Book Review: FOXTROTS OF THE INDIAN NAVY

Author's Note

My previous two articles have been talking about how certain systems in the Navy work, especially submarines and aircraft, and particularly how these weapon platforms interact operationally with each other. These articles have been titled “A Tale of Ospreys and Trout”. However, we are taking a short detour from there because my previous article had also discussed the Foxtrot-class submarines which were operated by the Indian Navy Today, to continue the discussion on the submarines, I'm sharing this review of the book titled Foxtrots of the Indian Navy, authored by Commodore P.R. Franklin, AVSM, VSM (Retd).

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The Book’s Author

Commodore P. R. Franklin, AVSM, VSM (Retd) is a highly experienced Indian Navy submariner whose association with the Foxtrots began almost with their induction. He was part of the commissioning crews of INS Karanj (S21) and INS Vagir (S41), the third and sixth of the eight Foxtrot-class submarines acquired by India, and trained in the erstwhile USSR at Vladivostok and Riga.

Over a 36-year career, he commanded two Foxtrot submarines and held several key appointments, including Director, Submarine Operations at Naval Headquarters; Commanded 1st Training Squadron (1TS) at Cochin; Naval Assistant to the Chief of the Naval Staff; Naval Advisor to the Indian High Commissioner in the UK; and Naval Officer-in-Charge, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. A graduate and later Directing Staff at the Defence Services Staff College, he also completed the Higher Command and Staff Course at the Marshal A. A. Grechko Academy in Leningrad. He was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal in 1995 and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2001 by the President of India.

Initial Impressions

I have been wanting to read this book for a very long time, especially after watching the movie The Ghazi Attack , which further piqued my interest in the Foxtrots and their role in the Indian Navy. I decided to buy the book particularly because of its relevance to my own contemporary works. However, I was unable to get my hands on a hard copy and eventually managed to find a Kindle edition on Amazon, which I purchased. Therefore, my reading experience may not be entirely comparable to that of someone reading the physical edition.

That said, once you pick up the book, it is very hard to put it down! After a very long time, I found myself binge-reading a book for hours together. The author has done an excellent job of making the narrative compelling and entertaining, with numerous anecdotes that keep the reader engaged. I particularly enjoyed the humour in many of the incidents and anecdotes narrated in the book. While I approached the book with certain other expectations, which I will address later in this review, there is no doubt that it is a very well-written and highly entertaining account. For a beginner or a reader simply looking to learn more about the Foxtrots, this is certainly a book that can keep one engaged for hours.

Literary Style

One of the most interesting aspects of the book is its writing style. To avoid revealing the exact submarines aboard which particular incidents occurred, presumably owing to the classified nature of certain information, the author uses the generic term Vanshali (V-A-N-S-H-A-L-I). The name is derived as an anagram from the names of all the Foxtrot-class submarines acquired by India (Kalvari, Karanj, Kursura, Khanderi, Vela, Vagir, Vagli and Vagsheer). Vanshali therefore serves as a fictional or generic name for a submarine, allowing the author to narrate certain incidents without revealing the identity of the actual submarine involved.

The author also clarifies in the epilogue that while many of the incidents described in the book are entirely true, including events that occurred aboard the submarines and certain missions that are briefly discussed, not every incident or mission is necessarily factual. Some have been constructed as fictionalised representations of how an actual mission or other operational activity might have unfolded.

The narrative itself is interesting because it goes beyond a straightforward account of events. It describes the Indian crews travelling to the erstwhile USSR, undergoing training, ferrying the submarines from Riga to India, and subsequently participating in the 1971 war and other operations. At the end of several chapters, however, the author takes an unusual approach by giving the submarine a ‘personified voice’ of her own, allowing the submarine to describe its own experiences and observations.

The device has been used in a rather charming and informal manner. The submarine, for instance, comments on the differences between Soviet and Indian methods of operating submarines, including the Indian emphasis on paperwork and even differences in culinary traditions! She recounts events that took place aboard, and even relates the whispered opinions and observations of crew members about happenings within the submarine. These sections add some personality to what could otherwise have been a purely technical narrative.

At the same time, the book does not lose sight of the operational aspects of submarine life. It provides an accessible account of how training is conducted aboard submarines, how submarines undertake visits to ports of call, how visitors are received aboard, and the various restrictions and procedures that govern life on board.

