INS Delhi (1948)

The ship when serving as HMNZS Achilles
History
India
Name:	INS Delhi C74
Builder:	Cammell Laird, Birkenhead, England
Laid down:	11 June 1931
Launched:	1 September 1932
Acquired:	by purchase, 1948
Commissioned:	5 July 1948
Decommissioned:	30 June 1978
Identification:	Pennant number: C74
Fate:	Scrapped, 1978
General characteristics
Class and type:	Leander-class light cruiser
Displacement:	7,270 long tons (7,387 t) standard 9,740 long tons (9,896 t) full load (Oct 1945)
Length:	555 ft 6 in (169.32 m)
Beam:	56 ft (17 m)
Draught:	19 ft 2 in (5.84 m)
Propulsion:	4 × Parsons geared steam turbines 6 × Yarrow boilers 4 shafts 73,280 shp (55 MW)
Speed:	32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph)
Range:	5,730 nmi (10,610 km) at 13 kn (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Armament:	Original configuration: 8 × BL 6 inch Mk XXIII naval guns 4 × 4 in (100 mm) guns 12 × 0.5 in (13 mm) machine guns 8 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour:	3 in (76 mm) magazine box 1 in (25 mm) deck 1 in (25 mm) turrets

INS Delhi was a Leander-class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy in 1933 as HMS Achilles, and commissioned into the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy (from 1941 the Royal New Zealand Navy) in 1937 as HMNZS Achilles. She was returned to the Royal Navy at the end of the Second World War and in 1948 was sold to the Royal Indian Navy to be recommissioned as HMIS Delhi. In 1950 she was renamed INS Delhi and remained in service until decommissioned at Bombay on 30 June 1978.

The ship was commissioned into the Royal Indian Navy as HMIS Delhi on 5 July 1948 under the command of Captain H. N. S. Brown of the Royal Navy. She had 17 British officers and petty officers, the rest of the crew being Indian. Commander Ram Dass Katari was her executive officer and the senior-most Indian officer, while Lieutenant Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda was her first lieutenant. HMIS Delhi arrived at Bombay on 16 September 1948. She conducted her first major goodwill cruise in 1948, to East Africa, the Seychelles, and Mauritius.

After India became a Republic in January 1950, she was renamed INS Delhi. In June 1950, Commander Adhar Kumar Chatterji (later Chief of the Naval Staff) became her first Indian commanding officer; the same month she conveyed Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to Indonesia on an official visit. In 1951 her first lieutenant was JB Simmons and she sailed to Africa and Madagascar, showing the flag for the first time since Independence. In 1953 she took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.