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New Fleet ! The Georgian Navy
Georgian Navy
The state of Georgia had a peculiar history that was seldom linked to the sea, in that case the black sea. It is now today a modest Coast Guard, the maritime arm of the Georgian Border Police. It is supervised by the Ministry for Internal Affairs. Its responsibility is to police 310 km (190 mi) of Black Sea coastline and territorial waters, including smuggling and fishery protection, marine pollution protection, law enforcement, search and rescue at port security. The northern half of this coastline from the 2008 South Ossetia war was controlled by Abkhazia.
This was not that case at all time. There wa indeed a former Georgian Navy (sak’art’velos samkhedro-sazghvao dzalebi) as a branch of the Georgian MoD until 2009. But its waek assets were merged with the Coast Guard, transferred to the Internal Affairs ministry. Before the 2008 war this navy comprised 19 vessels, 531 personnel including 181 officers and 200 NCOs but also 114 conscripts and 36 civilians.
The Coast Guard headquarters are at Poti. Other bases are in Batumi and Adjaria. Poti also hosts the main force, including counter-terrorist Detachment. There are also Maritime surveillance radar stations at Anaklia, Poti, Supsa, Chakvi, and Gonio covering this coastal area.
Back in the past, Georgia had a vibrant fishery activity and maritime commerce, but never possessed a fleet. There was an attempt during the short independence (Democratic Republic of Georgia) from th Russian Empire in 1918 to 1921. There was a flagship and several sailing-boats used to bolster this force, armed with land guns, and a few tugs. They were simply former Russian vessels forcibly seized during the Russian Civil War.
In 1921 the Red Army invaded the birth country of Stalin, and soon ended the independence. Georgia was itegrated to the Soviet Union. Long story short, in the interwar, Poti hosted occasionally Russian warships, but being far from the theater of war, concentrated between the Crimean peninsula and the Bulgarian-Romanian coast controlled by the Axis. During the cold war, there was not even known assets belonging to anything resembling a local Georgian naval asset. Georgians were sometimes part of the Soviet Navy, but their condition was not enviable.
By 1990, Georgian’s own coastal waters were policed by a Russian unit based in Poti, the 184th Coast Guard Brigade, Soviet Black Sea Fleet. Smaller bases were located at Ochamchire, Batumi, Anaklia, and Sukhumi. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Poti brigade was withdrawn in 1992, but six vessels, in too poor state to depart. A Russian border guard unit with these ships went on patrolling the Georgian coastline until 1998.
The creation of a Georgian Navy started from February 1990: The country was now an indepdenent republic and the newly established Cabinet of Ministers of Georgia decreed a commission to study the creation of an army and its sub-branches from assets still present in the country. Captain Alexander Javakhishvili (former commander of a Soviet nuclear submarine, the highest ranking officer of Georgian origin) accepted the task of creating a navy from scratch or so.
Georgia post 1990 was not a CIS member and thus, not included in the Russian-Ukrainian Black Sea Fleet partition negotiations tat were held up in January 1992. With the separatist war in Abkhazia, Georgia had no asset that can defend the country at sea. Still, two naval operations were made with a motley collection of civilian vessels, during August 1992 evacuation of 173 women and children from Bichvinta. Anothr was led in April 1993 to deal with the pro-Abkhaz Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev at Gudauta. By July 7, 1993, the Georgian minesweeper Gantiadi (Captain Shukri Kopaliani) while off Tamysh, defeated Abkhaz boats. This was decreted later the Georgian Navy Day.
The navy bu default start to equip purchased large fishing vessels by small caliber anti-aircraft guns, army machine guns. In 1996, Georgia resumed asked for a part of the ex-Soviet Black Sea Fleet to the Russian federation, which refused. This bone of contention was nother point wrecking the already tense Georgian-Russian relations. Ukraine supported Tbilisi though, and helped the new navy wit several of her former patrol boats while offering and starting to train Georgian crews. The final fleet deal for transfer was not validated though. Later Georgia negociated her debt and ceded the rest to Russia. The country was part of the Black Sea Force (BLACKSEAFOR) but was ill-equpped to really participate.
Later in the 1990s, Georgia at last received attention from NATO member states, notably Turkey and Greece. They helped the country building up a small naval force. Still, up rt this day the Navy remained the “poor child” component of the armed forces. More so, Tbilissi did not procured any clear operational doctrine. In general resources to at maintain seaworthy ships or procure basic training were absent.
The 2008 War with Russia
Of course the 2008 conflict with Russia, which saw a rapid advanced in land caused a crushing defeat in a few days, also saw the small naval forced aseembled by Georgia destroyed as well. Postwar, given the weakness of the remaining forces, the government decided to merge the Georgian Navy with the Georgian Coast Guard in 2009. The Georgian had 19 ships and boats when the war started and up to 19 August it was equipped with at least one missile ship, the Dioskuria, and the missile boat Tbilisi.
At sea on 9 August 2008 another vessel was reported hit by gunfire from the Russian Black Sea Fleet off the Abkhazian coast after entering one imposed Russian “security zone” with three other Georgian vessels. Practically all ships in Poti were destroyed at berthe on on 13 August, by aviation.
Greek P74 of a similar type.
The large Dioskuria was a French-built La Combattante IIa-class fast attack craft (1972), obtained in 2004 from Greece, ex-PG Ypoploiarchos Batsis (P 17), HS Kalypso P54 formerly buit at CMN Normandie, Cherbourg in 1972. This was a real threat for the Russian Black sea fleet, equipped with four MM38 Exocet missiles and two Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannons, two 533 mm (21 in) torpedo-launchers. Unfortunatly she lacked training and direction and took no part in the fight. As designated a priority target, she was severely damaged in the 2008 South Ossetia war, sunk in Poti.
