Date of Birth : Jan 10, 1985
Birth place: Kerala
Service: Navy
Last Rank: LEMP
Unit: INS Sindhurakshak
Date of Martyrdom : Aug 14, 2013
LEMP Liju Lawrence
LEMP Liju Lawrence was born on January 10, 1985 in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala . Son of Thomas and Vimala, LEMP Lawrence had one younger brother Bijju. He completed B Sc (Electronics) from Emanuel college, Thiruvananthapuram and joined the Navy soon after, on August 28, 2003.
After his training LEMP Lawrence was posted to the Naval base at Kochi, where he pursued higher studies as well. He had recently completed his MBA and was really excited to be part of the crew of INS Sindhurakshak.
INS Sindhurakshak Disaster : August 2013
On 14 Aug 2013, LEMP Liju Lawrence was on-board INS Sindhurakshak, the 3000-tonne Kilo class submarine, powered by a combination of diesel generators and electric batteries. On that day, the submarine at Naval dockyard in Mumbai was rocked by a series of explosions and started sinking along with 18 crew members with 3 officers and 15 sailors.
It was an accident in the fully-loaded weapons compartment of INS Sindhurakshak that caused things to spiral out of control with some missile and torpedo warheads exploding in “sympathetic detonation”. The Kilo-class submarine, with a full complement of 18 missiles and torpedoes, was slated to head for “a long deployment patrol” on August 14 itself.
The Navy swung into action to rescue the trapped personnel however their struggle to save them became harder as the submarine was filled with muddy and murky water and the visibility was extremely poor. Due to water filling, an extremely restricted access was available and most of the equipment from their original locations were also displaced. The heat of the explosion had melted parts of the internal hull deforming the submarine hatches and prevented access to the compartments.
The Naval divers were able to prise open the conning tower, which was fused shut due to the heat of the blast, to enable rescuers to enter. Heavy duty pumps were used to pump out the water from the submarine however it took considerable time to locate the crews of the submarine . By 19th August 7 of 18 missing sailors’ bodies were recovered while another 6 were recovered by 31st of August.
LEMP Liju Lawrence is survived by his wife Anusha, parents Mr Thomas and Mrs Vimla and brother Bijju.
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Source
- http://www.mid-day.com/articles/ins-sindhurakshak-tragedy-kin-of-18-sailors-hoping-against-hope/227176
- http://sainiksamachar.nic.in/englisharchives/2013/sep01-13/h1.htm
- http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/three-bodies-of-sailors-found-in-sunken-submarine-113081600164_1.html
- https://www.indiannavy.nic.in/content/fire-accident-onboard-ins-sindhurakshak
- http://www.mid-day.com/articles/ins-sindhurakshak-tragedy-kin-of-18-sailors-hoping-against-hope/227176
- http://www.mid-day.com/articles/ins-sindhurakshak-tragedy-bodies-of-6-sailors-sent-to-native-town/229426
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