The Namibian Navy is the maritime warfare branch of the Namibian Defence Force.

History

Development of

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

's Navy has been slowest of the three Arms of Service. The force was only formally established on 11 September 1998 as a maritime wing, and in 2004 as a fully-fledged navy, fourteen years after independence. Extensive

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian aid has assisted in the navy's development. Initially a group of four trainees were dispatched to the Naval Academy in Brazil, complemented by ten officers from the Namibian Army. These personnel formed the core group that were sent to Brazil in August 1995 after Walvis Bay had been integrated into Namibia in 1994. This group, led by Phestus Sacharia, consisted of officers such as Peter Vilho, Sinsy Nghipandua, Alweendo Amungulu, and Petrus Tjandja, would be the future Headquarters staff and ship captains. Later in the 1990s, two more groups were sent to Brazil to study at Admiral Wandenkolk Instruction Center in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. By 2004 180 Officers and ratings had been trained for the maritime wing of which 168 Had been trained in Brazil.An ongoing co-operation program allows Namibian sailors and naval officers to be trained by the Brazilian Navy; by 2009, 466 seamen had been trained. Brazil also provided assistance in preparing a nautical chart of the approach to Walvis Bay and consulting in charting the outer limits of the

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an islan ...

. .As of 2024 1200 Navy Personel has been trained in Brazil.The Brazilian Navy has also trained the Namibian Marine Corps of which more than 1400 have been trained at the Naval Training School at Rooikop.

Operations

The Navy's maritime wing headquarters was established in 1998, while in 2000 construction of a naval base began at Walvis Bay. The first maritime wing commander was Captain Phestus Sacharia. The Navy has approximately 1200 personnel and deploys a small number of lightly armed patrol vessels. The first ship to be commissioned into service was the donated patrol boat ''Oryx'' in 2002. In 2004, Brazil and Namibia signed an agreement for the delivery of a patrol boat and two smaller patrol craft. The newly built 200-ton patrol boat NS ''Brendan Simbwaye'', built at the Brazilian shipyard INACE, was commissioned on 19 January 2009.
Press release: Brazil exports warship to Namibia
'', Brazilian Navy, 8 January 2009.

Role

The Ministry of Defence has outlined the naval policy as follows:

"In peacetime, the Navy of the NDF have a role of augmenting civil offshore patrol forces, particularly providing the means and the expertise to execute enforcement action effectively. Specific tasks include assisting civil forces to combat illegal immigration, smuggling (arms, drugs etc.) and threats to the environment; conducting maritime surveillance, search and rescue; and assisting the Ministry of Fisheries with enforcing a fisheries protection regime. A longer term peacetime task is the protection of offshore oil, gas, diamonds and other installations. A navy aerial surveillance component is a necessary part of the defence system."

Fleet

The fleet is operationally divided into four squadrons, based on the different roles of the craft. The squadrons, which became active on 24 May 2018, are: *Combat Squadron *Combat Support Squadron *Coastal Patrol Squadron *Harbour Patrol Squadron

Current

Other boats

In 2012/2013 the Namibian Navy ordered 19 new craft from Kobus Naval Design and Veercraft Marine of South Africa. * 5x 4-meter rowboats * 5x 6-meter RHIBs * 2x 6-meter harbour patrol boats * 2x 8-meter boarding boats * 2x 8-meter swamp boats * 1x 11-meter landing craft * 2x 14-meter interceptors In 2021 3x Riverine Patrol Boats where commissioned into the Navy at Naval Base Impalila.

Decommissioned ships

*1 Imperial Marinheiro class corvette – 1025 standard tons (1954) ** NS Lt Gen Dimo Hamaambo – ex Brazilian Navy

Installations

Naval Base Capt PN Sacharia

Naval Calling Station Luderitz

Naval Training School

Old Naval Base

The 'Old Naval Base' in Walvis Bay functions as the current headquarters of the Namibian Marine Corps.

Naval Base Impalila

Organisation

The navy is a hierarchical organisation with the navy commander exercising overall command. The Navy Commander is always a 2 star flag officer who is then deputized by two 1 star

flag officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which that officer exercises command. Different countries use the term "flag officer" in different ways: * ...

s heading the Naval Operations and the Naval Support directorates. The two directorates are made up of divisions headed by Chiefs of Staff(COS) who are usually Captain(N). Division of Naval Plans & Naval Operations falls under Naval Operations Directorate, while Naval Personnel & Naval ICT falls under Naval Support Directorate. The Navy is further augmented by the Namibian Marine Corps.

Command structure

Navy Commander

The following officers have held the appointment of Navy Commander or its previous title Maritime Wing Commander since the commissioning of the Maritime Wing on 11 September 1998.

Master at arms of the Navy

The Master at arms of the Navy is the senior most appointment a Warrant Officer Class one my hold at the Navy. Roles of the Master at Arms include ensuring that discipline, drills, dressing code, performance standards and morale of the non-commissioned officers are maintained. * 1998–2007 WO1 DJ Angolo * 2007 -unknown W01 Hamunyela * unknown-currently WO1 Kamati

Marines

The Namibian Marine Corps are a unit of the Navy. Its role is to provide naval infantry, amphibious, diving and small boat capability to the Navy. They are a

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

strong. The marines are trained by Brazilian naval instructors at the Naval Training School near Walvis Bay. The marine commandant is Captain Olavi T. Shipunda.

Ranks and insignia

Naval ranks and insignia are based on the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

Non-Commissioned Officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

s only retain the ranks as their insignia consists of a system of chevrons. The same ranks are also used by the Namibian Marine Corps. The highest rank in peace time a commissioned officer can attain in the navy is

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

. There may however be an exception when a naval officer is appointed as Chief of the Defence Force for which the individual which ascend to the rank of Vice-Admiral. The highest rank an enlisted member can attain is Warrant Officer Class 1 but the highest appointment is Namibian Defence Force Sergeant Major.

Commissioned officer ranks

The rank insignia of

commissioned officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent ...

Other ranks

The rank insignia of

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

s and enlisted personnel.

Proficiency badges

Gallery

File:Namibian Navy Members.jpg, Naval Officers, sailors and marines of the Namibian Navy File:Namibian Marines manning a boat.jpg, Marines of the Operational Boat Unit File:Namibian Navy Namacurra with a fisheries patrol vessel.jpg, Namibian Navy Namacurra with a fisheries patrol vessel File:Namibian Navy Type 037 Class boats.jpg, NS Daures & Brukkaros File:NS Brendan Simbwaye.jpg, NS Brendan Simbwaye File:Namibian Navy Marlim Class craft.png, Marlim Class HPB

History

Operations

Role

Fleet

Current

Other boats

Decommissioned ships

Installations

Naval Base Capt PN Sacharia

Naval Calling Station Luderitz

Naval Training School

Old Naval Base

Naval Base Impalila

Organisation

Command structure

Navy Commander

Master at arms of the Navy

Marines

Ranks and insignia

Commissioned officer ranks

Other ranks

Proficiency badges

Gallery

References

Further reading