Navy Day-2022 Celebrations – Beating Retreat and Tattoo Ceremony at Gateway of India
Mumbai, Sunday 4. As part of Navy Day celebrations, a beating retreat and tattoo ceremony was held at the Gateway of India, Mumbai on Sunday evening, featuring very impressive drills by personnel of the Western Naval Command. Conducted every year on December 4, the ceremony was attended by the Hon’ble Governor of Maharashtra, Mr. Bhagat Singh Koshyari, as the Chief Guest. The event was hosted by Vice Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command and attended by a large audience of senior dignitaries and officials from various organisations and walks of life, serving naval personnel, veterans and families.
The event saw a spectacular performance by the naval band, a smart operational demonstration, the Beating Retreat Ceremony, a well-synchronised fly-past by naval helicopters, continuity drill by naval personnel and the Sailor’s Hornpipe Dance by children of the Sea Cadet Corps.
The Beating Retreat Ceremony is a tradition from early days of military history when the Retreat was sounded every day as a signal for troops to disengage from combat as daylight faded, ordering them to withdraw to their camps for the night. The Tattoo Ceremony, on the other hand, has the band beating drums to various rhythms within soldiers’ billets, ordering them to proceed to their quarters after a long day at the battlefield. Continuity Drill performed on the occasion was a spectacular exhibition of a complex sequence of movements being executed without a single word of command. The clockwork precision of naval aviators and daredevilry of Marine Commandos drew grand applause. The delightful Hornpipe Dance by the young cadets of the Sea Cadet Corps was, however, the crowd favourite. Later in the evening, the Commander-in-Chief hosted an At Home function at the Navy House.
Navy Day is celebrated every year to commemorate the Indian Navy’s daring attack on Karachi harbour on December 4, during the 1971 Indo-Pak War. Pakistani forces attacked Indian air bases on the evening of December 3, 1971. The following day, the 22nd Missile Vessel Squadron was ordered to dispatch three missile boats – Nirghat, Veer and Nipat towards Karachi in what was called Operation Trident and Operation Python. The missile boats carried out successful attacks just before midnight of 04 December, sinking Pakistani Destroyer Khaibar, Minesweeper Muhafiz and MV Venus Challenger. The attack also destroyed the Kiamari oil fields. The Navy’s operations contributed to the ultimate victory of the Indian Armed Forces over Pakistan, and as a tribute to the action of the ‘Men in White’, 04 December is celebrated as Navy Day each year.
