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INS Vikrant's air arm strikes again at Chittagong.
Sea Hawks and Alizes hit Pakistani Shipping facilities

12 Dec : Bay of Bengal: Once the wind conditions improved, INS Vikrant was again ready to carry out her air strikes. Vikrant steamed northward in order to launch a Sea Hawk attack with optimum ammo, by reducing fuel. From 0600 onwards,29 Sea Hawk strikes armed with rockets and 500 lb bombs were carried out in and around Chittagong which received the Navy's undivided attention.

The large concentration of targets necessitated multiple strikes to wipe them out. The first strike resulted in 6 direct hits on the runway, making it unserviceable. The second strike was aimed at shipping in the harbour. Two merchant ships leaving the harbour recieved 6-8 direct hits and the two inside the harbour received 13-15 hits.

Moderate to heavy gunfire was still be poured into the air from inside the harbour and one Sea Hawk received a direct hit on the canopy which shattered.

However, all aircraft returned safely. Vikrant suffered a breakdown at 0945 and air operations resumed at 1100 when the defect was rectified. Two strikes

Sea Hawk Fighters being launched from the INS Vikrant

of 4 Sea Hawks each were launched again at 1100 and 1115 hrs respectively.

Targets were once again the airfield and shipping at Chittagong. The runway intersection was bombed and gun positions were silenced by the first strike which also carried out a photo-recce of the area.

The second strike attacked 3 merchant ships off Gupta point with rockets, scoring direct hits on their superstructure. Another strike of 4 Sea Hawks was launched at 1315 against Chittagong shipping.

Later, it was decided to carry out a surface bombardment of Cox's Bazar to prevent the use of it's aerodrome by any aircraft. The frigates Brahmaputra and Beas commenced bombardment from 3.50 PM onwards and hit the airfield installations. The ATC tower received a direct hit.

Two merchantmen of about 10,000 and 15,000 tons each were bombed with 500 pounders, scoring direct hits. While the airstrikes were continuing, the Army requested an airstrike on Pakistani troops and vehicle concentrations at Kaptai at around 1300 hrs.4 Sea Hawks were launched for the purpose at 1340 hrs and wiped out the concentration. The last Sea Hawk strike for the day was launched at 1530 with 4 aircraft armed with 2 500 pound bombs each which struck enemy airfields and shipping, inflicting heavy damage.

At the end of the day, there was not a single ship around Chittagong that had not been struck and incapacitated. Shipping thorugh Chalna, along the coast eastward through Meghna sandwip upto Cox's bazar and southward, had been completely wiped out.