue that was being negotiated for two years.
Dr. Subramanya Swami, a prominent BJP member and known critic of Mody and his policies, pointed it out in numerous interviews on the social media, and also stated, If the government wants to be transparent and clear all doubts of China occupying India areas after 2020, as claimed by Swamy, the opposition, and others, the government should place the copy of the agreement in Parliament and clear all doubts once and for all.
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Sriharikota Launch Station, AP
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