From HMIS Delhi to INS Delhi: The ship that sailed the Indian Navy from the past into the present

A watercolour of INS Delhi by the marine artist John Sutton.

The first INS Delhi began as HMS Achilles, a Leander Class cruiser that fought and defeated the German battleship Admiral Graf Spee. But perhaps her biggest legacy is that when she was commissioned into the Royal Indian Navy in 1948 she had only 17 British officers and petty officers – the rest of the officers and crew were Indians. And among them were young officers who would go on to lead the Indian Navy in its formative years. Not surprisingly, INS Delhi went on to become the lead ship of the Indian Navy's training squadron – the cradle of what is today's Indian Navy.