Kursura Submarine Museum, one of the significant landmarks in the tourism circuit in Visakhapatnam and located on the Beach Road, will be celebrating its 11th anniversary on Friday.

The first of its kind in the whole south Asia, the INS Kursura Submarine is a Soviet built-I-641 class submarine and was inducted into the Indian Navy on Dec 18, 1969, and the same was decommissioned on Feb 27, 2001 after 31 years of glorious service to the nation.

During her ferocious and victorious service, the submarine traversed 73,500 nautical miles participating in almost all types of naval operations.

She played a vital role in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. She was the pioneer submarine extending goodwill and harmony through her visits and flag-showing missions to other nations.

The submarine is the fourth among the first generation submarines inducted in to the Indian Navy.

After decommissioning from services, the complete submarine, including the weapon package was hauled-up from sea to land and positioned on a concrete foundation at Ramakrishna Beach Road.

For setting-up the Submarine Museum, Rs 6 crore was spent in technical association with Naval-ship Design and Research Center.

The length of submarine is 91.3 meters, while the breadth is 8 mts. Kursura submarine Museum is the only Submarine Museum in India.

The Indian Navy is proposing to add another submarine museum by setting up the INS Vela, the first among the second generation submarine decommissioned on Jan. 25, 2010, between Chennai and Mamallapuram in Tamilnadu.

The state government issued GO Ms. No. 88 in 2002 ordering transfer of the entire submarine museum with the surrounding areas developed for the museum, including the food courts and open areas to Vuda for the up-keep and maintenance and throw it open to the public for display and entertainment.

The Kursura Submarine Museum was dedicated to the nation on Aug. 9, 2002 by the then chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / DC / Visakhapatnam – August 09th, 2013