Welcome to the wonderful world of the submarine museum Kursura. CLICK HERE to start the virtual tour.

How The Musuem Was Created

On a cold blustery morning of 18 Dec 1969 at Riga, the Indian Naval Ensign was hoisted on this submarine, when INS Kursura was commissioned under the command of Cdr A Auditto.

The Submarine embarked on her maiden passage from Baltisk on 20 Feb 1970 and arrived at Visakhapatanam on 11 May 70. Enroute she called at La Coruna (Spain) and Port Louis (Mauritius).

The induction of Kursura into the Navy's fold distinctly showcased the augmentation of the third dimension of the Indian Navy. She was the cornerstone of the foundation of Submarine Arm.

During her glorious service of nearly 31 years the submarine transversed 73,500 NM and clocked over 3000 dived hours participating in almost all types of Naval operations. INS Kursura played a vital role in the 1971 war in setting up a blockade, which left the enemy tied up inside its own harbour. She was the pioneer submarine extending good will and harmony through visits and flag showing mission to other Nations and thus propagating the National cause. In her vast life span INS Kursura changed hands 13 times with the last Commanding Officer being Cdr KM Sreedharan.

INS Kursura after having served the nation for over three decades now passes into the annals of history. However unlike other decommissioned submarines, her history does not end here. She now holds the distinction of being a unique and first ever submarine museum in this sub-continent. From its present position on RK Beach, the submarine will command the attention and focus of all future generations of submariners and the youth of this country and will function as beacon of inspiration for greater deeds and achievements.

Also read A BEAUTIFUL SUBMARINE MUSEUM by Cmde AK Dhir (Retd.)

SUBMARINE MUSEUM - "KURSURA" VISAKHAPATNAM

"The Submarine has created it's own type of Officers and men, with language and tradition apart from the rest of the services, and yet at heart unchangingly of the service". Rudyard Kipling : 1975

KURSURA
INS Kursura was inducted into the Indian Navy on 18 Dec 1969. It is a Soviet built I-641 class submarine, generally addressed as Foxtrot class, designed for long-range ocean patrol and under water attacks deep under enemy waters. This class of submarine is one of the most successful designs acknowledged world over and formed a formidable under water force of the Soviet Navy during the cold war. Indian Navy procured eight such submarines of which Kursura is the fourth one. Kursura during her operational period undertook numerous patrols and took part in various exercises with Indian and foreign Navies, in addition to playing a stellar role during the 1971 Indo-Pak conflict.

'Kursura' has now been converted into a Museum, which is the first of its kind in the subcontinent. The complete submarine, along with its weapon and equipment package has been hauled on to the RK Beach and positioned on a prefabricated concrete platform. Minimum modification has been carried out on the submarine so as to retain the originality of submariner's life. The museum contains milestones of the genesis and evolution of submarine arm, chronicled through photographs, written scripts and artifacts.

THE PROJECT:

In the late 1990's, a case was taken up by the Headquarters, Eastern Naval Command to install a decommissioned submarine at RK Beach, Visakhapatnam. The project involved:

(a) The daunting task installing a 1400 Ton submarine at RK Beach Visakhapatnam.

(b) Converting the internal layout of the submarine to render an easy passage to the visitors from a broad variety of age groups.

The Ministry of Defence gave the green signal for the project to be carried out by the DGNP, Visakhapatnam. Cdr Deepak Sahu, Officer-in-Charge, SMU (V) was nominated as the Project Officer

The modalities of the project including the running of the museum post completion of the project were worked out with state authorities of Andhra Pradesh. Initially, it was decided that the Indian Navy, post completion of the project was to hand over the Museum to Andhra Pradesh Tourism Department for running and upkeep of the museum.

Tender enquiry was raised and different methods of operation were discussed. The methodology proposed by M/s National Ship Design and Research Center (NSDRC), Visakhapatnam was considered technically acceptable. The designers proposed a hitherto untested method, wherein the submarine will be hauled out of sea on to the beach by a distance of 500 meters, turned by an angle of 60 degrees and installed on a prefabricated concrete platform.

The project started with the dry-docking of the submarine at Naval Dockyard Visakhapatnam. The additional appendages required for the hauling operations like the eyehook, (designed for 600T load) and poppets (to increases base surface contact) were welded on the submarine. All hull valves and other external openings were blanked to improve the floatation of the vessel.

Indian Navy was to beach the submarine at the desired angle prior to the hauling operation. The first beaching operation had to be aborted due to high Sea State and rough weather. Finally, under the command of Cdr Kondal Rao, INS Kursura was successfully beached on 24 Apr 2000 with the aid of two naval tugs and two VPT tugs. Steel wire ropes of 24mm diameter were passed from the submarine onto the winches positioned at the beach site. The hauling operation was littered with stumbling blocks and pitfalls. The operation that was originally designed to be completed in a period of 3 months took more than 18 months for its completion. Due to certain unforeseen natural forces like onset of early monsoon, winds, and sinking of submarine into sand due to dynamic shifting, the progress in the initial hauling operation was extremely slow. The forward movement of submarine during the initial weeks was in millimeters!!!

