The incomplete hull of HMS Hercules was eventually purchased and following an extensive refit the ship was commissioned as INS Vikrant on March 4, 1961 in Belfast. As a light fleet carrier, she was able to carry a small complement of early fast jets, British made Hawker Sea Hawks and French Alize anti-submarine aircraft. Upon arriving in India, she started her career by participating in Operation Vijay, the annexation of Goa, although her role saw no military action in the campaign.
War, however, came in 1965 when India was in conflict with neighbouring Pakistan but again the Indian Navy did not risk the ship at sea fearful that Pakistan’s fleet of Daphne-class submarines could easily sink her. The simmering tensions between the two nations has never really died down and in 1971 the tension boiled over into conflict once again. This time, INS was assigned to the Eastern Naval Command operating in the Bay of Bengal. On 2 December, the with the sole intention of locating and sinking India’s prized aircraft-carrier. It was not to happen, as the submarine itself sank in shallow waters under mysterious circumstances off the coast of Visakhapatnam on the night of 3-4 December.
