Garden Reach Ship Builders and Engineers Ltd., (GRSE) delivered its 100th warship to the Indian Navy March 30. This makes GRSE the first Indian shipyard to make and deliver 100 warships to the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard and Mauritius Coast Guard.
What started in 1961 with the delivery of Seaward Defence Boat (Mk-I) is seeing a splendid culmination with the delivery of the 100th ship – A Landing Craft Utility, L-56 — 30. The 99th warship – a Fast Patrol Vessel — was delivered to Indian Coast Guard Mar 27.
The 100th warship, “IN LCU L-56” was formally handed over by Rear Admiral V. K. Saxena, IN (Retd.) Chairman & Managing Director, GRSE to the Commanding Officer of the Ship, Lt. Cdr. Gopinath Narayanan of Indian Navy at the Ceremony held in GRSE.
IN LCU L56 is the sixth of an order of eight land craft vessels from the Indian Navy. The entire design of these LCU Mark IV ships has been developed in-house by GRSE as per requirements specified by Indian Navy. The construction of the balance two ships is progressing as per the schedule.
LCU Mk-IV ship is an amphibious ship with its primary role being transportation and deployment of Main Battle Tanks, Armored Vehicles, troops and equipment from ship to shore. These ships based at the Andaman and Nicobar Command, can be deployed for multirole activities like beaching operations, search and rescue, disaster relief operations, supply and replenishment and evacuation from distant islands.
The LCU is 63 m in length and 11 m wide and has a displacement of 830 T with a low draught of 1.7 m. It can achieve speed of 15 knots. The LCU is designed to accommodate 216 personnel and is equipped with two Indigenous CRN 91 Guns to provide artillery fire support during landing operations. The ship is fitted with state-of-the-art equipment and advanced systems like Integrated Bridge System (IBS) and Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS).
