INS Amba (A54)
| The sumbarine tender INS Amba | |
| Career | 
|
|---|---|
| Builder: | Nikolayev, USSR |
| Purchased: | 1968 |
| Commissioned: | December 28, 1968 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Machinery: | Diesel-electric, 8,000 shp (two shafts) |
| Length: | 141 m |
| Draught: | 7 m |
| Beam: | 17.6 m |
| Displacement: | 6,750 tonnes (standard), 9,650 tonnes (full) |
| Maximum Speed: | 17 knots (31.5 km/h) |
| Maximum Range: | 21,000 miles at 10 knots |
| Aircraft: | None, landing pad for helicopter aft |
| Complement: | 400 |
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INS Amba (A54) is the only submarine tender ship in service with the Indian Navy. It is a modified Soviet Ugra class design built to Indian specifications in Nikolayev (the present-day Mykolaiv in Ukraine) in 1968. Deviations from the standard Ugra design include four 76 mm guns instead of the 57 mm ones mounted on Soviet ships.
The Amba was aquired in order to support the Indian Navy's then growing fleet of Foxtrot class submarines. Of the eight submarines of that type commissioned during the late 1960s and early 1970s, only two (the Vela and Vagli remain in service today. It is unclear if the Amba is used with the newer Shishumar and Sindhughosh submarines that since have entered service.
On May 26, 2001 a fire broke out in the laundry section of the Amba during a routine refit at the Cochin Shipyard, suffocating two washermen.