HMIS Sutlej (U95)

Sutlej at Kōchi, Shikoku Island, Japan in February 1946.
History
Royal Indian Navy
Name:	Sutlej
Namesake:	Sutlej River
Ordered:	8 September 1939
Builder:	William Denny and Brothers
Laid down:	4 January 1940
Launched:	1 October 1940
Commissioned:	23 April 1941
Out of service:	1978
Honours and awards:	Sicily, 1943 Burma, 1944
Fate:	Scrapped
General characteristics
Type:	Sloop-of-war
Displacement:	1,250 tons original 1,350 tons modified
Length:	299 ft 6 in (91.29 m)
Beam:	37 ft 6 in (11.43 m) original 38 ft 6 in (11.73 m) modified
Draught:	11 ft (3.4 m)
Propulsion:	Geared turbines, 2 shafts: 3,600 hp (2.68 MW) (original) 4,300 hp (3.21 MW) (modified)
Speed:	19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) (original) 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) (modified)
Range:	7,500 nautical miles (13,900 km; 8,600 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement:	180 (original) 192 (modified)
Armament:	6 × QF 4 in (102 mm) Mk XVI AA guns (3 × 2) 4 × 2-pounder AA pom-pom 4 × 0.5-inch (12.7 mm) AA machine guns (original) 12 × 20 mm Oerlikon AA (6 × 2) (modified)

HMIS Sutlej (U95) was a modified Bittern-class sloop, later known as the Black Swan class, which served in the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) during World War II.

After India became a republic on 26 January 1950, the vessel was renamed as the Indian Navy's INS Sutlej.

HMIS Sutlej was ordered on 8 September 1939 under the 1939 Programme for the Royal Indian Navy. She was built by William Denny and Brothers and commissioned on 23 April 1941.

With World War II underway at the time, she was immediately deployed for convoy defence in the Irish Sea. In August, she was deployed as a part of the escort for convoy WS11 through the Northwest approaches, with HMS Repulse, HMS Encounter, HMAS Nestor, HMS Sennen, HMS Totland and HMS Derbyshire. When the convoy was split into fast and slow vessels, she and Totland escorted the slow section to Freetown. She then joined Repulse, Encounter, Derbyshire and HMS Woodruff as an escort to the Indian Ocean.

Mid-way, in September, she received orders to join the British Mediterranean Fleet and proceeded to the Suez, where she was deployed for anti-aircraft defence.

After Japan entered the war, she was transferred to the East Indies in December 1941. She was then deployed to escort military convoys to Singapore, in the Bay of Bengal, on the West coast of India, as well as to the Persian Gulf and Aden all through 1942 and early 1943.