Our Travels: Kursura Submarine Museum.

Kursura Submarine Museum.

Of all the four Naval Museums, the Kursura Submarine Museum is at the extreme North-Eastern end of RK Beach Road and the Sea Harrier Museum at the south-western end.

Generally, people start at either one of them and cover all four museums.

We started from the Kursura Submarine Museum and worked southwards to the Sea Harrier Museum.

The rates for the Kursura Submarine Museum were Rs 100/- per adult. Further reading of the rate list revealed that the entry fee per adult for all four museums was onlyRs 200/-. We bought the tickets for all four museums.

The Kursura Submarine Museum is a real decommissioned Indian Navy submarine, literally manhandled from the sea and brought to its present beach location, which was provided and prepared by VMRDA. The Submarine was extensively reworked for easy access and to make it fit to be presented as a real submarine museum.

One can only guess at the Herculean effort it must have taken to manhandle it on the beach and convert it to a museum.

INS Kursura was a Kalvari-class diesel-electric submarine of the Indian Navy.

Kasura was commissioned on 18 December 1969 and was decommissioned on 27 February 2001 after 31 years of service.

It participated in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, where it played a key role in patrol missions. It later participated in naval exercises with other nations and made many goodwill visits to other countries.

After decommissioning, it was dedicated to the Nation by the Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on 9 August 2002 and was preserved as a museum for public access from 24 August 2002. Kursura has the distinction of being one of the very few submarine museums to retain originality.

Despite being a decommissioned submarine, she still receives the navy's "Dressing Ship" honour, which is usually awarded only to active ships.

Entry in the submarine is so regulated that at one time, only 40 people are allowed inside the Submarine.

Entry is through a door accessed by a steel ladder located at the forward end of the submarine, and exit is through the rear end of the submarine.

During this walk through the entire length of the Kursura, as the public traverses through all of its seven main compartments, which include the torpedo room, crew cabins, and control room, engine compartment, navigation console visitor becomes acutely aware of the lack of space the cramped areas and the closed, clustrophobic surroundings the public becomes aware the harsh and demanding working conditions of a Naval Submariner.

Visiting the Kursura Submarine was an illuminating experience.

To know all about the Kursura, Kaveri Class (variant of the Foxtrot-class) diesel-electric submarine of the Indian Navy, go through the captions of the attached photographs

INS Kursura (S20) was a Kalvari-class (variant of the Foxtrot-class) diesel-electric submarine of the Indian Navy. It was India's fourth submarine. Kursura was commissioned on 18 December 1969 and was decommissioned on 27 February 2001 after 31 years of service. It participated in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, where it played a key role in patrol missions. It later participated in naval exercises with other nations and made many goodwill visits to other countries.

Only 40 at one time in the submarine.

At the Kursura Museum.

After decommissioning, It was dedicated to the Nation by the Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on 9 August 2002 and was preserved as a museum for public access from 24 August 2002, making its final journey to Visakhapatnam on RK Beach.

The INS Kursura is divided into six main compartments.

These sections showcase the operational and living areas of the former Soviet-built Foxtrot-class submarine, including the torpedo rooms, crew quarters, and galley.

Key Compartments and Features:

Forward & Rear Torpedo Rooms: Houses the submarine's weapon systems.

Living Quarters: Features crew sleeping quarters, captain's cabin, and dining areas.

Operational Areas: Includes engines, pumps, and surveillance equipment.

INS Kursura has a length of 91.3 m (300 ft) overall, a beam of 7.5 m (25 ft) and a draught of 6 m (20 ft). She displaces 1,950 t (1,919 long tons) surfaced, 2,475 t (2,436 long tons) submerged, and has a maximum diving depth of 985 ft (300 m).

The crew complement is about 75, including 8 officers and 67 sailors.

Armament 10 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes with 22 Type 53 torpedoes

Inside INS Kursura. Operational Compartment.

Forward Torpedo Room: Houses the submarine's weapon systems.

The whole space is jam-packed. Totally cramped.

Inside INS Kursura.Operational Compartment.

Forward Torpedo Room: Houses the submarine's weapon systems.

Lack of free room

The loo on board INS Kursura. The loo. Just about fits. No elbow room 😊

Entering another of the six compartments.

Inside INS Kursura. Top, bottom and all sides, all full of pipes, cables and other equipment.

Inside INS Kursura. Loo on one side, wash-'space' on the other side. Tight fit here as well.

Note the terminology, 'space' & not 'basin'.

Inside INS Kursura.

Operational Area includes engines, pumps, and surveillance equipment.

Inside INS Kursura.

Operational Area includes engines, pumps, and surveillance equipment.

N6 10M Sonar set(Passive) to detect ships and submarines by their underwater noise.

Living Quarters: Includes crew sleepingquarters, captain's cabin, and dining areas

These are spread all over the sbumrine. Wherever they found space, they put the beds.

Living Quarters: Two on the left side, four on the right side. These are spread all over the sbumrine. Wherever they found space, they put the beds. Living Quarters includes crew sleeping quarters, the captain's cabin, and dining areas.