Special Cover by APO - Army Post Office Decommissioning of INS Viraat - Aircraft Carrier 58 years of Glorious Service special cover

Special Cover by APO - Army Post Office Decommissioning of INS Viraat - Aircraft Carrier

INS Viraat was a Centaur-class aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy. INS Viraat was the flagship of the Indian Navy before INS Vikramaditya was commissioned in 2013. The last British-built ship serving with the Indian Navy, she was the oldest aircraft carrier in service in the world. The ship was completed and commissioned in 1959 as the Royal Navy's HMS Hermes, and decommissioned in 1984. It was sold to India in 1987. 

INS Viraat was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 12 May 1987,and served for almost 30 years.

In February 2015, the Navy stated that Viraat would be decommissioned the following year.On 23 July 2016, Viraat sailed for the last time under her own power from Mumbai to Kochi, where she was dry-docked and prepared for decommissioning. She was towed out of Kochi on 23 October, returning to Mumbai on 28 October, where she was laid up. Viraat was formally decommissioned on 6 March 2017.