Zafar Muhammad Khan

Zafar Muhammad Khan
Commander Zafar M. Khan, 1965.
Birth name	Zafar Muhammad Khan
Nickname(s)	Commander Zafar
Born	4 Oct 1945 Karachi, Sindh province, British Indian Empire
Died	4 December 1971 Visakhapatnam (Bay of Bengal), India
Allegiance	Pakistan
Service/branch	Pakistan Navy
Years of service	1956-1971
Rank	Commander
Service number	PN No. 643
Unit	Submarine Service Branch
Commands held	PNS Ghazi Submarine
Battles/wars	Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Operation Dwarka Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Operation Falcon
Awards	Sitara-e-Jurat (1965) Hilal-i-Jur'at (1971)

Commander Zafar Muhammad Khan (1945 - 4 December 1971) was a naval officer in the Pakistan Navy who was the Captain and Commanding Officer of PNS Ghazi during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. The PNS Ghazi was sunk under mysterious circumstances while on a reconnaissance mine-laying mission in the approaches to the Indian port of Vishakapatnum (Bay of Bengal) and sank at about 00:10 hours. A total of 93 men, including 11 commissioned officers, and 82 non-commissioned officers lost their lives. In 1971, he was one the officer naval officers who were posthumously awarded Hilal-i-Jur'at for their actions.

Khan graduated from Karachi University with a B.Sc. in Electrical engineering in 1956. He gained a commission in the Pakistan Navy in 1956, and was sent to Britannia Royal Naval College at Dartmouth to take the General Naval Course (GNC). He began his active duty in 1960 when he graduated from there. He briefly served in PNS Ghazi as an Electrical Engineer Officer (EEO), and actively participated in Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. He then participated and also served as an Torpedo officer (TO) in Operation Dwarka on 7 September 1965. After the war, he taught electrical engineering courses as an Associate professor at the Pakistan Navy Engineering College. He was promoted Lieutenant Commander in 1967, and finally promoted Commander in 1971.

Four days later, he became a commanding officer of the PNS Ghazi. In late 1971, the political crisis and tensions between East and West Pakistan were heightened. Naval Intelligence (Pakistan Navy) realised that Indian intervention in Pakistan's affairs was inevitable. Sensing a deteriorating military scenario with the move of Indian aircraft carrier INS Vikrant close to East Pakistan, the Pakistan Navy launched a covert reconnaissance mission codenamed "Operation Falcon". It was followed by deploying PNS Ghazi around the Indian peninsula from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal. PNS Hangor was deployed near the coast of West Pakistan under the command of Captain Ahmed Tasnim.