Islamic Republic of Iran Navy |
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components |
history |
ships |
personnel |
The Iranian Navy traditionally located in the shallow waters of the Persian Gulf, has always been the smallest of the country's military forces. An Iranian navy in one form or another has existed since Achaemenid times in 500 BC. The Phoenician navy played an important role in the military efforts of the Persians in late antiquity in protecting and expanding trade routes along the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. [1] With the Pahlavi dynasty in the 20th century that Iran began to consider building a strong navy to project its strength into the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. In more recent years, the country has engaged in domestic ship building industries in response to the western-backed Iraqi invasion of Iran, which left it without suppliers during an invasion.
The modern navy of Iran was born in 1885, when steamers Persepolis and Susa were commissioned into service in the Persian Gulf. [2]
Imperial Iranian Navy | |
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نیروی دریایی شاهنشاهی ایران (Persian) | |
Founded | 5 November 1932 |
Disbanded | 11 February 1979 |
Country | Pahlavi Iran |
Type | Navy |
Role | Naval warfare |
Size | 22,000 (1979) |
Fleet | |
Commanders | |
Commander | See list |
Insignia | |
Ensign | |
Jack | 1926–1974 1974–1979 |
Roundel |
The Imperial Iranian Navy (IIN) was the navy of Pahlavi Iran, being founded on 5 November 1932 and disbanded on 11 February 1979 after the Iranian Revolution. By 1941, the IIN consisted of several sloops and patrol boats. During the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in World War II, the IIN was attacked and quickly overwhelmed by Allied forces, with the IIN's commander Timsar Gholamali Bayandor being killed in action. As a result of offensive actions by the Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy, two sloops and two patrol boats of the IIN were destroyed, some of which were still moored at their home ports. Following World War II, the IIN began increasing its fleet strength by acquiring destroyers, frigates and numerous smaller vessels, including motorboats and hovercraft; many of these were made in either the United States or the United Kingdom. In the 1970s, the IIN planned to extend its naval reach into the Indian Ocean; but this goal was curtailed by the Iranian Revolution, and the ensuing Iran–Iraq War further weakened the IIN's capability to extend its reach.
IIN ships seized Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs on 30 November 1971 after British forces withdrew from the region. During this period, IIN established an aviation branch, acquiring aircraft from foreign sources, most of which were American. Just prior to the Iranian Revolution, the IIN also had purchase orders for more equipment from British and American manufacturers. In the 1970s, a Ol-class tanker was ordered from Swan Hunter. Named Kharg, she was constructed in 1977 but not delivered until 1984. Four modified Spruance-class destroyers were ordered from the United States, while eight modified Kortenaer-class frigates were ordered from Royal Schelde. The Iranian Revolution happened before any of the ships could be delivered, so, both orders were cancelled. The Kidd-class destroyers then went into service with the United States Navy and were later transferred to the Republic of China Navy, where they are still in service. By 1979, the IIN had three battalions of marines.[ citation needed ]
With the fall of the Shah in the revolution of 1979, the Imperial Iranian Navy was renamed as the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (IRIN). From then on, the United States imposed economic sanctions and an arms embargo, severely hampering Iran's ability to maintain and equip its navy. In fact, the navy was more severely affected than Iran's army or air force. Several of Iran's ships had to be laid up. Since 1979, the number of marines in the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy has expanded to, 2600 personnel, in two marine brigades, each composed of three battalions. These two brigades have also been reported as three battalions in the IRIN (which may be part of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army).
The Iran–Iraq War lasted from 1980 to 1988. The IRI Navy played a role in it. During this time, battles fought with Iraq and the United States, also degraded Iran's conventional naval assets.
Operation Morvarid was an operation launched by the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy and Air Force against the Iraqi Navy and Air Force on 28 November 1980 in response to Iraq positioning radar and monitoring equipment on the Al-Bakr and Khor-al-Amaya oil rigs to counter Iranian air operations. The operation resulted in a victory for Iran, which managed to destroy both oil rigs as well as much of the Iraqi Navy and inflicted significant damage to Iraqi ports and airfields.
On 18 April 1988, U.S. Marines, naval ships and aircraft operating within Iranian territorial waters destroyed Iranian naval and intelligence facilities on two inoperable oil platforms in the Persian Gulf, and sank at least three armed Iranian speedboats, one Iranian frigate, and one fast attack gunboat, and damaged one frigate in retaliation for the Iranian mining of the Persian Gulf and the subsequent damage to an American warship. The operation, dubbed Operation Praying Mantis, helped pressure Iran to agree to a ceasefire with Iraq later that summer, ending the eight-year conflict between the Persian Gulf neighbors.
