INS Cuddalore (M69)

For other ships with the same name, see INS Cuddalore.

INS Cuddalore (M69) was a modified Natya-class minesweeper of the Pondicherry class ships that were in service with the Indian Navy.

History
India
Name	INS Cuddalore
Namesake	Cuddalore
Commissioned	29 October 1987
Decommissioned	23 March 2018
Identification	M69
General characteristics
Class & type	Pondicherry-class minesweeper
Displacement	877 long tons (891 t) full load
Length	61 m (200 ft 2 in)
Beam	10.2 m (33 ft 6 in)
Draft	2.7 m (8 ft 10 in)
Propulsion	2 × M-503B diesels, 2 shafts, 5,000 bhp (3,700 kW)
Speed	16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Range	4,000 nmi (7,400 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) 3,000 nmi (5,600 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	10 officers, 72 enlisted
Sensors & processing systems	Sonar: MG-69/79 High frequency, hull mounted, active mine detection Radar: Don 2 I-band air/surface 2 × Square Head - High Pole B IFF MR-104 Drum Tilt H/I-band fire control
Electronic warfare & decoys	Minesweeping: AT-2 acoustic sweep GKT-2 contact sweep TEM-3 magnetic sweep
Armament	4 × 30 mm (2×2) guns 4 × 25 mm (2×2) AA 2 × RBU 1200 5-tubed ASW rocket 10 mines 2 × 16 SA-N-5 SAM Grail missiles

Construction and commissioning

Cuddalore was built by the Sredne-Nevskiy Shipyard at Saint Petersburg, Russia. Except for the addition of surface-to-air missiles.^[1][2] Cuddalore was commissioned on 29 October 1987 at Riga (erstwhile USSR). Her commissioning commanding officer was Rear Admiral PK Nair.^[3]

Service history

Cuddalore was based at Indian Navy's Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam and was operationally under the authority of the Naval Officer-in-Charge Andhra Pradesh region. She was the senior ship of the 21st Mine Counter measures (MCM) Squadron.^[4] Cuddalore was adjudged as the "best ship" at the Eastern Naval Command (ENC)’s annual flotilla awards ceremony for the year 2015–16.^[5]

Decommissioning

Cuddalore was decommissioned on 23 March 2018 at the naval dockyard in Visakhapatnam.^[6]