KRI ''Imam Bonjol'' (383) is a

Parchim-class corvette The ''Parchim''-class corvette, Soviet designation Project 133.1, was developed for the East German Navy in the late 1970s, and built by the Wolgast Peene-Werft. The ships were designed for coastal anti-submarine warfare. In case of an all-out ...

currently operated by the Indonesian Navy. Prior to 1994, the ''Imam Bonjol'' was part of the East German

Volksmarine The (VM, ; ) was the Navy, naval force of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990. The was one of the service branches of the National People's Army and primarily performed a Coastal defence and fortification, coastal defence ...

, as the ''Teterow'' (234).

Specifications

''Imam Bonjol'', being a Parchim-class corvette, has a displacement of 865 tonnes as standard and up to 935 tonnes when fully loaded. Ships of the class have lengths of and a beam of , with a draft of . It has a maximum speed of and a range of at . Her propulsion of 3 fixed pitch propellers powered by 3 diesel generators, one 500 kW and two 200 kW.

Service history

The ship was initially part of the

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

, developed as small anti-submarine ships. The ''Teterow'' (234) was built by Peene-Werft and was laid on 1 July 1981, launched the following year on 27 March 1982 and commissioned on 27 January 1984. Following the end of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

and the

reunification of Germany German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the German Democratic Republic and the integration of i ...

, ''Teterow'' was formally decommissioned by Volksmarine on 2 October 1990 and integrated with the unified

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is part of the unified (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy) became the official ...

on 3 October. ''Teterow'' was assigned hull number P 6168 during its brief service in the German Navy and later was laid up in 1991. The ship was sold to the Indonesian Navy, alongside 15 other Parchim-class corvettes and 23 other vessels in a US$12.7 million deal. She was renamed ''Imam Bonjol'' and was commissioned on 26 April 1994, following modifications. The ''Imam Bonjol'' was assigned to patrol waters around the

Strait of Malacca The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, long and from wide, between the Malay Peninsula to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connecting the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) and the South China Sea (Pa ...

in early 2016. She was part of the Indonesian Navy's Western Fleet (''Koarmabar''), participating in anti-piracy operations and

EEZ An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine natural resource, reso ...

patrols. On 17 June 2016, ''Imam Bonjol'' received aerial reconnaissance reports of foreign fishing ships in Indonesian waters around the Natuna Archipelago, and proceeded to pursue the vessels. She fired warning shots, which according to the

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China is the first-ranked Ministries of the People's Republic of China, executive department of the State Council of China, responsible for the country's Foreign relations of China, f ...

injured a fisherman. One of the vessels, the ''Han Tan Cou'' (19038) was captured with her crew of 7 Chinese nationals.

Chinese Coast Guard The China Coast Guard (CCG) () is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the People's Armed Police (PAP) of China. The Coast Guard is an armed gendarmerie force (of corps grade), and its cutters are ...

vessels shadowed the ''Imam Bonjol'' as she escorted ''Han Tan Cou'' to the Indonesian naval base at Ranai, though no fighting occurred.

President of Indonesia The president of the Republic of Indonesia () is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Indonesia. The president is the leader of the executive branch of the Indonesian government and the commander-in-chief of the ...

Joko Widodo Joko Widodo (; born 21 June 1961), often known mononymously as Jokowi, is an Indonesian politician, engineer, and businessman who served as the seventh president of Indonesia from 2014 to 2024. Previously a member of the Indonesian Democratic ...

held a limited cabinet meeting on board the ''Imam Bonjol'' shortly after the incident.

References

External links

* Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995
Page from FAS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Imam Bonjol (383) Ships built in East Germany Parchim-class corvettes of the Indonesian Navy Ships built in Wolgast 1982 ships Corvettes of the Indonesian Navy 1st Fleet Escort Force