Ahmad Tasnim: Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}

{{Use Pakistani English|date=April 2018}}

| honorific-prefix   =  

| name               =Ahmad Tasnim

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| order              =[[Chairman]] of [[Karachi Port Trust]]

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| predecessor        =[[Rear Admiral|RAdm]] S. R. Hussain

| successor          =[[Rear Admiral|RAdm]] AKbar H. Khan

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| order2            =[[Chairperson|Chairman]] of [[Pakistan National Shipping Corporation|National Shipping Corporation]]

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| term_start2       =11 November 1991

| term_end2          =21 April 1992

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| lieutenant2        = <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by changing the number-->

  | succeeding2        = <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by changing the number-->

| predecessor2      =[[Rear-Admiral|RAdm]] S. Hamid Khalid

| successor2         =[[Vice-Admiral|VAdm]] [[Mansurul Haq]]

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| prior_term2        = <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by changing the number-->

| pronunciation  =  

| birth_date      ={{Birth year and age|1935}}

| birth_place    =[[Jalandhar|Jullundar]], [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]], [[British Indian Empire|British India]]<br />{{small|(Present-day [[Jalandhar district|Jalandhar]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], [[India]])}}

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| citizenship    ={{flag icon|British India}}[[British Indian Empire|British India]]<br />{{small|(1935–47)}}<br />{{PAK}}<br />{{small|(1947 – present)}}

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| alma_mater     =[[Britannia Royal Naval College]]<br />[[Royal Naval College, Greenwich]]<br />[[National Defence University, Pakistan|National Defence University]]

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<!--Military service-->

| nickname       =  

| allegiance     ={{PAK}}

| branch         =[[File:Naval Jack of Pakistan.svg|20px]] [[Pakistan Navy]]

| serviceyears   =1954–1994

| rank           =[[File:Insignia Vice Admiral Pakistan Navy.gif|10px]][[File:US-O9 insignia.svg|30px]] [[Vice-Admiral]]

| unit           =[[Pakistan Navy#Submarine Command of the Pakistan Navy|Submarine Service Branch]]<br />{{small|[[Service number|(PN No. 609)]]}}<ref name="«  PakDef Military Consortium, 2003">{{cite web|last1=Shabbir|first1=Usman|title=List of Gallantry Awardees – PN Officers/CPOs/Sailors|url=http://pakdef.org/list-of-gallantry-awardees-pn-officerscpossailors/|website=pakdef.org|publisher=« PakDef Military Consortium|access-date=18 August 2017|location=Karachi, Pk.|language=en-pk|date=June 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810172213/http://pakdef.org/list-of-gallantry-awardees-pn-officerscpossailors/|archive-date=10 August 2017|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

| commands       =[[Pakistan Navy#Combatant commands|Commander Pakistan Fleet]]<br />[[Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (Pakistan)|DCNS (Personnel)]]<br />25th Destroyer Squadron<br />[[Military attaché]], [[List of diplomatic missions of Pakistan|Pakistan Embassy, Paris]]<br />[[Pakistan Navy#Submarine Command of the Pakistan Navy|Submarine Command]] (COMSUBS)

| battles         =[[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965]]<br />[[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971]]

| mawards         =[[File:Crescent of Excellence Hilal-e-Imtiaz.png|25px]][[Hilal-i-Imtiaz]] (military)<br />[[File:PAK Sitara-i-Juraat ribbon.svg|25px]][[Sitara-e-Jurat]]<br />[[File:Star of Good Conduct Sitara-e-Basalat.png|25px]][[Sitara-e-Basalat]]

