Mahendra Nath Mulla

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Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla
File:Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla.jpg
Born (1926-05-15)15 May 1926
Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
Arabian Sea, near Maharashtra, India
Service/branch Indian Navy
Years of service 1948-1971
Unit INS Khukri
Battles/wars Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
Awards Maha Vir Chakra (posthumous)

Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla was an officer of the Indian Navy and the captain of the INS Khukri, who died when his ship was sunk during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

Mahendra Nath Mulla was born on 15 May 1926, in Uttar Pradesh and was commissioned in the Indian Navy on 1 May 1948.[citation needed]

Death

During the 1971 Indo-Pak War, Mulla was commanding a task force of two ships which formed part of the Western Fleet. The task force was assigned the task of hunting and destroying enemy submarines in the North Arabian Sea. At 20:50 hours on 9 December 1971, his vessel, INS Khukri, was hit by torpedoes fired by an enemy submarine, about 64 kilometres (40 mi) off Diu. Mulla issued orders for the ship to be abandoned because it was sinking.[citation needed]

He gave his own life-saving equipment to a sailor.[citation needed] Having directed many of his men as possible to leave the sinking ship, he went back to the bridge to see what further rescue operations could be performed. He was last seen going down with his ship.[citation needed]

Military recognition

Mulla's actions and the example he set were recognised by a posthumous award of the Maha Vir Chakra.[citation needed]

Memorial

File:Capt. Mahendra Nath Mulla.jpg
Bust of Capt. Mahendra Nath Mulla, Capt. M. N. Mulla Auditorium

A memorial for the tribute to Mulla and other dead sailors exists at Diu Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.. The memorial constitutes a full-scale model of INS Khukri encased in a glass house, placed on a hillock facing the sea. The memorial was inaugurated by Vice Admiral Madhvendra Singh as the flag officer commanding-in-chief.[citation needed]

The Capt. M. N. Mulla Auditorium, at Navy Nagar, Colaba, Mumbai, is named after him. A bust of Capt. Mulla (pictured on the right) stands in the foyer.

External links