Indonesian Navy : Victorious on the Sea

Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Laut

Indonesian Navy

Ahmad Yani-Class Frigate -  wikipedia

he Indonesian Navy (Indonesian: Tentara Nasional Indonesia-Angkatan Laut (TNI-AL), literally "Indonesian National Military-Naval Service") was founded on 10 September 1945. Its role is to patrol Indonesia's lengthy coastline, to enforce and patrol the territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Indonesia, to protect Indonesia's maritime strategic interests, to protect the islands surrounding Indonesia, and to defend against seaborne threats.

KRI Nanggala 402, KRI Nagapasa 403

The Indonesian Navy is headed by a Chief of Staff of the Navy (Kepala Staf Angkatan Laut – Kasal). The Indonesian Navy is strengthen by three major fleets known as "Armada" which are Komando Armada I (1st Fleet Command) located in Jakarta, Komando Armada II (2nd Fleet Command) located in Surabaya, Komando Armada III (3rd Fleet Command) located in Sorong, and one Military Sealift Command (Komando Lintas Laut Militer). The Navy also heads the Marine Corps.

All commissioned ships of the TNI-AL have the prefix KRI, standing for Kapal Republik Indonesia (Republic of Indonesia Ship).

At the height of Cold War

KRI Irian, Sverdlov-Class Cruiser

At the time of the country started to recover from the threat of disintegration, in 1959, the Navy launched a program known as Menuju Angkatan Laut yang Jaya. The Navy experienced a significant progress until 1965 which was motivated by the politics of confrontation in order to seize West Irian, which Indonesia claimed as part of its territory, a claim refuted by the Dutch government. As part of the increasing military ties between Indonesia and the Warsaw Pact, various naval combat equipment from Eastern European countries strengthened the Navy and become the dominant force at the time. Some military equipment of Soviet production served in the ranks of the Navy, among others Sverdlov-class cruiser, Skoryy-class destroyer, Riga-class frigate, Whiskey-class submarine (the first such vessels to be used in Southeast Asia), Komar-class missile boat, Ilyushin Il-28 long-range bomber aircraft of Naval Aviation and the PT-76 Amphibious light tanks, BTR-50 APCs and BM-13 MRLs (Southeast Asia's first ever MRL system in service) of the Commando Corps, the first of their kind in the region. With such power in the era of the 1960s the Navy was called the largest Navy in Southeast Asia and one of the strongest within the Asia-Pacific, outranking those of its neighbors in armament and prestige.