Somali Navy

The Somali Navy (Somali: Ciidamada Badda Soomaaliyeed, Arabic: القوات البحرية الصومالية, romanized: al-Quwwat al-Bahriyah as-Sumaliyah, lit. 'Somali Navy Force') is the naval warfare service branch of the Somali Armed Forces. It is now virtually inactive.

Somali Navy
Ciidamada Badda Soomaaliya
Emblem of the Somali Navy
Founded	10 February 1964
Country	Somalia
Type	Navy
Size	Hundreds (?)[1]
Part of	Somali Armed Forces
Garrison/HQ	Mogadishu
Motto(s)	Somali: Isku Tiirsada! English: Support each other!
Colors of the Navy	Blue, Gold    Black (beret colour)
Anniversaries	1 July (Independence Day) 26 October (Armed Forces Day)
Commanders
Chief of the Navy	Commodore Admiral Abdi Warsame Osman
Notable commanders	Vice Admiral Mohammed Omar Osman Colonel Mohamed Isse Lacle Rear Admiral Farah Qare
Insignia
Naval ensign

History

The Somali Navy was founded in 1964 with the help of Soviet military advisers. It had its bases in Berbera, on the Gulf of Aden and Kismayo on the Indian Ocean near the border with Kenya. It also operated a radar facility in Merca.^[2] Initial deliveries included Soviet-made Project 368P and Project 183 patrol and torpedo boats.^[3] In 1977, Siad Barre terminated the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with Moscow and expelled all Soviet military advisers from Somalia due to their intervention in the Ogaden War.^[4]

In 1990 the naval inventory included two Soviet Osa-II missile-armed fast attack craft, four Soviet Mol PFT torpedo-armed fast attack craft, and several patrol craft.^[5] The navy also possessed a Soviet Polnocny-class landing ship capable of carrying five tanks and 120 soldiers, and four smaller landing craft.

The Navy dissolved as Barre's regime fell in 1990–91; there are reports that some vessels took refuge in Aden.^[2]

Re-establishment

In June 2009, the Somali navy was re-established with a new commander appointed: Admiral Farah Omar Ahmed.

Up to 500 naval personnel were training in Mogadishu, with their training expected to finish in December 2009. They were reported as the first batch of a 5000 strong navy force.^[6] Admiral Farrah Ahmed Omaar told a New Yorker reporter in December 2009 that the navy was 'practically nothing' at the time, though five hundred new recruits were in training.^[7]

It was said by Admiral Omar that the recruits were being paid $60 per month.^[8]

A Somali delegation visiting Turkey in August 2011 submitted a request for two search-and-rescue ships and six coast guard boats. Worth some 250 million euros, if approved, the request might have turned the new Somali navy into a stronger naval force, capable of curbing piracy and protecting its coastline.^[9]

In August 2011 a Transitional Federal Government-Puntland cooperative agreement called for the creation of a Somali Marine Force.^[10]

On 30 June 2012, the United Arab Emirates announced a contribution of $1 million toward enhancing Somalia's naval security. Boats, equipment and communication gear necessary for the rebuilding of the coast guard would be bought. A central operations naval command was also planned to be set up in Mogadishu.^[11]

On 23 January 2020, it was announced that the Turkish Naval Forces donated several patrol vessels and amphibious vessels to the Somali Navy as a form of military aid to Somalia and to carry on its commitment to the nations joint task force.^[12]

A Somali Navy officer meeting Sudani and Djibouti Navy officers in 2013, displaying Somalia's naval partnerships with naval and maritime forces around the Red Sea and Horn of Africa.

In July 2020, it was reported that China and the Somali Navy were planning to Conduct joint naval patrols in the waters including Somaliland’s coast.^[13][14]

Ships and equipment

Main article: List of equipment of the Somali Armed Forces

Two Somali Navy missile boats in August 1983.

