The INS Circars will complete 75 years of its formation on December 12, 2014.
As part of its celebrations, a trekking-cum-cycle expedition to Thattipudi Dam and Platinum Jubilee Run at Dolphin Hill will also be conducted by this oldest establishment on the Eastern seaboard.
Further, a symposium on 'Evolving Role of Depot Ships' is also scheduled to be held. The occasion would also witness release of a Special Cover issued by Postal department and a Photo Essay Book and would culminate in a Platinum Jubilee dinner.
Circars was established as a small Naval Base by the British on December 12 1939, consequent to Visakhapatnam being identified as an important convoy assembly point for military operations. With the need to expand its charter being felt, the base was formally commissioned as HMIS Circars on April 12, 1942.
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This establishment borrows its unique name from the title of the Nizam of Hyderabad, who ruled this land and were addressed as 'Circars' (His Highness).
In due course, the apostrophe vanished. No wonder, then, that the first naval establishment on the Eastern Seaboard was named 'Circars', a title befitting a depot ship.
Post independence, the establishment was rechristened INS Circars. Through its long run of nearly eight decades, INS Circars stands tall as the 'Flagship of the East' ardently fulfilling the onerous charter of providing administrative and logistics support not only to afloat and shore units but also to all naval personnel and their dependents residing in naval residential colonies stretching from Dolphin Hill to Naval Coast Battery on the Beach Road, the release added.