Frigates, which are naval vessels intermediate between corvettes and destroyers, have had a significant role in the naval history of India. Although the Maratha Navy, the naval branch of the armed forces of the Maratha Empire, used Grabs and Gallivats to project naval power, the concept of frigates (formerly called sloops) was introduced by the British. , and , of the , were some of the early sloops commissioned into the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) during the 1920s. These ships later served in the Second World War. Later, in the 1930s, sloops of the , , , , and classes were commissioned.
The RIN was expanded significantly during the Second World War. The sloops and , of the Black Swan class, took part in Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily. In 1945, HMIS Dhanush and HMIS Shamsher, of the , were the first frigates, so-called, to be commissioned. Several frigates of the River class were also commissioned. Some of them were later transferred to Pakistan during partition.
In the post-war period, the Indian Navy operated frigates from the , , , , and classes. The Nilgiri-class frigates were the first major warships to be built in India, in association with Yarrow Shipbuilders of the United Kingdom. Later in the 2000s, the Indian Navy, collaborating with Russia for the first time, acquired six under Project 1135.6, designated as . , 14 guided-missile frigates from four different classes – Nilgiri, , Talwar, and – are operated by the Indian Navy.
Ships currently in commission The Nilgiri-class is the largest of the frigate classes presently in service . INS Nilgiri is the lead ship of the class and the second class of stealth warship built by India. This class is intended to serve as a complement to the currently-serving Shivalik-class frigates with improved design portfolios, such as low radar cross-section (RCS) and reduced infrared signature. Of the seven ships ordered, four are built by Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai and three by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers in Kolkata.The Shivalik-class is the first stealth warship built by India. All three ships of this class were built by Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai, from 2000 to 2010. With their improved stealth features and land-attack capabilities, the Shivalik-class warships were originally conceived as successors to the seven s, which are modified Krivak III-class vessels built by Russia for the Indian Navy. The Talwar class was preceded by the s, which were built by the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers in Kolkata. Three ships of this class are still in service with the Indian Navy.
Nilgiri class The Nilgiri-class frigates, formally classified as the Project-17 Alpha frigates (P-17A), are a series of stealth guided-missile frigates currently being built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders (MDL) and Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) for the Indian Navy (IN). Designed by the Warship Design Bureau, the class is intended to serve as a complement to the currently-serving Shivalik-class frigates (P-17) with improved design portfolios, such as low radar cross-section (RCS) and reduced infrared signature.With a total of seven vessels, the construction of the frigates are currently divided between MDL and GRSE. As of 2024, all seven frigates have been launched and are intended to enter service with the IN between 2024 and 2027. The frigates will form a part of the Eastern Fleet as well as the future Carrier Battle Group (CBG) of INS Vikrant. ShipPennent numberPictureArmamentDisplacementServiceOriginLaid downLaunched CommissionedINS NilgiriF332 x 16 cell VLS-launched Barak 8 surface-to-air missiles 8 × VLS-launched BrahMos, anti-ship cruise missiles 1 × OTO Melara 76 mm gun 2 × AK-630 CIWS 2 × OFT 12.7 mm M2 Stabilized Remote Controlled Gun 2 × Triple torpedo tubes for Torpedo Advanced Light Shyena 2 × RBU-6000 (RPK-8) rocket launchers full load28 December 201728 September 201915 January 2025 (MDL)INS UdaygiriF357 May 201917 May 202226 August 2025INS TaragiriF4110 September 202011 September 20223 April 2026INS HimgiriF3410 November 201814 December 202026 August 2025(GRSE)
Shivalik class The Shivalik class, or Project 17 class, is a class of multi-role frigates in service with the Indian Navy. They are the first stealth warships built in India. A total of three ships were built between 2000 and 2010, and all three were in commission by 2012. The Shivalik class, along with the seven Project 17A frigates being developed from them , are projected to be the principal frigates of the Indian Navy in the first half of the 21st century."Capital Cruisers", Sainik Samachar, Ministry of Defence (India), 15 March 2004. Adm. Madhvendra Singh, Chief of Naval Staff: "These would be the future ships of the Indian Navy and will be of the Shivalik class". All ships of the class were built by Mazagon Dock Limited. The class and the ships are named after hill ranges in India. Originally conceived as a successor to the Talwar-class frigates, the Shivalik-class frigates feature improved stealth features and land-attack capabilities. ShipPennent numberPictureArmamentDisplacementServiceOriginLaid downLaunched CommissionedF472 x 16 cell VLS-launched Barak 1 surface-to-air missiles 24 × Shtil-1 medium-range missiles 8 × VLS-launched Klub, anti-ship cruise missiles or BrahMos 1 × OTO Melara 76 mm gun 2 × AK-630 CIWS 2 × 2 DTA-53-956 torpedo launchers 2 × RBU-6000 (RPK-8) rocket launchers full load11 July 200118 April 200329 April 2010(MDL)F4831 October 20024 June 2004Cdr. A.K. Lambhate, "Stealth is Wealth" , Sainik Samachar, Vol. 51, No. 14, 16–31 July 2004, Ministry of Defence (India).20 August 2011F4930 September 20032003–04 Annual Report of the Ministry of Defence , India.27 May 200521 July 2012
Talwar class The Talwar class, also known as Project 1135.6, is a class of guided-missile frigates designed and built by Russia for the Indian Navy, as modified Krivak III-class frigates (the class that is also the basis of the Russian ), with a number of systems of Indian design and manufacture, including anti-submarine sensors (sonar) and communications equipment. Each ship of this class has a displacement of 4,000 tons and speed of and is capable of accomplishing a wide variety of missions, primarily finding and eliminating enemy submarines and large surface ships. Due to the use of stealth technologies and a special hull design, the frigate operates with reduced radar cross section (RCS), as well as reduced electromagnetic, acoustic, and infrared signatures.
