Indian News - Q4/1926
4 October
In Asir, Indian forces have found the site of a battle between two unknown groups of local origin.
Major Kochi, attached to the garrison’s command staff, noted, “A troop of men from the Camel Corps encountered an obvious battleground from several days earlier during a sweep of the northeastern perimeter on the first of this month. A total of fifteen bodies, plus that of several animals, were found in and around a gully. All had been shot, though a few also bore knife, sword, or bayonet wounds.”
It’s thought that two groups arrived in the area from Saudi Arabia, one pausing to ambush the other. “One reduced set of tracks was seen heading back to the east, while the other set continues into Asir. Under the circumstances, we’ve directed our men to search for the group that entered the mandate.”
18 October
The Bay of Bengal is abuzz with activity as the second annual SATSUMA exercises proceed. It’s the only major exercise of the year for the Indian Navy, as the SAINT exercises scheduled for spring were deferred to 1927.
Admiral Sanjay Das told AWNR that this year’s exercises will be an opportunity to see what was learned last year. “There was so much to absorb from the 1925 exercises, in respect to even basic issues like communication, formations, and the like. The Operations Liaison Group issued a number of basic recommendations to all of the navies involved and we’re now going to find out whether those were properly implemented or not.”
This year’s exercise pits Chosenian, Formosan, and the majority of the Japanese fleet against a force of Indian and Filipino ships, with a small number of Japanese ships as reinforcement.
“It’s important to maintain some coherency to our command structures, hence the decision not to split each navy’s forces down the middle such as was done last year. The Japanese forces that we did include on the Indian/Filipino side are coastal-defence assets, which will be of little value to the Japanese/Chosenian/Formosan force assigned to the aggressor role.”
Commercial ships are advised to be mindful of sudden or abrupt manoeuvring by warships involved in the exercises. Live-firing will not, however, be involved except in a controlled target shoot at the end of the exercise next week.
4 November
Preliminary reports from the United States suggest that an Indian iron broker is missing and presumed dead following the destruction of the New York Stock Exchange. The broker’s name has not been released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Bharat Iron Consortium.
7 November
Yet another dispute is straining Saudi-Indian relations. Major Kochi of the Indian Army confirmed that eight Saudi men surrendered to Camel Corps troopers five days ago. “It was peaceful, and the eight individuals immediately requested asylum.”
The difficulty stems from the identity of one of those eight. “Among the, er, detainees is a man claiming to be Prince Feisal of Hejaz”, noted Kochi. Feisal, along with his family, had been thought dead following King Saud’s successful campaign to conquer the Hejaz (now western Saudi Arabia).
The Saudi government initially denied that the man could possibly be Feisal, then demanded that he be extradited to stand trial for treason, regardless of his identity. “That bandit brutally murdered Saudi soldiers without provocation. Justice must be rendered”, noted the Saudi ambassador in Sana’a, Yemen.
Major Kochi said that India would not be returning any of the men to Saudi Arabia, at least not immediately. “We need to ascertain their identities, if possible. And, to be frank, the gun battle clearly took place inside the Asir mandate. So if Saudi soldiers were involved, they were also involved in an armed incursion outside their own borders.”
1 December
Admiral of the Fleet Sanjay Das announced the estimates for 1927 today.
“This will be a transitional year of sorts, as all three of our new capital units - Akbar, Jahangir, and Urumi - will be in service by year’s end. This will free up some resources for work on a class 1 drydock at Male in the Maldives. It also means that the battleship Dara Shikoh and aircraft carrier Otta will be deleted and scrapped. In the case of the former, we will be recovering the main battery for installation in coastal defence facilities later in the year.”
"Warship construction will focus on similar vessels to last year, including two more light cruisers, four destroyers, six submarines, two minelayers, two minesweepers, and twelve motor torpedo boats and anti-submarine launches. An aircraft carrier will also be built for the Philippines, starting mid-year.
“We’ll also be refitting the light cruisers Columbo and Cochin, and undertaking needed repairs to Babur”, noted Admiral Das. “This will be a fairly substantial upgrade, with changes to her main and secondary batteries, as well as a number of other changes.”