Tbilisi (თბილისი) was a Soviet project 206MR missile boat (Matka class) was obtained in 1999 from Ukraine. It received two Termit missile launchers and had a 76 mm AK-176 dual purpose gun plus a six-barreled 30 mm AK-630M CIWS. Uncrewed when hit, it was found in flames in Poti on August 13.
Unfortunately the the budget-stripped Georgians, none had missiles, and training wa slacking anyway. They only had a potential.
Postwar authorities tried to raise Tbilisi and Dioskuria, total losses in the port of Poti. They were later cleared out to allow other ships to berth.
After Tbilisi, Dioskuria, the Tskaltubo was also lost in Poti and the Coast Guard lost the cutter Giorgi Toreli, at the battle off the coast of Abkhazia and P 203. Giorgi Toreli however was listed “active” still by 2014 so it was either another vessel renamed, or was badly damaged by recuperated and repaired. The Russians only spared many rigid-hulled inflatable boats as they were captured as war trophies. After such crippling losses, the Navy own existence was compromised and the new authorities, gradually leaning towards Moskow disbanded the Navy probably on demand, so that the Black sea fleet had not to worry about a potential adversary. The merging into the Georgian Coast Guard stripped the Georgians of any nava ambition, and coast giuard vessels are generally lightly armed with guns only. However the rapprochement made by Georgia with the West, NATO and the US before the war likely cause it in the first place.
2009: The Georgian Coast Guard
The Georgian Coast Guard boat P-107 off Batumi in 2010.
The Georgian Coast Guard was reborn as a Border Police, subordinate to the Interior Ministry. It developed fast contrary to the previous navy into the most effective Georgian branch force today. The previous Coast Guard was formed ten years prior in 1998. The first naval division was created by the State Border Defense State Department under the Office of the President. The first and second naval divisions were created in Poti and Batumi.
On July 16, 1998, the 1st Naval Division (State Border Defense State Department of Georgia) started patrolling the maritime state border of Georgia, with vessels donated by Ukraine and Turkey just seaworthy enough for some useful service. Ther is a Georgian Coast Guard Day, celebrated every July, 16. Fortunately the United States came out (that was still before 2008) to bolster the Georgian Border Security and Law Enforcement (GBSLE) Program. Thus was endorsed by the U.S. Customs Service and the U.S. Coast Guard started to train Georgian maritime personnel in 1997 already, but post 1999 it was radically expanded with the objective of transferring valuable ex-US Coast Guard ships. This was also followed by setting up some infrastructure with the setup of surveillance radar stations, starting with the strategic oil pipeline terminus of the Supsa the same year in 1999.
The USGC deployed a permanent Team in Georgia also from 1998 in Poti. Until 2003, this team setup a full structure for training, mentoring and maintenance of the Coast Guard personnel and infrastructure.
The best acquisition so far were two 40-foot SeaArks plus two USCG Point-class cutters in 2000 and 2002. The later, ex- USGC Point Countess and USGC Point Baker became the bderock of this new fleet. They were Renamed Tsotne Dadiani (P210) and General Mazniashvili (P211). Their first role was to train activelyt personal at sea and give enough body of experience to further develop and acquired more vessels, in 2007 and 2008. There was also a second coastal radar esbtablished in Poti in 2002 which was overlapping Supsa so to allow monitoring all Georgian territorial waters from Abkhazia to Adjaria.
Still internally this coast giard was either not properly funded and had no clear objectives. It was agreed that controlling the maritime border required increasing capabilities, leading to a reform from 2002 aimed at giving the Georgian Coast Guard (CGC) a better organizational efficiency.
The US model became the default model to follow for all cadree, and that was helped with a US GBSLE Maritime Advisor and its Georgian ccounterpart, Captain Third Class Ramazi Papidze. Together they eventually succeeded at creating a functional Coast Guard based on threats, missions and existing resources. Eventually the structure was split between operational forces (Operations Directorate) and Resources Management (Administration Directorate). It was granted an independent budget and given autonomous responsibility to provide the necessary missions. This was accompanied by a change in Georgian legislation but also old traditions.
By April 2003 the Main Office of the Coast Guard was created as part of the State Border Defense State Department and this became the most advanced military element so far. Major General Davit Gulua took the head of the Coast Guard, remaining also deputy chairman in the department.
In 2005, this State Border Defense Department was submitted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), seeing some increase in status and functions.
In December 2006, the MIA Department was transformed into a law-enforcement agenc (“Border Police of Georgia”) adn the whole coast giard became its own department, at its head was the Deputy Head of the Border Police of Georgia.
Sokhumi at Batumi in 2008
Patrol Craft class Dilos
Adjara in 2010
Georgian Ships List
2x Grisha-class corvette: 2
Torpedo craft:
2x Turya-class torpedo boat:
3x Muravey-class torpedo/patrol boat:
Missile craft
1x La Combattante IIa-class fast attack craft: “Dioskuria”, ex Greek Anninos
1x Matka-class missile boat: “Tbilisi”, ex-Konotop (Ukraine)
Patrol Craft:
2x Lindau-class minesweeper
2x Stenka-class patrol boat: Batumi, Giorgi Toreli
2x Point-class cutter: General Mazniashvili, Tsotne Dadiani
2x Reliance class-cutter.
2x MRTP 34 fast attack/patrol boat
1x Akneta-class patrol boat
2x Dilos-class Patrol craft
1x AB-25-class patrol craft
9x Zhuk-class patrol Boats
1x Kaan 33-class patrol boat
2x Island-class patrol boats: Ochamchire, Dioskuria
Minesweepers:
4x Yevgenya-class minesweeper:
Amphibious Landing crafts:
4x LCM, 2x LCU, 2x LCT.
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