ShipPennent numberPictureArmamentDisplacementServiceOriginLaid downLaunchedCommissionedF4024 × Shtil-1 medium-range missiles 8 × Igla-1E (SA-16) 8 × VLS launched Klub, anti-ship cruise missiles 1 × A-190E gun 2 × Kashtan CIWS 2 × 2 torpedo tubes 1 × RBU-6000 (RPK-8) rocket launcher10 March 199912 May 200018 June 2003(Baltic Shipyard)F4324 September 199924 November 200025 June 2003F4426 May 200025 May 200119 April 2004F4524 × Shtil-1 medium-range missiles 8 × Igla-1E (SA-16) 8 × VLS launched BrahMos, anti-ship and land-attack cruise missiles (F45, F50, F51) 1 × A-190E gun 2 × AK-630 CIWS 2 × 2 torpedo tubes 1 × RBU-6000 (RPK-8) rocket launcherc.July 200727 November 200927 April 2012(Yantar Shipyard)F50c.November 200723 June 20109 November 2012INS TrikandF5111 June 200825 May 201129 June 2013INS TushilF7024 × VLS launched Shtil-1 medium-range missiles 8 × Igla-1E (SA-16) 8 × VLS launched BrahMos, anti-ship and land-attack cruise missiles 1 × A-190E gun 2 × AK-630 CIWS 2 × 2 torpedo tubes 1 × RBU-6000 (RPK-8) rocket launcher13 July 2013(ex-Butakov)28 October 20219 December 2024INS Tamal F715 November 2013(ex-Istomin)24 February 20221 July 2025
Brahmaputra class The Brahmaputra-class frigates (Type 16A or Project 16A) are guided-missile frigates of the Indian Navy, designed and built in India. They are an enhancement of the Godavari class, with the same displacement, 3850 tons, and length, , but with different configuration, armaments, and capabilities. Three ships of this class serve in the Indian Navy. The class and the ships, are named for Indian rivers. ShipPennent numberPictureArmamentDisplacementLaid downLaunchedCommissionedOrigin F3116 × Kh-35 (SS-N-25) SSM (4 × quadruple KT-184 launchers) 24 × Barak SAM (3 × 8-cell VLS units) 1 × OTO Melara 76 mm gun 4 × AK-630 6-barreled gatling gun 2 × triple ILAS 3 torpedo tubes (Whitehead A244S anti-submarine torpedoes)c.198926 January 199414 April 2000(GRSE)F3922 August 199426 February 19987 July 2004F3726 February 199828 November 200011 July 2005
Decommissioned ships Most of the decommissioned frigates or sloops of the Indian Navy originated in the United Kingdom.
Sloops A modern British sloop-of-war is a warship used for convoy defence. , of the , were some of the early sloops commissioned into the RIN during the 1920s. These ships were also the first ships to be decommissioned. Later, sloops from the , , , , and classes were commissioned. The sloops and , of the Black Swan class, and , of the Hastings class, were transferred to Pakistan post-partition. HMIS Elphinstone, of the Anchusa class, and , of the Grimsby class, were lost in action during the Second World War. The other sloops were subsequently scrapped after their decommissioning.
The twenty-eight Anchusa-class sloops were a small class of corvettes or convoy sloops built in 1917 and 1918 under the Emergency War Programme for the Royal Navy in the First World War, as the final part of the larger "Flower class" (which were also referred to as the "cabbage class", or "herbaceous borders"). The sloops were single-screw with triple hulls at the bows to give extra protection against loss when working as fleet sweeping vessels, or as convoy protection ships (the class was built to look like merchant ships for use as Q-ships). HMS Ceanothus (1917) (later renamed as HMS Elphinstone), transferred to the Royal Indian Marine in 1922, was the only Anchusa-class sloop used by India.
ShipArmamentDisplacementServiceOriginFateCommissioned(Royal Navy)Commissioned(Royal Indian Marine)DecommissionedHMIS Elphinstone2 × 12-pounder gun 1 × 7.5 inch howitzer or 1 × 200 lb stick-bomb howitzer 4 × Depth charge throwers 2 × guns 1 or 2 × 12-pounder guns2 June 1917May 1922 -Wrecked on the Nicobar Islands on 29 January 1925.
The Aubrietia class was a class of twelve sloops built under the Emergency War Programme for the Royal Navy in the First World War as part of the larger "Flower" class. The Flowers were the first ships designed as minesweepers. Like all the Flowers, the Aubrietia class were originally designed as single-screw fleet sweeping vessels, with triple hulls at the bows and an above-water magazine located aft, to give extra protection against loss from mine damage when working. However, the greatest utility was to be as a convoy escort; and, as such, other classes took over the minesweeping role. The Aubrietias were re-classified as convoy sloops. HMIS Cornwallis of this class was used by the RIN from 1921 to 1946, when it was decommissioned.
ShipArmamentDisplacementServiceOriginFateCommissioned (Royal Navy)Commissioned(Royal Indian Marine)Decommissioned2 × 4-inch gun 1 × 3-pounder AA depth charge throwers21 August 1917September 19211946scrapped
The P class, nominally classified as "patrol boats", was in effect a class of coastal sloops. Twenty-four ships to this design were ordered in May 1915 (numbered P.11 to P.34), and another thirty between February and June 1916 (numbered P.35 to P.64), under the Emergency War Programme for the Royal Navy in the First World War. In December 1916, ten of the latter group were altered on the stocks before launch for use as decoy Q-ships and were renumbered as PC-class sloops. Although usually not named, in 1925 P.38 was given the name Spey, as well as HMIS Baluchi and HMIS Pathan, the two P-class sloops used by the RIN.