Indian Navy officers onboard US 7th Fleet LPD, USS Denver

USS Denver, At Sea: Indian Navy officers spent some time onboard the Austin-class amphibious transport dock USS Denver (LPD 9) in the course of its fall patrol this year in the Western Pacific Ocean. The object of the visit was to learn and observe amphibious operations and also boost interoperability levels between the navies of both nations.

''The Indian navy is in its youth right now and not as comprehensive as the American Navy,'' said Lt Husein J Sakerwala, the combat cargo officer (CCO) on board INS Jalashwa, the amphibious transport dock ship USS Trenton (LPD 14) that was re-commissioned and transferred to the Indian Navy in January 2007, bearing the name INS Jalashwa.

''The main focus of our visit to Denver is to observe how the ship is being run and to learn more about the amphibious operations aboard an LPD platform,'' he was quoted as saying by US Navy Public Affairs sources.

The Indian navy has been operating the Jalashwa, the first and only amphibious transport dock class ship in the Indian navy, for about three and a half years and Sakerwala is the first CCO in Indian naval history.

''We have been running the ship very smoothly and we were trained well by the American Navy, but there are still many areas that we can improve on,'' said Sakerwala.

The Indian contingent were taken around Denver and were given the chance to observe several shipboard evolutions, including amphibious assault vehicle (AAV) operations, a rendezvous replenishment-at-sea, a non-combatant evacuation operation, flight quarters and a man overboard drill.