Further the forward movement of submarine was causing gradual sinking of the vessel into the seabed, resulting in further increase in the taught of the ropes. The operation being the first of it's kind, where in a 1400 ton submarine is being hauled over sand surface, tested the techniques of the designers and executors/contractors. The "Think-Tanks' in the design department of various established institutions from all over the country were invited to the site to find a solution. Various solutions were proposed to tide over the effect of surface lashing waves, which was causing further accumulation of sand around the submarine.

The 24-mm steel wire ropes were replaced with thicker 74-mm diameter ropes and the loads were progressively increased. At one point the excessive load caused the rupture of the pressure hull at the eye hook area leading to water ingress inside the submarine. Later four forward torpedo tubes were prepared for use as strong points for further hauling. But the delay in work had done considerable damage as the monsoon had set in by that time. Subsequently with 400 ton pull on each torpedo tube the progress of work was on the upward swing. Suddenly the 'Ridley turtle' fiasco came as a bolt from the blue to the already delayed project. The hauling was temporarily stopped by a stay order issued by the Honourable High Court over a complaint registered by a private environmental body who claimed that the site of the project was a breeding ground for sea turtles.

With persistent efforts of contractor in spite of repeated set backs like snapping of wire rope, listing of submarine towards port side during hauling - the submarine started 'inching' forward. Once the vessel crossed the surface zone the progress was much faster. A channel could be dug around the submarine to create less drag during hauling. The turning operation was being done along with the hauling. In Jan 2001 it was decided that the submarine would be inaugurated at its position as on that date. At this position the submarine was embedded in sand by 5meters and was 18m away from the foundation.

A work passage was prepared to modify the interior of the submarine for easy passage of visitor from fore end to aft end. The same was contracted to M/s Marine 'N' Care and Associates. The submarine, INS Kursura was decommissioned on 27 Feb 2001, and Admiral (Retd.) VS Shekhawat, the previous Chief of the Naval Staff inaugurated the Kursura Museum. The same was opened for public for 10 days and run by the Indian Navy.

The additional appendages for jacking up the submarine, which included six elephant feet, were earlier welded on to the pressure hull. A concrete foundation was constructed on sand, which could take load up to 1000 tons. Hydraulic jacks were used in synchronization to raise the submarine inch by inch. The vessel was raised and the bottom was packed with sand and concrete slabs for reinforcement. The submarine was lifted bodily by a total of 5m and brought to the level of the concrete foundation.

Later, Eight in number tracks made of concrete slabs were laid so that the submarine could be slid on to its final resting-place. Two more eyehooks were welded on the submarine and using a network pulleys and tackles the submarine was finally shifted on to the concrete foundation on 29 Oct 2001. All the supports on the submarine were cut and removed to retain its original shape. Two in number storm chocks designed to withstand wind speeds up to 150 knots were welded on to the pressure hull on the portside and grouted onto the concrete foundation. The project was completed in all respects only in the month of May 2002. The initial project cost was estimated at Rs 282 lakhs, which included the hauling operation, civil works and conversion to museum. The same had to be revised to Rs 550 lakhs - the entire additional amount notched up by the hauling operation by M/s NSDRC.

Then the 'lipstick' works of the project - the beach road, ramp, tiling, sprucing up the submarine itself took off. On completion, the submarine was formally inaugurated and dedicated to the nation by the Honourable Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Shri N Chandra Babu Naidu on 09 Aug 2002. The museum was handed over to Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) by Indian Navy on that day - the MOU was signed by Capt S Govind, COMCOS(East) and Sri SGK Kishore, IAS, Vice Chairman, VUDA in the presence of the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and the FOC-IN-C (East). The Kursura Museum was thrown open to public on 24 Aug 2002, and as on date, it is drawing good crowds, despite the entry tickets being priced at Rs 25/- by Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority(VUDA). The Museum complex is expected to shape-up further with the plan to introduce Food courts, a Souvenir stall, a few submarine artifacts in the complex etc.

CONCLUSION
The Submarine Arm of Indian Navy has come a long way since the commission of INS Kalvari in the 1960's, which was the first submarine of Indian Navy. In the 70's and 80's the submarines rendered yeomen service to the Navy and laid foundation for future generations to operate them confidently and safely. Indian Navy has the expertise and skill to operate nuclear submarines, the pleasure of an exclusive club of nations thus far. Today, we proved that a miniscule unit of Indian Navy (SMU 'V') can also co-ordinate and undertake such a massive operation in the making of the first of such museums in South East Asia

The museum has been established with the aim of show casing the glory of submarine arm and present to everyone a glimpse of the life inside a submarine and the hardships encountered by the submariner at sea. It gives a voice to the 'Silent Service' and serves as a repository of the rich heritage of the submarine arm.