Croatian Navy

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Croatian War Navy

Emblem of the Croatian Navy
Active 1991
Country Croatia
Size about 1.840 personnel
32 ships due to rise
H/Q Lora naval base, Split
Anniversaries 18 September
Commanders
Current
commander		 Commodore Ante Urlić
Notable
commanders		 Fleet Admiral Sveto Letica, Admiral Vid Stipetić, Viceadmiral Zdravko Kardum
Insignia
Naval Ensign
Naval Jack


The Croatian Navy (Croatian: Hrvatska ratna mornarica) is a branch of the Croatian Armed Forces.

Contents

[edit] History

The present Croatian navy was founded during the Croatian War of Independence in 1991. However, it traces its roots from various navies that existed much before.

The medieval Croatian state was in its time a formidable navy on the Adriatic, and the day when the fleet of Croatian duke Branimir defeated the Venetian navy on September 18, 887 was chosen as the Day of the Croatian Navy.

The more contemporary origins of the navy are in the Austro-Hungarian Navy, as well as the navy of Yugoslavia, whose 35 ships and various depots were seized during the war.

[edit] Structure and purpose

The purpose and role of the Croatian Navy (HRM) is to defend the integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Croatia, to promote and protect its interest in the Adriatic Sea, islands and coast-lands. It carries and organises the naval defence of the Republic of Croatia. The Croatian Navy fulfils its role by preparing itself and carrying out the following main tasks:

  1. Deterring the threat to the Republic of Croatia by maintaining high level of competence, training and technical quality of equipment
  2. Constant control of the Adriatic Sea and coast-land and monitoring of foreign war ships' movement
  3. Strengthening of the safety conditions on the Adriatic Sea and preserving the integrity of the maritime borders
  4. Implementation of the program "Partnership for Peace in the Mediterranean"

The following commands were created to carry out the mission of the Croatian Navy:

  1. Navy Command
  2. Staff service support
  3. Navy Fleet
  4. Navy Education and Training Command
  5. NMS North
  6. NMS South

[edit] Naval equipment

[edit] Fleet

Končar class gunboat Šibenik
Končar class gunboat Šibenik
Patrol boat Cavtat
Patrol boat Cavtat
Landing craft and minelayer Krka
Landing craft and minelayer Krka
School ship Andrija Mohorovičić
School ship Andrija Mohorovičić
Salvage ship Faust Vrančić
Salvage ship Faust Vrančić
RBS 15 Mobile coastal defense missile launcher
RBS 15 Mobile coastal defense missile launcher
Mala R2 underwater vehicle.
Mala R2 underwater vehicle.
  • 4 Patrol boats (Hrvatska Kostajnica class) Flag of Croatia Croatia
    • Novigrad (OB-61) - 1980
    • Šolta (OB-62) - 1982
    • Cavtat (OB-63) - 1984
    • Hrvatska Kostajnica (OB-64) - 1985

[edit] Current fleet status

All three corvettes are a subject of modernization at the moment. King class vessels are going to be installed with new German MTU engines and new anti-aircraft systems by 2010.

All patrol boats currently in service are going to be replaced by an entirely new class. The construction of the first, out of projected 9-12 vessels, is scheduled for late 2008. These patrol boats will be built in Croatian shipyards and should be around 40 metres long, incorporating the latest technology including stealth features. Similar but slightly smaller vessels have recently been built for Libya and have proved to be very effective and modern. Follow-up orders have been made and 10 ships are now to enter Libyan service.

The introduction of new corvettes is planned for 2010 but numbers and class of these ships vary. The most probable number is 4 units but as low as 2 and as high as 5 have been mentioned. At first, they were supposed to be built by domestic companies and measure 80 metres in length. This is now questionable due to higher demands of the government which state that new corvettes might be up to 120 metres long and very well equipped. German Braunschweig class corvettes is speculated momentarily.

As an interim solution Croatia bought two Helsinki class (FNS Oulu and FNS Kotka) fast attack crafts from Finland due to shortage of vessels in service at present. They were bought for a symoblic price of €6 million as a part of the offset deal for the previous acquisition of Patria AMV armored vehicles and are scheduled to enter service as early as July 2008. This will bring the number of this class of ships in service to a total of five units.

[edit] Future projects

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Military of Croatia