Libyan Navy

History

Its first warship was delivered in 1966. These were 2 Ham class minesweepers from the UK. Initially the effective force was limited to smaller vessels, but this changed after the rise of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in 1969. From this time, Libya started to buy armaments from Europe and the Soviet Union. The Customs and Harbour police were amalgamated with the Navy in 1970, extending the Navy's mission to include anti-smuggling and customs duties. The total personnel of the Libyan Navy is about 8,000.

During the 2011 Libyan civil war several elements of the Libyan Navy were destroyed by NATO forces, including 8 warships in the night before 20 May and one on 17 August. Two were also captured by the rebels at Benghazi.

The Navy began the process of purchasing new boats in May 2012, mainly fast patrol boats for surveillance and border protection purposes, including the MRTP-20 fast attack boat.

As of June 2012, the Libyan Navy has been headed by Commodore Hassan Ali Bushnak, Chief of Staff of the Libyan Naval Force. The British Royal Navy along with the Libyan Navy held joint exercises together at Dartmouth Naval College in the UK in June 2012.

Libyan Navy ships under the command of Rida Issa, loyal to the internationally recognized Government of National Accord, took part in the operation to liberate the city of Sirte from ISIL. The Libyan Navy assisted ground forces and blocked off sea escape routes for the militants. On 20 June 2016, the EU states announced that the naval mission in the Mediterranean Sea, Operation Sophia, will be extended until 2017, and will help train the Libyan navy and coast guard.

Background

The Navy's primary mission is to defend the coast. A strengthening of the service was made in the 1970s; the Soviet Union sold six Foxtrot-class SSK submarines, and though two of them were only averagely serviceable, they became the main threats to the US Navy in the Mediterranean Sea. In the meantime, Libya bought four Russian Nanuchka class corvettes, that even in the export versions were well-armed and powerful ships. Another four Assad class corvettes were acquired from Italy. These had Otomat long range missiles (in the Mk.I version without datalink for in-flight course correction) and modern artillery. They were less well-armed as anti-aircraft ships than the Nanuchkas but, with a displacement almost twice that of a typical FAC, had ASW capabilities, with sonar and light torpedoes.

Actions

Libya's Navy first saw military action during an encounter with the United States Sixth Fleet in March 1986 in the Action in the Gulf of Sidra (1986), when one missile boat and a corvette were destroyed, and other ships were damaged by A-6s. Unusually, some of these attacks were performed, successfully, with CBUs like the Mk.20 Rockeye designed as an anti-tank weapon.

In July 1984, the Ro-Ro ferry Ghat is believed to have mined the Red Sea a few kilometres south of the Suez Canal. Approximately nineteen ships were damaged, including a Soviet container ship which was the first to be hit on 9 July. The Islamic Jihad Organisation took responsibility for the incident, however Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak did not believe the claims and blamed Muammar Gaddafi and Libya. Other sources agreed after it was learnt that the ship took fifteen days to complete a voyage that normally would take eight days, the head of the Libyan minelaying division was on board, and that, when inspected by French officials in Marseilles the aft door was damaged. Due to concerns about the safety and potential lost revenue from the canal, Egypt asked for assistance in sweeping the mines in a complex operation that involved mine-hunters from the French, British, Italian, Dutch, and US navies. The British located a Soviet-made mine, which was most likely sold to Libya after 1981 and was laid to cause problems for Egypt.

a.

Ships (1985)

Ships (1985)

Frigates

2 × Koni class frigates (Type 1159) (one operational)

Armament:

Corvettes

2 × Nanuchka class corvettes

Armament:

MFPBs

9 × Combattante II fast attack craft (7 operational)

Armament:

12 × Osa class missile boats (Type II) (4 operational)

Armament:

Mine warfare vessels

9 × Natya class minesweepers (Type 266ME) (5 operational)

Armament:

In addition to several auxiliary and landing craft.

Oceanographic Research Ship

Nour, a former trawler converted in the 1970s. was stricken in 2002.

Submarines

6 × Foxtrot class submarine (1 left; not in commission)

In 1982 Libya received six Foxtrot-class military submarines from the Soviet Union. However, since 1984, no submarine patrols are reported to have been conducted. In 1993 one submarine was reported sunk, and another one was abandoned in Lithuania due to international sanctions. Further reports circulated about one submarine being refitted in 2003, but they have since turned out to be false. In 2011, during the Libyan civil war, one submarine (along with a frigate and a corvette) was captured by the rebels at the Benghazi naval base.

Frigates

1 × Koni class frigate (Type 1159)

Armament:

Mine warfare vessels

1× Natya class minesweepers (Type 266ME)

Armament:

Landing Ships

2x Polnocny-C

Naval bases in the 2011 Libyan civil war

Ship maintenance and repair facilities

Facilities at Tripoli with foreign technicians for repair of vessels of up to 6,000 tonnes deadweight (DWT); a 3,200-ton lift floating dock; floating docks at Benghazi and Tobruk.