This makes the book particularly interesting for readers without a military background. The Indian Navy is often described as the 'Silent Service' among the three Services. There is a certain truth to the idea that much of what happens at sea, particularly beneath the waves, remains unknown to the public. In that sense, 'Foxtrots of the Indian Navy' does considerable justice to the old adage that what happens beneath the waves stays beneath the waves, while nevertheless providing the reader with a glimpse into what life aboard a submarine actually looks like.

Some Noteworthy Narrations

One of the book's major strengths is the way it captures how Indians, Soviets, and people from other parts of the USSR, including Estonia and Latvia, interacted with one another, both professionally and personally. For someone from ‘Gen Z’ who was born much after the collapse of the Soviet Union, these accounts offer an intriguing glimpse into how different nationalities viewed Indians and how Indian personnel were received during port visits to places such as the Canary Islands, South Africa, France, Australia and New Zealand, as well as during Vanshali's later refit at Vladivostok.

The book also touches upon the well-known Soviet relationship with alcohol, including anecdotes of how alcohol was a useful 'lubricant' for easing maintenance and technical issues. While this may raise a few eyebrows, similar accounts have been recorded by Indian military personnel who travelled to the USSR for training and equipment induction. Equally fascinating are the accounts of Soviet ocean-going ‘motherships’ and their smaller trawlers, which formed an important part of the Soviet fishing industry. The book notes how, despite shortages of several commodities, canned fish remained readily available across the Soviet Union.

Beyond these cultural observations, the book offers several amusing and unusual glimpses into naval life: base inspections, VIP visits, and most importantly “wetting down the stripes” (also known as "stripe wetting", parties given out by officers who have been recently promoted). Among the more memorable anecdotes is the story of a naval base that adopted a bear named Girija as its mascot and how another base subsequently established a piggery, which became so popular that it reportedly contributed to the development of pig farming in the surrounding Visakhapatnam. These seemingly small details give the book much of its character and provide a fascinating cultural dimension to the story.

A Few Gentle Cribs

The book was released in 2015, and having read and reviewing this book in September 2026, a reader in present day may come to realize that some of the anecdotes and stories mentioned within the book may have come to light through other publicly available sources. That by itself does not undervalue the books historical worth.

For instance, the book refers to a collision between Vanshali and a World War II-era destroyer of the Indian Navy. We now know that the ships involved were INS Ranjit and INS Karanj, with Vanshali being none other than INS Karanj. Similarly, considerably more is now known about the deployment of the Foxtrots during the 1971 war, while details surrounding the bear Girija and the submarine training establishment at Visakhapatnam have also become public, with some submarine veterans identifying Girija as the mascot of INS Virbahu and the submarine training establishment as INS Satavahana. The piggery was established in INS Circars.

Consequently, the principal value of the book lies in its human and anecdotal dimension. It provides useful context about life in the Indian Navy from the 1960s through the 1990s, particularly within its submarine arm. However, for someone looking specifically for factual reference material on the Foxtrots of the Indian Navy (such as exact crew roster that commisioned the submarines, specific exercises or historical records), this book would not be a particularly strong source. It is better approached as an informal and contextual account that complements other works.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Foxtrots of the Indian Navy is a wonderful read, and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for experiential literature on what it was like to be part of the Indian Navy’s submarine arm from the late 1960s through the 1990s.

As a literary work on the Indian Navy, though, the book is excellent. I would pick it up any day for its humorous anecdotes, Cmde Franklin's engaging writing style, and fascinating glimpses into how Indians were treated in places such as Estonia and Latvia, and everyday life aboard a submarine. More importantly, it is remarkably difficult to put down once you have started reading it. I spent hours at a stretch with the book, on occasion almost sacrificing my sleep to continue late into the night. It is an immersive and thoroughly enjoyable account.

As a follow-up to this review and my ongoing series, A Tale of Ospreys and Trout, I will be writing a more detailed account of the Foxtrots in Indian Navy service very soon.

You can check out Foxtrots of the Indian Navy by Commodore P.R. Franklin, AVSM, VSM (Retd) here: https://link.amazon/B05eSbjxv

Arjun Prakash Iyer

Arjun Prakash Iyer is a 24 year old Research Scholar under the Unni Kartha Chair of Excellence (UKCOE), chaired by CAPSS. A graduate in Journalism, he studies contemporary defence issues through the lens of military history and is currently researching the role and service history of the MiG-23 and MiG-27 in the IAF. He is also a research associate at Meluha Maritime.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.