Indonesian Navy Lost 7 Warships for 8 Years

26 Juli 2020

KRI Teluk Jakarta 541 LST (photo : BertuahPos)

A shocking news for the military, when the Indonesian Navy revealed details of the recent lander sinking and they also statistics that in the past 8 years, the Navy has lost at least 7 warships.

KRI Teluk Berau 534 LST (photo : Ivan Meshkov)

Recently, the Indonesian Navy has revealed some details about the sinking of the amphibious ship, "KRI Teluk Jakarta 541", with the serial number 541 of the Indonesian Navy on July 14.

On July 12, ship 541 left Surabaya port to deliver supplies to a naval base in eastern Indonesia; By July 14, when the ship approached the northeastern part of the Kangean Islands, it had unfavorable weather conditions (wave height from 2.5 to 4 m) which caused water to flood the ship, but the crew could not overcome.

KRI Teluk Peleng 535 LST (photo : Medcom)

Soon, the engine room was flooded and the speed decreased, eventually unable to withstand, the 541 ship sank to the bottom of the 90 m deep at 9 pm that day.

All 55 sailors aboard the lander 541 were rescued, 54 of them were rescued by the container ship "Tanto Sejahtera", the other one was rescued by the civil transport ship "Dobonsolo"; 55 sailors were later transferred to the frigate "KRI Raden Eddy Martadinata 332" that the Indonesian Navy sent to rescue.

KRI Sibarau 847 Patrol Ship (photo : Beritatrans)

The landing ship 541 was built by the VEB Peenewerft shipyard Wolgast, of the Democratic Republic of Germany in 1979 and is one of the 12 amphibious ships of Project 108 (NATO code name "Frosch I"). After the unification of Germany in 1993, these 12 ships and 2 other supply ships were acquired by Indonesia.

In November 2013, a ship of the same type as ship 541 had sunk, "KRI Teluk Peleng 535" crashed into a concrete pier; In addition, another ship of the same class, "KRI Teluk Berau-534", has been out of service since 2012, and later became the target of anti-ship missiles in a live-fire and sunk exercise.

KRI Rencong 622 FAC-M (photo : Antara)

In recent years, the Indonesian naval accident rate has remained high, on September 11, 2018, the "KRI Rencong 622" fast attack missile ship, caught fire and sank to the sea floor near Sorong, West Papua province.

The KRI Rencong-622 is a Mandau-class fast-attack missile ship, built in South Korea in 1979. Indonesia has four of these, numbered from 621 to 624 and equipped by the Indonesian Navy with Chinese-built C705 missile on this class.

KRI Pati Unus 384 ASW corvette (photo : Indian Navy)

On May 30, 2016, the corvette "KRI Pati Unus 384" collided with a shipwreck, resulting in partial damage to the hull and floodwater; KRI Pati Unus eventually sank half and considered this ship was also disinherited due to irreparable.

In December 2017, an Indonesian naval patrol boat KRI Sibarau 847 sank in a storm due to engine failure in the Malacca Strait. All the defenders on board were rescued.

KRI Klewang 625 FAC-M (photo : Antara)

On September 28, 2012, the stealthy destroyer "KRI Klewang 625" of the Indonesian Navy suddenly caught fire at Banyuwangi naval base in East Java. In addition, in recent years, some Indonesian navy ships have sunk due to the fire.

As a maritime country, Indonesia attaches great importance to developing its navy; However, with only 8 years, the navy lost at least 7 warships, greatly affecting its ambition to modernize its navy.

(KienThuc)