At a distance of 1.1 km from Karwar Bus Stand, the INS Chapal warship museum is a naval museum situated at Rabindranath Tagore beach INS Chapal is a Russian made OSA missile boat. It was launched as a missile launcher warship by the Indian Navy. Its code name is K94. The 245-tonne ship has a length of 38.6 m, beam of 7.6 m and speed of 37 knots. This small ship was decommissioned in 2004 and turned into a museum. It is one of the 3 ship museums in India and probably the only one in Karnataka. It is one of the popular places of sightseeing in Karwar.
INS Chapal was a star of the 1971 Indo Pak War and missiles from the ship had bombarded Karachi causing large scale damage. It was one of the main reasons behind India’s victor in the war. The crew of the ship were awarded prestigious gallantry award for their bravery and courage. It included 2 Param Veer Chakras and 8 Veer Chakras.
After its long tenure of dedicated service, it was decided to turn INS Chapal (K94) into a museum ship in 2006. It was brought to the Karwar Beach from the Arga INS Kadamba naval base. The ship is now positioned on a concrete platform so that the rising of sea water does not create any chemical impact on the ship. The entire process of setting up the museum ship was filmed and this video is available to visitors.
Being Missile Boat, INS Chapal provides enormous information on sea warfare with the artifacts and other good collections exhibited in this museum. The museum is home to mannequins dressed as doctors, sailors and captains as well as replicas of the missiles used and the food served on board. At an additional charge, one can watch a 15-minute informative documentary on Indian naval history and the ports in India. The view from top of the ship to Arabian Sea during sunset is excellent.
Timings: 10 AM to 1 PM and 4.30 PM to 6 PM.