© Bharat Rakshak

-

Primus Circumdedisti Me - You were the first to encircle me. This was the singular honour bestowed upon Captain Juan Sebastian Del Cano, commander of  the Victoria, the only ship from Ferdinand Magellan's original flotilla of five ships to successfully survive the first ever circumnavigation of the globe by sea in 1522. This 16th century saga of courage, valour, comradeship and above all seamanship - shines like a beacon as the epitome of all good qualities in men even in the new millennium where nuclear powered ships and submarines make light work of the elements. Technology and time have not altered the fact that the best human values are brought out and developed in the face of adversity and hardship and it is to this end that 300 officers and 60 sailors of the Indian Navy are manning the magnificent INS Tarangini in their endeavour to emulate Magellan nearly 500 years later. There is little man has made that approaches anything in nature, but a sailing ship does. There is not much man has made that calls to all the best in him, but a sailing ship does. -Allan Villiers, distinguished sailor, author and photographer.

So what is it about a sailing ship that evokes visions of weather-beaten adventurers, die-hard romantics, swashbuckling seafarers and fearless explorers? Just one look at the grandeur of the Indian Navy's only 3-masted Barque and her 18 sails would probably answer that question to even the hard boiled landlubber. If INS Tarangini is awesome even alongside a jetty, the sight of her sails billowing in the wind as she skims the seas is simply magnificent. The main value of a sailing vessel in this modern machine age lies in its unique ability to foster the somewhat old-fashioned character virtues of courage, comradeship and endurance. Sail training ships are increasingly being used as basic seamanship and character building platforms by navies the world over. In fact, one of the world's most respected naval tactician, the Japanese Admiral Yamamoto foresaw the need for sailing platforms to provide an ideal setting for a first hand experience of the vagaries at sea to cadets embarking on a naval career. All sailing manoeuvres require experience of the basic elements of marine environment i.e. wind and weather. They also need nicety of judgement and that indefinable quality of sea sense, which a sailing ship demands. The principal qualification for command or any other position of responsibility at sea requires strength of character and a good deal of sea sense. Sail training imparts all these virtues and Admiral Yamamoto ensured that all officers and men of the Japanese Navy spent a significant part of their training onboard a sailing ship.

INS Tarangini, whose name aptly means wave rider, is the Indian Navy's only sail training ship. Termed 'a three-masted barque' (in sailing parlance) i.e. square rigged on the Fore and Main masts and fore and aft rigged on Mizzen mast, or 'schooner' as some others might say, the ship has been designed by Colin Mudie, a famous Naval Architect and yacht designer of the U.K. and built at the Goa Shipyard Ltd. The vessel is steel hulled with an aluminium deckhouse and teak interiors. Reputed firms from U.K have supplied the sailing rig. She is built for worldwide operations and carries 18 sails with a sail area of almost 1000 square metres. The ship has very high endurance and can be deployed at sea continuously for a period of 20 days. She has a complement of six officers and 27 sailors as permanent crew and can accommodate and impart sail training to 30 cadets. She was commissioned on 11 November 1997, and is primarily meant for the sail training of cadets. The sleek Varuna Class training ship is attached to the Indian Navy's Southern Command and forms part of the 1st Training Squadron based at Kochi. She conducts sail training capsules for cadets of the National Defence Academy (NDA), the Naval Academy and INS Shivaji, the training establishment for technical cadets. Only 27 navies of the world operate sail training ships including 15 in Europe, five in Latin America and three in Asia.

Apart from cadet training, the crew of INS Tarangini has embarked upon a novel and challenging mission to test themselves against the elements. The ship is on a circumnavigation of the globe as part of modern naval diplomacy and has the noble objective of tacking to blue eaters. Tacking is a sailing term, indicating a change of direction of a sailing vessel. Blue waters is a common maritime term implying deep seas, far away from one's own shores. The aim is furtherance of the 'Bridges of Friendship' across the oceans concept enunciated at the International Fleet Review at Mumbai in 2001. During this course, she will visit 36 ports in 17 countries including Egypt, Greece, Italy, Spain, Bermuda, USA, Canada, Puerto Rico, Panama, Ecuador, French Polynesia, Samoa, Fiji, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore and Sri Lanka covering 33,000 nautical miles.

INS Tarangini sailed from the Arabian Sea through the Red Sea, to the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean, crossed Gibraltar into the Atlantic, and then traversed the mighty Atlantic. She reached New York and then entered the Great Lakes through the St. Lawrence Seaway, where she was for more than two months taking part in the prestigious 2003 Tall Ship Event, organized by the American Sail Training Association where she won the overall first position in the youth training division - a true testimony to the skills and highest standards of the Indian sailor and shipbuilder. The voyage, which began on 23 January 2003 is expected to take 14 to 15 months and is planned in six legs of approximately 2½ months each. During each leg, she will be manned by 30 cadets of the First Training Squadron in addition to the permanent crew. The cadets and crew are changed at the end of each leg. A total of about 300 officers and 60 sailors will participate in this maiden circumnavigation voyage by the only Tall Ship of India. The ship will return to Mumbai in May this year via New York through the Panama Canal and then across the Indian Ocean.

The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.
-William Arthur Ward, scholar, author, editor, pastor and teacher

The objective of this circumnavigation is not merely to expose young officers and sailors to the use of sails, various types of ropes and operation of ships of the bygone era. The aim is primarily to develop a spirit of adventure and inculcate in each man the laudable qualities of team work, cohesiveness, esprit de corps, alertness, physical and mental agility, leadership qualities and the ability to face challenges with confidence, resoluteness and a positive attitude. During her course of this circumnavigation voyage, India has been able to project her sea faring capabilities to the world and inculcate a spirit of adventure amongst the cadets and crew of the ship. Character building, sail and seamanship training capsules are being imparted to the cadets and midshipman of the Indian Navy and friendly foreign countries thereby building bridges of friendship across the oceans. The ship's crew are interacting with regional navies and other authorities and projecting India as a major maritime and seafaring nation.

INS Tarangini won the first overall award in the Tall Ships Challenge Series at Hamilton, Ontario (Canada). Image © Indian Navy

On 04 October 2003, defence ties between India and the United States took a historic step forward with INS Tarangini docking at the Washington Navy Yard – the first occasion for an Indian Naval ship entering the waters bordering the United States capital. Her beauty and majesty caught the fancy of the Americans too, as the following event illustrates. "A voyage such as this one throws up innumerable moments to cherish. Like the time in Chesapeake when she was making top speed with all her sails up and the wind in the quarter. It was a lovely sight. I met almost 20 vessels along the way and each one of them came up on radio and said that we were looking great. That was the proudest moment for me," reminisces Commander P K Garg, her Commanding Officer. At this time INS Tarangini is cutting through the waters of the Pacific, her last port of call being Papatee. She is expected to enter Apia, Western Samoa next. The ship continues to send the message of friendship across the world from the people of India. The day she returns to us, proud and graceful, will indeed be a red letter day in our maritime annals. With increasing dependence on all things automated and remote controlled, it is not hard to understand the sentiment behind the following lines:
 
I can't wait for the oil wells to run dry,
For the last gob of black, sticky muck to come oozing out of some remote well.
Then the glory of sail will return.
-Triston Jones, celebrated author, adventurer, ex-Royal Navy.

Well thankfully, with the Asian Sailing Championships being held in the Indian Naval Watermanship Complex at Mumbai this year, and INS Tarangini celebrating the joy of sailing the world over, we won't have to wait that long!

INS Tarangini - Statistics

Copyright © BHARAT RAKSHAK. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of BHARAT RAKSHAK is prohibited.