The Cyprus Naval Command (, ) (also known as the Cyprus Navy or Cypriot Navy) is the armed sea wing of the Cyprus National Guard. The Cypriot Navy has the primary mission of defending the maritime borders of the Republic of Cyprus, but is currently unable to access the waters around Northern Cyprus, which have been controlled by the Turkish Navy since the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This force does not possess any capital ships or other major warships, but is equipped with patrol boats, landing craft, surface-to-surface missile systems and integrated radar systems, as well as SEALs-type naval underwater demolitions units.
History
Combat actions of 1964
On 6 August 1964, Cyprus National Guard forces commenced combat action against the Turkish Cypriot enclave of Kokkina, in the north-west of Cyprus. This operation was regarded by both Cyprus and Greece as a necessary interdiction against a threat by Turkish Cypriot militia, who were using Kokkina as a beachhead by which to land supplies and weapons shipped from Turkey. The Cyprus National Guard forces were under the command of General George Grivas, with the blessing of Athens. A combined land and sea attack was launched against Kokkina using two Cyprus Navy R-151 Group patrol boats, the Phaethon (commander - Second Leuthenant Dimitrios Mitsatsos) and the Arion, manned by Greek navy personnel. Firing 40mm and 20mm shells, the two patrol boats bombarded the enclave for a period of time, in conjunction with land-based 25-pounder artillery.
The battle was well underway on 8 August, when the Turkish Air Force commenced its own attack with fighter aircraft, making numerous strafing passes of Greek Cypriot positions. The vessel Phaethon was struck by rocket fire and burst into flames, forcing the crew to deliberately run it aground near Xeros Harbour. Seven of the crewmembers on Phaethon were killed and several wounded in the attack, and the ship was unsalvageable and later stricken.
The second R-151 Group patrol boat, Arion, was attacked by the same Turkish fighter jet formations, and was reportedly struck several times by strafing fire, but escaped to Paphos. During the attack on the Arion, a Turkish F-100 Super Sabre, piloted by Captain Cengiz Topel, was struck by 40mm anti-aircraft fire and shot down. The pilot ejected over land but was promptly captured and lynched by members of the Cyprus National Guard.
Naval organization in 1970
MTBs flotilla: First squadron; base - Boghazi; boats: T-4, T-5, T-6 Second squadron; base - Kyrenia; boats: T-1, T-2, T-3 Patrol Boats squadron; base - Boghazi; boats: Leventis, Dedalos Four radar stations (range of detection 45 nautical miles) Naval stations at Famagusta, Xylophagos, Limassol, Paphos Underwater Demolitions Unit (Boghazi naval base)
Cypriot naval vessels from 1964 to 1974
Main armament
40 mm Bofors Mark III L60 gun
20 mm Oerlikon Mark 10 L70 cannon
14,5 mm 2M-5 machine guns
450 mm type 45-52 torpedoes
Combat actions of 1974
On 15 July 1974, EOKA-B and elements of the Cyprus National Guard overthrew the legitimate President, Archbishop Makarios and replaced him with Nikos Sampson. Makarios escaped an initial attempt to capture him at the Archbishiporic in Nicosia, and fled to Paphos. A naval patrol vessel, Leventis (pennant number 15) was quickly dispatched to Paphos to begin shelling a radio station there which was being operated by pro-Makarios elements.
On 20 July 1974, Turkey invaded Cyprus in a surprise-attack, without issuing a declaration of war. A naval force of Turkish vessels was detected by coastal radar at Apostolos Andreas approaching the coast, and a second force of naval vessels was sighted off the coast of Kyrenia during the early hours. The Cyprus National Guard Naval Command quickly ordered its two motor torpedo boats, T-1 (commander - Lieutenant Junior Grade Nicolaos Verikios) and T-3 (commander - Lieutenant Elefterios Tsomakis), (based at Kyrenia) to attack the Turkish flotilla directly. Both vessels were promptly sunk by combined air and sea attack. The rest of the Cyprus Navy vessels were sunk by their own crews at Naval base "Chrysulis" in Boghazi (14.08.1974). After the conflict, two boats were refloated by Turkish troops and transferred to Golcuk Naval Museum, Turkey (on display with pennant numbers 11 and 12).
