NRP Afonso de Albuquerque - Goa

Goa

Late in 1961, unable to convince Portugal to relinquish its colonies in the Indian subcontinent, India launched Operation Vijay to seize Goa, Daman and Diu by force. At the time, Afonso de Albuquerque was based in Goa as the leading naval unit of the Portuguese India Naval Command, with Captain Cunha Aragão as her commander.

Early on the morning of 18 December 1961 Afonso de Albuquerque received information that the Indian Armed Forces had launched Operation Vijay. Her crew went to battle stations. As the land communication infrastructure was bombed and destroyed by the Indian Air Force, Afonso de Albuquerque received the responsibility to maintain radio communications between Goa and Lisbon.

At 0900, Afonso de Albuquerque sighted three Indian Navy ships, led by the Leopard-class frigate INS Betwa, just outside the Mormugao port. The two frigates and a minesweeper were an advance group of a task force which included the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant and about ten cruisers, destroyers, frigates and minesweepers.

At 1200, as the Portuguese commanders refused to surrender, the INS Betwa and her sister ship INS Beas forced the entrance into the port and opened fire on Afonso de Albuquerque, which moved towards the enemy ships and returned fire. At the same time, the final radio message was sent to Lisbon: "We are being attacked. We are responding."

Afonso de Albuquerque was hit by enemy fire. At 1220, when she tried to manoeuvre to a position in which she could use all her guns, her command bridge was hit, killing her radio officer and seriously wounding Captain Aragão. Aragão ordered First Officer Sarmento Gouveia, to assume command with instructions not to surrender. Under heavy fire directed at the ship, some of the crew evacuated the wounded commander to shore and transferred him by car to medical facilities at Panjim.

At 1235, under massive fire and with her boilers and engines already destroyed, the frigate's crew ran her aground onto the beach to serve as a shore battery. The crew continued to resist and fight until about the 1410. The crew was captured by Indian forces on the next day at 2030.

It is estimated that during her last combat Afonso de Albuquerque fired almost 400 shells. Five of her crew were killed and 13, as well as some officers, were wounded. The advantage of the Indian Navy was significant, as their ships were more modern and armed with quick-firing guns.

Afonso de Albuquerque lay grounded at the beach near Dona Paula until 1962 when she was refloated and towed to Bombay. Parts of the ship are on display at a museum in Mumbai. The remainder was sold as scrap.