Ghosts of Ghazi: Why Pakistan Navy Still Can’t Sail Past 1971

Half a century after the 1971 war, the Pakistan Navy remains shaped by its devastating defeats at sea, which continue to influence its defensive, coastal-focused doctrine rather than offensive or blue-water ambitions.

The loss of PNS Ghazi, Pakistan's flagship submarine, marked a pivotal moment in South Asian naval history. Tasked with hunting down the Indian aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, Ghazi instead met its end under mysterious circumstances off the coast of Visakhapatnam on December 4, 1971.

Photo Credit: PTI

Indian accounts credit INS Rajput with the kill, a feat that not only eliminated Pakistan's most potent underwater threat but also cemented India's dominance in the Bay of Bengal. The sinking of Ghazi cost Pakistan 93 naval personnel and shattered the myth of its undersea superiority.

Following this underwater victory, the Indian Navy launched audacious surface operations. On December 4, 1971, during Operation Trident, Indian missile boats struck Karachi Harbour, sinking the minesweeper PNS Muhafiz, the destroyer PNS Khaibar, and the ammunition ship MV Venus Challenger, while also destroying vital oil storage tanks. Just days later, Operation Python inflicted further devastation, damaging the fleet tanker PNS Dacca and destroying more merchant vessels and fuel reserves. These twin blows crippled Pakistan's naval logistics and left Karachi, the heart of its maritime operations, in ruins.

By the war's end, the Pakistan Navy had lost 40% of its capital ships and nearly half its entire fleet, including two destroyers, a minesweeper, four patrol boats, twelve gunboats, and eighteen merchant vessels. The Eastern Command's navy was wiped out, and over 1,900 Pakistani sailors were killed in action. The Indian Navy, by contrast, suffered minimal losses, losing only the frigate INS Khukri to the submarine PNS Hangor and one carrier-borne aircraft.

These defeats have left a lasting imprint on Pakistan's naval strategy. The trauma of 1971 forced the Pakistan Navy into a fundamentally defensive posture, focused on coastal protection and minimum credible deterrence. Chronic dependence on foreign-built platforms, a lack of indigenous shipbuilding, and persistent integration and maintenance challenges have further hampered its modernisation and operational cohesion, Navy sources told OneIndia.

While Pakistan's navy remains constrained by its past, India has transformed its maritime forces into a blue-water navy, capable of sustained power projection across the Indian Ocean Region. Modernisation efforts, indigenous shipbuilding, and a proactive deployment strategy have positioned the Indian Navy as a net security provider and a dominant force in the region.

The shadow of 1971 still looms large over the Pakistan Navy. Its historic defeats, epitomised by the loss of Ghazi and the devastation of Karachi, continue to shape its doctrine, limit its ambitions, and highlight the enduring asymmetry between India's maritime power and Pakistan's constrained capabilities, the sources said.

The Pakistan Navy also lacks real combat experience, having suffered major defeats in 1965 and especially 1971, where it lost key ships and assets, and since then has largely avoided direct naval engagements, focusing instead on defensive postures and limited operations.