INS Viraat through the ages

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Updated on Mar 06, 2017 09:05 am IST

An old undated photograph of INS Viraat at sea with its deck lined up with jets and choppers. The iconic Indian aircraft carrier will be decommissioned officially today at a ceremony in Mumbai. We look back at some images of the ship in action over the last few decades. (PIB)

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Updated on Mar 06, 2017 09:05 am IST

A Centaur-class aircraft carrier, The INS Viraat was first commissioned in 1959 as the British Royal Navy’s HMS Hermes (Pictured above), and then sold to India where it began a second lease of life in 1987 as the flagship of the Indian Navy. (HT Photo)

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Updated on Mar 06, 2017 09:05 am IST

Rajiv Gandhi looks on during a demonstration exercise on the aircraft carrier Viraat in August 1987. (HT Photo)

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Updated on Mar 06, 2017 09:05 am IST

Capable of carrying 750 sailors and upto 26 aircraft, the ship’s main strike aircraft have been the Sea Harriers jets. (HT Photo)

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Updated on Mar 06, 2017 09:05 am IST

A Sea Harrier lands on the flight deck of INS Viraat. The jet was famous for a very short take off and a capability of landing vertically as well on the deck. (HT Photo)

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Updated on Mar 06, 2017 09:05 am IST

Men touch down with parachutes on board carrier INS Viraat during a 2006 Indo-French joint naval exercise. (UNI)

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Updated on Mar 06, 2017 09:05 am IST

The Indian Navy's INS Viraat (foreground) anchored alongside other ships, on the eve of Indian President's Abdul Kalam's fleet review in Visakhapatnam in February 2006. (REUTERS)

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Updated on Mar 06, 2017 09:05 am IST

A rocket is fired from a ship fleet formation as part of a demonstration of defence capabilities during then Defence Minister AK Antony’s first visit onboard INS Viraat near Karwar, Goa in 2007. (PTI)

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Updated on Mar 06, 2017 09:05 am IST

Sailors on board INS Viraat during the 2011 President's Fleet Review in Mumbai. (Mahendra parikh/ht photo)

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Updated on Mar 06, 2017 09:05 am IST

Ships assigned to Amercian aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (C) Carrier Strike Group and the Indian aircraft carrier Viraat(2nd-R) underway in the Indian Ocean in 2005 as part of exercise "Malabar 2005". The exercise was designed to increase interoperability between the two navies while enhancing the cooperative security relationship between India and the United States. (AFP)

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Updated on Mar 06, 2017 09:05 am IST

American Aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (Background) with INS Viraat (Centre) and INS Mysore (Foreground) during a 2005 joint Indo-US naval defence Malabar exercise in the North Arabian Sea. (PTI)

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Updated on Mar 06, 2017 09:05 am IST

Indian Naval Cadets participates in a mass yoga demonstration on the deck of INS Viraat on the occasion of the 2nd International Yoga Day in Mumbai on June 21, 2016. (Sandeep mahankal/ht photo)

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Updated on Mar 06, 2017 09:05 am IST

INS Viraat visible from Gateway of India as it arrives from Kochi for decommissioning in Mumbai on Friday, October 28, 2016. Till recently, It was the world's oldest surviving aircraft carrier. (Arijit Sen/HT PHOTO)

INS Viraat through the ages

An old undated photograph of INS Viraat at sea with its deck lined up with jets and choppers. The iconic Indian aircraft carrier will be decommissioned officially today at a ceremony in Mumbai. We look back at some images of the ship in action over the last few decades. (PIB)

A Centaur-class aircraft carrier, The INS Viraat was first commissioned in 1959 as the British Royal Navy’s HMS Hermes (Pictured above), and then sold to India where it began a second lease of life in 1987 as the flagship of the Indian Navy. (HT Photo)

Rajiv Gandhi looks on during a demonstration exercise on the aircraft carrier Viraat in August 1987. (HT Photo)

Capable of carrying 750 sailors and upto 26 aircraft, the ship’s main strike aircraft have been the Sea Harriers jets. (HT Photo)

A Sea Harrier lands on the flight deck of INS Viraat. The jet was famous for a very short take off and a capability of landing vertically as well on the deck. (HT Photo)

Men touch down with parachutes on board carrier INS Viraat during a 2006 Indo-French joint naval exercise. (UNI)

The Indian Navy's INS Viraat (foreground) anchored alongside other ships, on the eve of Indian President's Abdul Kalam's fleet review in Visakhapatnam in February 2006. (REUTERS)

A rocket is fired from a ship fleet formation as part of a demonstration of defence capabilities during then Defence Minister AK Antony’s first visit onboard INS Viraat near Karwar, Goa in 2007. (PTI)

Sailors on board INS Viraat during the 2011 President's Fleet Review in Mumbai. (Mahendra parikh/ht photo)

American Aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (Background) with INS Viraat (Centre) and INS Mysore (Foreground) during a 2005 joint Indo-US naval defence Malabar exercise in the North Arabian Sea. (PTI)

Indian Naval Cadets participates in a mass yoga demonstration on the deck of INS Viraat on the occasion of the 2nd International Yoga Day in Mumbai on June 21, 2016. (Sandeep mahankal/ht photo)

INS Viraat visible from Gateway of India as it arrives from Kochi for decommissioning in Mumbai on Friday, October 28, 2016. Till recently, It was the world's oldest surviving aircraft carrier. (Arijit Sen/HT PHOTO)

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