Also destined for the scrap yards are a third collier and two torpedo boats. Two G-113 class destroyers, originally scheduled for scrapping, will be rebuilt as sloops. “The class is too small and slow to act as fleet destroyers now, but can certainly work as coastal escorts, at less cost than building new sloops”, Admiral Das commented. “And with few coal-fired vessels remaining in the fleet after the end of the year, the time is right to scrap another of the colliiers.
Admiral Das concluded the briefing by noting that this would be his final such briefing. “After a long and enjoyable career, I’m pleased to announce that I will be retiring as of 1 March. It’s my understanding that the Minister of Defence will announce my successor during the month of February.”
8 December
With the Antarctic summer fast approaching, the Indian and South Africa governments are sparing no efforts to ensure that the Lady Anneke returns home. A Nordmarchian icebreaker will take time from its operations further west to lead the rescue ship out of Antarctic waters if she hasn’t made it out on her own by mid-January.
Meanwhile, a portion of Lady Anneke’s supplies will be landed and cached at the same location the Sharmilla’s crew used to sustain themselves through the past year.
“We’re hoping for an easy time of it”, said Kamal Pashira of the Meteorological Survey of India. “The weather has been generally favourable so far.”
20 December
A sombre ceremony today marked the end of the career of the battleship Dara Shikoh. After twenty years of dedicated service in two navies, the dreadnought is to be scrapped.
Laid down as the Queen Fallatia just months after HMS Dreadnought, she was the first such warship built anywhere in the southern hemisphere. Featuring (for the time) heavy protection and an efficient all-centreline twenty-eight centimetre battery, she paved the way for later dreadnoughts of the Madagaskar class.
She saw extensive service in the first few years of her life, travelling to locations as diverse as Nordmark, the United States, and China. During the Great War, she patrolled the eastern coast, ensuring the neutrality of South African waters. This duty continued even after the South African Empire entered the war on the Allied side, but the battleship saw no action.
In 1920, with her best years seemingly behind her, South Africa offered Queen Fallatia to its new ally India, a small navy with large ambitions. Despite criticism from within the Indian Navy, the battleship was purchased and entered service in 1921 as Dara Shikoh. Joined by another South African veteran, Babur, she exposed India to the many intricacies of battleship operation: deployments, logistics, maintenance, capital ship engagements, and more.
In 1924, with the conflict in the Andaman Sea on the verge of becoming a full-scale war, she deployed to engage Danish reinforcements from Europe. Happily, the conflict was resolved before she saw action.
In 1925, following a request from the Filipino government, she sailed into the Sulu Sea to assist in the struggle against the SALSA insurgency. Her main guns finally roared in anger, pounding the terrorist positions in support of Filipino marine raids that helped to break the uprising’s back.
By this time next year, she will no longer exist, her crew dispersed to other duties, the scrap finding its way into the hulls of new warships. Only her guns will remain - as coastal defence batteries at Port Blair and Sittwe, standing guard over Indian naval bases long after she is gone.
31 December
A cheerful ceremony today marked the beginning of the career of the battleship Akbar. After three years of construction in Chennai, the battleship was commissioned this morning.
On hand for the occassion were Admiral Sanjay Das, Captain Sankara Saraswathi, and most of her 1,323 crewmen. The royal family was represented by the Rana, who called upon the gods to watch over the battleship and her crew as they protected India from its enemies.
Captain Saraswathi told AWNR, “It has been a very eventful month, first saying farewell to Dara Shikoh, now taking on Akbar. I like what I have seen of her so far. I certainly look forward to taking her out on trials - her design speed is higher than the last cruiser I commanded.”
The battleship will have a six month work-up, with the first three or so spent in local waters. A trip overseas will probably take place in the spring of 1926. “Current thinking would have us be in South Africa for the Naval Symposium, though we’d not be participating in the exercises”, said Captain Saraswathi. “A trip into the Mediterranean may also take place, I’m told.”
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Quoted
This year’s exercise pits Chosenian, Formosan, and the majority of the Japanese fleet against a force of Indian and Filipino ships, with a small number of Japanese ships as reinforcement.
Friday, June 7th 2024, 12:44am
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