INS Godavari (F20)

INS Godavari (F20) is the lead ship of her class of guided-missile frigates of the Indian Navy. Built by Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai, she was commissioned on 10 December 1983.

Operation Cactus
In 1988, following an attempted coup d'état against Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom by Sri Lankan mercenaries, India launched Operation Cactus to restore the democratically elected government. After Indian paratroopers restored the presidency, the mercenaries captured Maldivian hostages on board a freighter and fled towards Sri Lanka. INS Godavari and INS Betwa successfully intercepted the freighter, rescued the hostages and arrested the mercenaries off the Sri Lankan coast.

UNOSOM II
While the UN Security Council Resolution 954, extended the UN mandate for UNOSOM II in Somalia to March 1995, the United States and other NATO members of the mission abandoned the peacekeeping effort and withdrew from Somalia over a year earlier. As the mission approached its scheduled end, the situation on the ground continued to deteriorate. With no other international support forthcoming, INS Godavari along with INS Ganga and INS Shakti were deployed to Mogadishu in December 1994 to support the withdrawal of the Indian Army's 66 Brigade, including the 2nd Battalion, Jammu & Kashmir Light Infantry (2 JAKLI).

Pakistan Naval Ship Babur brushed with INS Godavari in June 2011 while escorting Egyptian ship MV Suez. This incident triggered a diplomatic row between India and Pakistan.