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[[Vice-Admiral]] '''Ahmad Tasnim''' ([[Urdu]]:احمد تسنيم; born 1935), {{small|[[Hilal-i-Imtiaz|HI(M)]], [[Sitara-e-Jurat|SJ{{small|&Bar}}]],<ref>"Bar" refers to a second award of the same honour</ref> [[Sitara-e-Basalat|SBt]]}}, is a retired [[Three-star rank|three-star]] rank [[admiral]] in the [[Pakistan Navy]] who is notable for his command of the [[PNS Hangor|''Hangor'']], a [[Hangor-class submarine (1968)|submarine]], that sank the [[INS Khukri (1958)|INS Khukri]] on 8 December 1971 during the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971|third war]] with India, off the [[Diu, India|Diu]], [[Gujarat]] in [[India]].<ref name="Daily Mail, 2007">{{cite news|last1=Shah (Retd)|first1=Rear-Admiral l Mian Zahir|title=The decommissioning of the Daphne Class Submarines|url=http://dailymailnews.com/200601/02/dmarticlepage.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928055952/http://dailymailnews.com/200601/02/dmarticlepage.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 September 2007|access-date=18 August 2017|work=Daily Mail|agency=Daily Mail|publisher=Daily Mail, 2007|date=28 September 2007|location=Karachi, Sindh, Pk.|pages=1|language=en-gb|format=webarchive}}</ref><ref name="ISPR (Navy Directorate)">{{cite web|title=Important Events|url=https://www.paknavy.gov.pk/history.html|website=www.paknavy.gov.pk|publisher=ISPR (Navy Directorate)|access-date=18 August 2017}}</ref>

This was the first submarine kill since [[World War II]], and the only one until a [[Royal Navy]]'s [[HMS Conqueror (S48)|''Conqueror'']] sank an [[Argentina|Argentine]] cruiser [[ARA General Belgrano|''General Belgrano'']] during the [[Falklands War]] fought in 1980s. In 1990s, he was appointed chairman of the [[Karachi Port Trust]] and the [[Pakistan National Shipping Corporation]] while serving in the Navy until retiring from his service in 1994.<ref name="PNSC">{{cite web|title=Pakistan National Shipping Corporation: Chairmen History|url=https://pnsc.com.pk/chairman-history.html|website=pnsc.com.pk|access-date=18 August 2017}}</ref><ref name="KPT">{{cite web|title=Chairmen History – Karachi Port Trust {{!}}|url=http://kpt.gov.pk/pages/Default.aspx?id=61&__ncforminfo=7UZZYtq9Bi93Kd8c55-hfds5fjU54Ecnd5il2IHC-xot-wphIwUKZSajmnL4Ak5wSulYGp4FP5o=|website=kpt.gov.pk|publisher=Karachi Port Trust|access-date=18 August 2017}}</ref>

In an interview conducted by A.H. Amin, Ahmad Tasnim stated that he was born in a village, Mianwal, located in [[Jalandhar district]], [[East Punjab]] in [[British Indian Empire|British India]], in 1935.<ref name="Defence Journal, Amin">{{cite web|last1=Amin|first1=A.H|title=Remembering Our Warriors – Vice Admiral Tasneem|url=http://www.defencejournal.com/2001/may/tasneem.htm|website=www.defencejournal.com|publisher=Defence Journal, Amin|access-date=18 August 2017|location=Islamabad, Pakistan|language=en-pk|date=May 2001}}</ref> In the same interview, he stated that his ancestors "most likely came from [[Iran]]" and "took up agriculture as their livelihood" after settling in the "area".<ref name="Defence Journal, Amin" />

After matriculating from a local high school in Jhang, he was admitted at the [[Government College University (Lahore)|Government College University]] in [[Lahore]] in 1950 but left his university studies after being selected for the military service exam in 1952.<ref name="Defence Journal, Amin" /> In 1954, he joined the [[Pakistan Navy]], [[Commissioned officer|commissioned]] as [[Midshipman]] and was sent to the [[United Kingdom]] to attend the [[Britannia Royal Naval College]] in [[Dartmouth, Devon|Dartmouth]], England.<ref name="Defence Journal, Amin" /> He shared his dormitory with [[Cadet|army cadet]] [[Imran Ullah Khan|Imranullah Khan]] who would also ascended into being a three-star army general.<ref name="Defence Journal, Amin" /> He graduated from the [[Britannia Royal Naval College]] in 1955, and was later sent to [[Australia]] for further sea training where he joined the [[Royal Australian Navy]] as an [[exchange officer]], gaining commission as [[Sub Lieutenant|Sub-Lieutenant]] on 1 January 1957, and served aboard [[HMAS Sydney (R17)|HMAS Sydney]], an [[aircraft carrier]].{{rp|73–76}}<ref name="PN Book Club Publication, Shah">{{cite book|last1=Shah, Retd|first1=Rear-Admiral Mian Zahir|title=Bubbles of Water: Or, Anecdotes of the Pakistan Navy|date=2001|publisher=PN Book Club Publication|location=Karachi, Pk|isbn=9789698318031|pages=487|edition=1st|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=goDfAAAAMAAJ&q=Ahmad+Tasnim+|access-date=18 August 2017|language=en|format=google books|chapter=The Flippin' Pencil}}</ref><ref name="Defence Journal, Amin" />

