PNS Muhafiz

History
Name	PNS Muhafiz (M 163)[1]
Builder	Bellingham Shipyards Co., Bellingham, Washington, USA[1]
Laid down	as AMS-138[1]
Commissioned	6 February 1955[1]
Fate	Sunk by INS Veer on 4 December 1971[1]
General characteristics
Class and type	Adjutant-class minesweeper[1]
Displacement	362 tons [1]
Length	144 ft 3 in (43.97 m)[1]
Beam	27 ft 2 in (8.28 m)[1]
Draught	12 ft (3.7 m)[1]
Propulsion	2 × 880 bhp (656 kW) General Motors 8-268A diesel engines[1]
Speed	13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)[1]
Complement	40[1]
Armament	1 × twin 20-mm[1]

PNS Muhafiz was an Adjutant-class minesweeper of the Pakistan Navy.^[2] It was built by the United States for transfer to Pakistan.^[2] PNS Muhafiz was sunk by a missile from INS Veer of the Indian Navy during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.^[1][2]

PNS Zulfiqar (K265) of Pakistan was also damaged beyond repair by friendly fire from aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) which mistook her for a missile boat of the Indian Navy during the same war.^[3] India also lost INS Khukri in this war.^[4][5]

Operation Trident

During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, The minesweeper PNS Muhafiz was tasked to patrol the approaches to port of Karachi. To do so it was deployed on the inner cordon.

Late that evening on 4 December 1971, around 70 miles south of Karachi, the INS Veer detected a large Pakistan Navy target, later identified as the Muhafiz on patrol to its north. Veer launched a single SS-N-2 Styx missile on the target, sinking Muhafiz.^[6] It was later learned that at 23:30 the Muhafiz was hit by Styx missiles, and sank in the Indian Ocean at about 23:35.

Other vessels of the Indian Navy strike group sank the Pakistan Navy destroyer, PNS Khaibar and the merchant ship Venus Challenger (carrying navy personnel and ammunition for Pakistan),^[6] and caused irreparable damage to the destroyer PNS Shah Jahan.

See also

References

External links

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Adjutant-class minesweepers

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