Navy Chief Admiral D.K. Joshi Resigns Over Spate of Submarine Mishaps Wednesday Feb 26,2014

India’s Navy Chief, Admiral D.K. Joshi resigned as chief of the Indian navy, owning “moral responsibility for the accidents and incidents during the past few months”, the Defence Ministry said on Wed Feb 26,2014

D.K. Joshi who had about 15 months more left in service, submitted his resignation hours after submarine INS Sindhuratna had a mishap in which seven sailors were taken seriously ill and two officers were missing. 

 Admiral Joshi is the first Indian military commander to have resigned since General Kodandera Subayya Thimmaiah in 1959 -- and the only to have his resignation accepted by the Govt.

The naval chief's resignation came hours after a fire on board the newly-refitted Sindhuratna claimed the lives of two naval officers and injured seven -- the third in a series of submarine accidents

Vice Admiral R K Dhowan he would be taking charge with immediate effect pending the appointment of a regular chief

Sindhurakshak exploded and sank in Mumbai’s Naval Dockyard in August, 2013, killing 18 crew

 Sindhughosh ran ground on its way to Mumbai harbour, though without loss of life last month

Two Naval Officers were feared dead in a fire on INS Sindhuratna, 50 nautical miles off Mumbai on Wednesday morning

All 7 sailors, who were trapped inside the compartment, complained of asphyxiation. They were airlifted by a Navy helicopter and admitted to INS Ashvini, a naval hospital in south Mumbai.

The Commodore Commanding Submarine (West), S.R. Kapur, was rescued along with the crew

The cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained, the sources say a preliminary assessment revealed that an explosion in the battery compartment could be the reason.

An inquiry has been ordered by the Defence Ministry. 

Note

5 of, of India’s 13 conventionally-powered submarines have exceeded their design life - Navy said

• INS Sindhughosh
• Sindhudhaj
• Sindhuraj
• Sindhuvir and
• Sindhuratna

all Russian-manufactured Kilo-class submarines, were all inducted between 1986 and 1988

The most recent of the Kilo-class fleet, the Sindhushastra, was puchased in 2000, preceded by the Sindhurakshak in 1997, and the Sindhuvijay was inducted in 1991

This would be the first time in the last 15 years that a Naval chief has had to leave office in controversial circumstances after Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat was sacked by the NDA Government in 1998 when George Fernandes was the Defence Minister