''Ghazi'', under command of [[Commander (rank)|Cdr]] [[Karamat Rahman Niazi|KR Niazi]], escorted the [[Flotilla|combined task group]] under [[Commodore (rank)|Cdre]] S.M. Anwar, the [[Officer in tactical command|OTC]], to successfully [[Operation Dwarka|raid a radar facility]] in [[Dwarka]], [[India]].<ref name="Defence Journal, Amin" /> ''Ghazi'' later patrolled the [[Arabian Sea|Arabian sea]] and reported back safely to its base once the [[Tashkent Agreement|ceasefire]] was broken by the [[Soviet Union]] between [[India and Pakistan]].<ref name="Defence Journal, Amin" />  Lt. Cdr. Tasnim was honoured with [[Sitara-e-Jurat]], alongside with the ''Ghazi'' in 1966.{{rp|86–87}}<ref name="Lancer Publishers, Roy" />

After the refit trials, Lt. Cdr. Tasnim returned to [[Karachi]] and traveled to [[Paris]] to acquire the {{sclass-|Hangor|submarine|||1968}}.<ref name="Defence Journal, Amin" /> There, he learned [[French language|French]] language and took over of the command of the {{ship|PNS|Hangor}} in 1969 as Commander.<ref name="Defence Journal, Amin" />

Cdr. Tasnim arrived with ''Hangor'' submarines in 1970, and reported to its base in Karachi on 1 December 1970.<ref name="Defence Journal, Amin" /> On August 1971, Cdr. Tasnim volunteered to go behind the enemy lines to pick up intelligence on [[Indian Navy]]'s movement, which was duly approved.<ref name="Defence Journal, Amin" /> On November 1971, {{ship|PNS|Hangor|S131|2}} again sailed under his command with full wartime load of [[torpedoes]], moving towards [[Mumbai|Bombay harbour]], identifying the Indian armada but did not attack due to not being authorized.<ref name="Defence Journal, Amin" /> In an attempt to warn, Cdr. Tasnim broke the radio silence and dispatched a message that was immediately identified, leading the Indian Navy dispatching two [[anti-submarine warfare|ASW warships]], {{INS|Khukri|F149|6}} and INS ''Kirpan'' from [[Squadron (naval)|14th Squadron]] of the [[Western Naval Command]] of the [[Indian Navy]].<ref name="Cdr. M. Khan, dawn newspapers">{{cite magazine |last1=Khan |first1=Muhammad |title=Naval battles revisited |url=https://www.academia.edu/27969777 |access-date=18 August 2017 |magazine=Dawn Magazine |date=17 December 2006 |language=en |via=Academia}}</ref> The Indian squadron under [[Captain (naval)|Captain]] [[Mahendra Nath Mulla|M.N. Mullah]] identified ''Hangor'' on 2–3 December, and came forward to attack the submarine that was operating on the [[Waves and shallow water|shallow waters]].<ref name="Defence Journal, Amin" /> Cdr. Tasnim ordered the increase of depth of the submarine by 200&nbsp;m and set their targets on approaching Indian Navy's ship that were now coming to attack the submarine.<ref name="Defence Journal, Amin" />

}}</ref><ref name="Cdr. M. Khan, dawn newspapers" /> The first [[homing torpedo]] did not target its ship which was aimed at ''Kirpan'', and immediately opted a quick solution, firing second [[homing torpedo]] that hit the magazine of the ''Khukri''.<ref name="Cdr. M. Khan, dawn newspapers" /> The crew of ''Hangor'' heard a loud explosion and began recording the orders being passed by Captain [[Mahendra Nath Mulla|M.N. Mullah]]; a third homing torpedo was also fired but ''Kirpan'' fled the scene.<ref name="Pakistan Military Consortium">{{cite web |author=R Qadri |title=We Sank the Khukri |url=http://pakdef.org/we-sank-the-khukri/ |website=Pakdef |access-date=18 August 2017 |language=en-pk |date=June 2003}}</ref> ''Khukri'' sank quickly before ''Hangor'' could make an attempt to save the survivors, losing 250 men in this action including Captain M.N. Mullah.<ref name="Pakistan Military Consortium" />