In place of western armaments, Iran has purchased equipment and weaponry from Russia, China, and North Korea, as well as engaging in naval exercises with Pakistan and India. The 1990s saw Iran focusing on building up its fleets of patrol boats and submarines, as well as surface-to-surface, anti-ship missiles.[ citation needed ]
Iran's goal has always been to provide escort for Iranian shipping in the Persian Gulf, as well as being able to disrupt enemy shipping, as was witnessed in the Iran–Iraq War.[ citation needed ]
On 22 February 2011, two Islamic Republic of Iran Navy ships entered the Suez Canal, on a deployment reported to be a training mission to Latakia, Syria. These were the tanker Kharg, and the frigate Alvand. This was the first time that Iranian naval ships had passed through the Suez Canal, since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.[ citation needed ]
On 18 February 2012, Kharg entered the Suez Canal again, with one other Iranian warship, after briefly docking at Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
On 11 May 2020, Iranian frigate Jamaran fired a missile at Iranian support vessel Konarak. Official Iranian TV reported one fatality in the incident, [3] while unofficial reports stated the Konarak had sunk and that there were dozens of fatalities. [4]
On 11 June 2021, IRIS Sahand, accompanied by IRIS Makran (a naval-converted oil tanker), were the first Iranian naval ships to reach the Atlantic without docking in an international port, according to official Iranian sources. [5] [6] The ships are bound for Venezuela, reported to be carrying oil. [7]
The Strait of Hormuz is a strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean and is one of the world's most strategically important choke points. On the north coast lies Iran, and on the south coast lies the Musandam peninsula, shared by the United Arab Emirates and the Musandam Governorate, an exclave of Oman. The strait is about 90 nautical miles (167 km) long, with a width varying from about 52 nmi (96 km) to 21 nmi (39 km).
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1984.
USS Vandegrift (FFG-48) was an Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate of the United States Navy. The ship was named for General Alexander A. Vandegrift (1887–1973), 18th Commandant of the Marine Corps.
USS O'Brien (DD-975) was a Spruance-class destroyer built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries at Pascagoula, Mississippi. It was named for Captain Jeremiah O'Brien and his five brothers: Gideon, John, William, Dennis and Joseph. The O'Briens were crew members on board the sloop Unity, which captured HMS Margaretta at the entrance to Machias harbor on 12 June 1775. O’Brien was decommissioned on 24 September 2004, and was later sunk as part of a training exercise in 2006.
USS Jarrett (FFG-33), was the twenty-fifth ship of the Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigates, was named for Vice Admiral Harry B. Jarrett (1898–1974).
Operation Earnest Will was an American military protection of Kuwaiti-owned tankers from Iranian attacks in 1987 and 1988, three years into the Tanker War phase of the Iran–Iraq War. It was the largest naval convoy operation since World War II, and flowed from Resolution 598 which had been adopted three days earlier.
Operation Praying Mantis was the 18 April 1988 attack by the United States on Iranian naval targets in the Persian Gulf in retaliation for the mining of a U.S. warship four days earlier.
USS Gary (FFG-51) was an Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate in the United States Navy. She was named for Medal of Honor recipient Commander Donald A. Gary (1903–1977).
Sabalan is an Alvand-class frigate of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy. She was launched in 1969.
The Islamic Republic of Iran Navy or Iranian Navy, officially abbreviated NEDAJA, is the naval warfare service branch of Iran's regular military, the Islamic Republic of Iran Army (Artesh). It is one of Iran's two maritime military branches, alongside the Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The tanker war, part of the larger Iran–Iraq War, was a series of military attacks by Iran and Iraq against merchant vessels in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz from 1981 to 1988. Iraq was responsible for 283 attacks while Iran accounted for 168.
Iranian frigate Sahand was a British-made Vosper Mark V class frigate commissioned as part of a four-ship order. She was launched in 1969. The ship was originally called Faramarz, named after a character in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution it was renamed Sahand, after the Sahand volcano.
Iranian frigate Alvand is a frigate of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy and the lead ship of her class. She was launched in 1968.
Alborz is an Alvand-class frigate, Vosper Mark V, of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy. It was supplied to pre-revolutionary Iran's Imperial Iranian Navy by Great Britain. Launched in 1969, the frigate dates back to the time of the Shah of Iran.
IRIS Kharg was a modified Ol-class fleet replenishment oiler of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy, named after Kharg Island.
The Ol-class tankers were a series of three "fast fleet tankers" used by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom, tasked with providing fuel, food, fresh water, ammunition and other supplies to Royal Navy vessels around the world.
Sahand is a Moudge-class frigate in the Southern Fleet of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy, named in memory of the sunk frigate bearing the same name of the Sahand volcano.
The Bridgeton incident was the mining of the supertanker SS Bridgeton by Iranian IRGC navy near Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf on July 24, 1987. The ship was sailing in the first convoy of Operation Earnest Will, the U.S. response to Kuwaiti requests to protect its tankers from attack amid the Iran–Iraq War.
Konarak is a Hendijan-class support vessel of the Iranian Navy. It was built in the Netherlands and has been in service since 1988. Originally intended as a support and logistics ship, Konarak was overhauled in 2018, and was armed with anti-ship missiles. The vessel was struck by a missile fired from the Iranian frigate Jamaran in a friendly fire incident during training on 10 May 2020, killing 19 sailors.
IRIS Makran is the first and only forward base ship of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy, in service with its Southern Fleet since 2021 and named after a coastal region in southeastern Iran.