INS Delhi

INS Delhi (C74) was a Leander class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy in 1933 as HMS Achilles, and commissioned into the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy (from 1941 the Royal New Zealand Navy) in 1937 as HMNZS Achilles. She was returned to the Royal Navy at the end of the Second World War and in 1948 was sold to the Royal Indian Navy to be recommissioned as HMIS Delhi. In 1950 she was renamed INS Delhi and remained in service until decommissioned at Bombay on 30 June 1978.

The ship was commissioned into the Royal Indian Navy as HMIS Delhi on 5 July 1948 under the command of Captain H. N. S. Brown of the Royal Navy. She had 17 British officers and petty officers, the rest of the crew being Indian. Commander RD Katari  was her Executive Officer and the senior-most Indian officer, while Lieutenant SM Nanda was her First Lieutenant . She conducted her first major goodwill cruise in 1948, to East Africa, the Seychelles and Mauritius .

After India became a Republic in January 1950, she was renamed INS Delhi. In June 1950, Commander Adhar Kumar Chatterjee  (later Chief of the Naval Staff  ) became her first Indian commanding officer; the same month she conveyed Prime Minister Nehru  to Indonesia  on an official visit. In 1953 she took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

In 1956, she played herself, as Achilles, in the film Battle of the River Plate. 

In 1958, INS Delhi was moved to a training role.

Liberation of Goa. On 18 December 1961, during the Liberation of the Portugese State of Goa in India, also known as "Operation Vijay" or the Portuguese-Indian War, in which the state of Goa and its dependencies of Daman and Diu were annexed, INS Delhi was tasked to patrol the waters off Diu. At dawn, the ship was spotted by the Portuguese defenders, but they did not recognize its hoisted battle flag. The Portuguese land based artillery did not open fire considering it might be a cargo vessel. Indian Navy reports state that INS Delhi supported the Indian Army's advance by firing on the citadel, and neutralizing the airport control tower.  

Visit to New Zealand. In 1969, INS Delhi visited New Zealand under Vice Admiral Barbosa. The visit was the occasion of many reunions of Achilles veterans who were plied with large quantities of rum and beer, and taken on a quick trip by the ship.