Indian Navy acquires USS Trenton

The Indian Navy on Wednesday acquired the 17,000 ton US warship USS Trenton.

Conmmodore P Murugesan, Naval Attaché at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC, accepted the transfer of USS Trenton to the Indian Navy at a brief ceremony at the US Naval Base in Norfolk, Virginia. This is India's first acquisition of a US vessel.

The USS Trenton landing platform dock, which has been renamed INS Jalashva, is set to be the second largest ship with the Indian Navy, after the aircraft carrier Viraat.

Indian naval officials believe that this ship will 'add punch to India's maritime forces' with its capacity to participate in naval operations, peacekeeping operations, tri-service operations and humanitarian relief.

The Trenton has an unrivalled capacity to carry troops close to a battalion-strength and sustain them over a long duration.

The US Congress cleared the transfer of the vessel under the Foreign Military Sales Program in August 2005 while the government of India signed the 'Letter of Acceptance' on July 31, 2006.

The acquisition of the ship is yet another tangible manifestation of Indo-US military to military and defense cooperation as part of the US-India strategic partnership and, according to Indian naval officials, 'opens a new era in the history of Indo-US naval cooperation.'

The Indian Navy crew of 27 officers and 302 sailors joined ship on October 21, 2006 in Norfolk.

According to Indian naval officials, 'Indian Navy and US Navy crew operated shoulder to shoulder through classroom instructions, shipboard training in-port and underway training emphasizing on operational efficiency and safety.'

The training activities also included handling flight operations, assault craft operations, weapon firings, machinery space drills, specialist equipment operations and safety evolutions. The training also included two sea-sorties extending to about 20 days packed with operational training activity necessary to take charge of the ship by the Indian Navy.

PTI adds:

Six UH-3H Sea King helicopters were acquired along with the ship. The Indian Navy currently operates similar helicopters.

The primary role of the vessel is transporting troops and logistics for amphibious operations using landing craft and aircraft.

Its secondary roles include flight operations, logistic and technical support for other ships (such as providing spares, fuel and water), maritime surveillance and interdiction operations, humanitarian aid, disaster relief missions, non-combatant evacuation operations and serving as a hospital ship.

The ship measuring nearly 570 feet in length has a flight deck equivalent to the size of two tennis courts that is capable of handling all types of helicopters. It has a large 'well deck' the size of two basketball courts that can accommodate four mechanised landing craft, which carry troops and vehicles from the ship to shore.

It has a top speed of 20 knots and is equipped with four generators that can generate three MW or enough electricity to power a city of 26,000 people.

The flight deck can be used for emergency landings by VSTOL aircraft like the Sea Harrier. It can accommodate and support infrastructure for 900 troops or evacuees during humanitarian missions and is also equpped with sensors, electronics and self-defence gun systems.