Task Force Alpha The job assigned to Task Force Alpha was to undertake a maritime attack on port complex of
Khulna and
Mongla. Task Force Alpha was a maritime
task force comprising two gunboats of Flower class,
Padma and
Palash, loaned from the West Bengal government,
Chitrangada, a watercraft of the
Border Security Force (BSF) and INS
Panvel, a seaward defence boat as the task force's command ship.
Panvel, owing to her two 40 mm Bofors guns, was the best armed of the task force. However,
Panvel was a very small ship of the
Pulicut class. The task force was operating directly under the orders of the
Eastern Army Command at
Kolkata and not the
Eastern Naval Command. The force departed on the morning of 7 December 1971, from
Hasnabad, a river port on the Indian side and travelled through
Sunderbans delta. At midnight of 8/9 December, Task Force Alpha was at Akram Point at the mouth of the
Pussur River,
Panvel detected two medium-sized ships fleeing the warzone. The ships of this task force now turned northwards into the
Pussur River. The task force reached Mongla after the Pakistan forces retreated and
Mukti Bahini was in control of the area. The boarding parties of the task force accomplished their task.
Chitrangada remained at Mongla for overseeing salvage operations, rendering assistance to local population and as rearguard. As there was no sign of the enemy at Mongla, the ships
Panvel,
Palash and
Padma sped towards Khulna which was upstream and arrived there around 1100 hours on 10 December. The
Indian Army's 41 Brigade, which was advancing in this area from the west, was locked in combat with the
Pakistan Army's 107 Brigade. Task Force Alpha was ordered to launch a waterborne offensive on these Pakistani forces from their rear on the
Rupsha River (a tributary of the Pussur), which lay east of Khulna, in order to weaken them. When the ships had begun attacking the opposing
Razakar forces,
Follland Gnat fighter jets of
Indian Air Force (IAF) appeared on the scene. The Gnats failed to identify the Indian ships and fired at them. The rockets narrowly missed
Panvel but
Padma was hit.
Palash also took a rocket hit and was in flames.
Panvel started rescue efforts and, by the end of the day's action, picked up 14 crew members of
Palash and
Padma. After the IAF fighters disappeared,
Panvel began bombarding the Pakistani forces. She destroyed every single fortification of enemy on either side of the Rupsha. Her Bofors gun rattled the town of Khulna for over an hour, destroying the
shipyard, many government offices and other significant infrastructure which stood on the western bank.
Panvel evaded the Gnats, beached and un-beached, raised smoke to appear as a stricken ship, abandoning ship and kept the force together, rescuing many, protecting herself from enemy fire and launching a counter offensive. For all these efforts the Army recommended
Panvels captain Cdr MNR Samant for the
Maha Vir Chakra. ==See also==