Current equipment

Type	Description	Country of Manufacture	Inventory
Patrol boat
ONUK MRTP Class 16	Patrol boat	Turkey	11[citation needed]
Rigid Inflatable Boat
Grand RIB	Rigid inflatable boat	Ukraine	8

Inventory circa 1970s

The following was the Somali Navy's major equipment:^[15]

Type	Description	Country of Manufacture	Inventory
Missile boat
Osa-II missile-armed fast attack craft	Missile boat	Soviet Union	2
Mol PFT torpedo-armed fast attack craft			4
Patrol boats
Poluchat-class patrol boats	Patrol torpedo boat	Soviet Union	5

Ranks and uniform

Somali junior officers in formal uniform with ceremonial swords graduate from TURKSOM Naval Academy in 2018

Somali Navy personnel wear camouflage uniforms but with black shoulder boards to identify them as Navy men. They also wear black berets to identify them as such, their service uniform is white, and they traditionally wear black ties alongside a white blazer, shirt, trousers, belts and if their rank allows, golden laces on their dress uniforms and black laces on their regular service dress and black gorget patches with more golden ornate design for flag officers and black formal shoes, however in more recent years, a high collar variant is worn by more junior officers who graduate from Camp TURKSOM's Navy Academy, also Rear Admirals and Commodore Admirals may have a red stripe at the bottom of their shoulder boards (similarly to those in the Yemeni Navy) to identify them as staff officers,^[16] also the Navy also utilises sleeve rank insignia.^[17] There is also khaki uniforms utilised by the Navy with them retaining the black shoulder boards, lace and berets, although officers may wear a peaked cap.^[18]

Ranks

Main article: Military ranks of Somalia

Officers

Rank group	General / flag officers										Senior officers						Junior officers
Somali Navy[19] v t e
					Admiraal guud		Admiraal gaas		Admiraal guuto		Gashaanle sare		Gashaanle dhexe		Gashaanle		Dhamme		Laba xídígle			Xídígle

Enlisted

Rank group	Senior NCOs																						Junior NCOs						Enlisted
Somali Navy[19] v t e																													No insignia
	Musharax sarkaal			Sadex xarígle			Laba xarígle		Xarígle		Sadex alífle												Laba alífle				Alífle		Dable

See also

• Somalia portal

References

1. Robinson 2021, p. 135.
2. Robinson 2021.
3. Lehr, Peter, ed. (2007). Violence at sea : piracy in the age of global terrorism. New York [u.a.]: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415953207.
4. "Country Data - Somalia". Retrieved 22 June 2015.
5. Helen Chapin Metz, ed., Somalia: A Country Study, p.206.
6. "Somalia gets new navy force after years of absence". English.people.com.cn. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
7. Anderson, Jon Lee (7 December 2009). "The Most Failed State". New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
8. "BBC News - Somali navy chief: World's worst job?". News.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
9. "TURKEY - Starving Somalia asks for coast guard ships". hurriyetdailynews.com.
10. "Somalia: Puntland President Speech at Constitutional Conference in Garowe". Maritimesecurity.asia. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
11. "UAE committed to contribute US$1 million to support Somali naval security capabilities, says Gargash". UAE Interact. 30 June 2012. Archived from the original on 14 June 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
12. Turkiga oo Doomo Dagaal ku wareejiyay Ciidamada Badda ee Soomaaliya, archived from the original on 20 December 2021, retrieved 31 January 2020
13. "China-Somalia to Conduct Joint Naval Patrols". NewsX. Archived from the original on 20 December 2021.
14. "Why is China so worried about the new alliance between Taiwan and Somaliland?". Telegraph.
15. Polmar, Norman (1991). The Naval Institute guide to the Soviet Navy. Annapolis, Md: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 9780870212413.
16. Khadar (11 June 2017). "Image of Rear Admiral Farah Qare in Service Uniform". Goobjoog Education. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
17. "Taliyaha Ciidamada Badda Soomaaliya oo shaaciyay inaysan difaaci doonin Doomaha iyo kalluumeysata aan Sharciyeysnayn (SAWIRRO)". www.hiiraan.com. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
18. "Xarunta Ciidanka Badda Soomaaliya Oo La Dhagax-dhigay (Stone Laying of the Somali Naval Forces Headquarters) (Video is in Somali)". YouTube. Waafi Films. 17 September 2018. Archived from the original on 17 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
19. Ehrenreich, Frederick (1982). "National Security". In Nelson, Harold N. (ed.). Somalia: a country study (PDF). Area Handbook (3rd ed.). Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. p. 257. Retrieved 21 October 2021.

• Robinson, Colin D. (2021). "The Somali Navy from 1965 to the 1980s: A research note". Journal of Central and Eastern European African Studies. 1 (1–2). ISSN 2786-1902.
• "Somalia to Make Task Marine Forces to Secure Its Coast". Shabelle Media Network. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.