page_title: Somnath Sharma
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Somnath Sharma / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: English: Major Somnath Sharma's statue at Param Yodha Sthal (section for Param Vir Chakra recipients), National War Memorial, New Delhi.
context_page_description: Major Somnath Sharma, PVC, of the Indian Army, was the first recipient of the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military decoration.
  Sharma was commissioned into the 8th Battalion, 19th Hyderabad Regiment, in 1942. He served in Burma during the Arakan Campaign of World War II, for which he was mentioned in despatches. Fighting in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947-1948, Somnath Sharma was martyred on 3 November 1947 while repulsing Pakistani infiltrators near Srinagar Airport; for his gallantry and sacrifice in this battle of Badgam, he was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra.
context_section_description: In the 1980s, the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), a Government of India enterprise under the aegis of the Ministry of Shipping, named fifteen of their crude oil tankers in honour of the Param Vir Chakra recipients. The crude oil tanker named MT Major Somnath Sharma, PVC was delivered to SCI on 11 June 1984. The tanker was phased out after 25 years service.
caption: Sharma's statue at Param Yodha Sthal, National War Memorial, New Delhi
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