INS Gomati to be decommissioned, turned into museum in UP

Gomati (F21), a ship of the Godavari-class, is the oldest frigate in the nation’s naval force

INS Gomati, Indian Navy’s guided-missile frigate, will be decommissioned on May 28, after rendering 34 years of service.

After decommissioning, some parts of the warship will be taken to Lucknow, where the Uttar Pradesh government plans to set up an open-air museum. The river Gomati, after which the frigate has been named, passes through Lucknow.

INS Gomati (F21), a ship of the Godavari-class—Indian Navy’s first significant indigenous warship design and development initiative—is the oldest frigate in the nation’s naval force.

INS Gomati was built at Mumbai’s Mazagon Dock Limited in 1978 and was inducted into the naval fleet on April 16, 1988. The ship was the first Indian Navy vessel to have digital electronics in her combat data system. The ships combined Indian, Russian and Western weapons systems.

The two other Godavari-class frigates—Godavari and Ganga—were decommissioned in 2015 and 2018, respectively.