Egyptian Navy

Ramses III at the Battle of the Delta between the Egyptian Navy and the Sea Peoples approximately 1198–1166 BC

Muhammad Ali Pasha displaying his army and navy 1830–1848

Egypt has had a navy since Ancient Egyptian times. The Ancient Egyptian Navy was a vital part of the military of ancient Egypt, helping to transport troops along the Nile River and fighting many battles such as the Battle of the Delta against the Sea Peoples. The Ancient Egyptian Navy imported many of their ships from countries such as the Kingdom of Cyprus.[6] Several Ancient Egyptian solar ships are still present today.

In the early 1800s, Egypt under Muhammad Ali Pasha developed a modern European-style army and navy. After intervening in the Greek War of Independence at Ottoman Turkey's request, the Egyptian navy was destroyed in 1827 at the Battle of Navarino by the fleets of Great Britain, France and Russia. With the Egyptian army in Greece then isolated, Muhammad Ali made terms with the British and withdrew a year later.

A replacement fleet was built for the First Egyptian-Ottoman War in 1831, and landed troops at Jaffa in support of the main Egyptian army marching into Syria. In the Second Egyptian–Ottoman War in 1839, following Egyptian victory in the Battle of Nezib, the Ottoman fleet sailed to Alexandria and defected to the Egyptian side. However, these victories provoked decisive European intervention to support the Turks, and while Muhammad Ali's dynasty continued to reign, Egypt ended up being transformed into a British protectorate until being granted independence in 1921.

The Egyptian navy was only peripherally involved in the series of conflicts with Israel. On 22 October 1948, the Egyptian sloop El Amir Farouq was sunk in the Mediterranean Sea off Gaza by a motor explosive boat of the Israeli Navy during the Israeli naval campaign in Operation Yoav as part of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.[7][8][9] During the Suez Crisis, Egypt dispatched the Ibrahim el Awal, an ex-British Hunt class destroyer, to Haifa with the aim of shelling the city's coastal oil installations. On 31 October the Ibrahim el Awal reached Haifa and began bombarding the city but was driven off by a French warship and then pursued by the Israeli destroyers INS Eilat and INS Yaffo which, with the help of the Israeli Air Force, captured the ship.[10] Egyptian destroyers and torpedo boats engaged larger British vessels in a move aimed at frustrating the amphibious operations of the British and French. On the night of 31 October in the northern Red Sea, the British light cruiser HMS Newfoundland challenged and engaged the Egyptian frigate Domiat, eventually sinking it in a brief gun battle. The Egyptian warship was then sunk by escorting destroyer HMS Diana, with 69 surviving Egyptian sailors rescued.[11]

Egyptian and Ottoman Navy during the war of Greece's independence from the Ottoman Empire

The Egyptian Navy's blockade of Israeli ships in the Strait of Tiran that were headed toward the Israeli port of Eilat was one of the main causes of the Six-Day War. During the war, the Israeli Navy landed six combat divers from the Shayetet 13 naval commando unit to infiltrate Alexandria harbor. The divers sank an Egyptian minesweeper before being taken prisoner. Both Egyptian and Israeli warships made movements at sea to intimidate the other side throughout the war, but did not engage each other. However, Israeli warships and aircraft did hunt for Egyptian submarines throughout the war.

In October 1967, a few months after the cease-fire, the Egyptian Navy was the first navy in history to sink a ship using anti-ship missiles, when an Egyptian Komar-class fast-attack craft sank the Israeli destroyer INS Eilat with two direct hits.[12] This was a milestone of modern naval warfare, and for the first time anti-ship missiles showed their potential, sinking the destroyer 17 km off Port Said.

On the night of 15–16 November 1969, Egyptian Navy frogmen attacked the port of Eilat and caused severe damages to the armed transport ship Bat Yam.[13] On 5–6 February 1970, the frogmen attacked the Israeli landing ships at the same port and same piers causing severe damages to the landing ship Bait Shivaa and transport armed ship Hydroma.[13] On 8 March 1970, the frogmen attacked the Israeli oil drill Keting at the port of Abidjan in Ivory Coast believing that Israel had bought this oil drill from the Netherlands for the purposes of oil exploration in the Suez Gulf.[13]

In the Yom Kippur War, Egypt blocked commercial traffic to Eilat in the Gulf of Aqaba by laying mines; it also attempted to blockade Israeli ports on the Mediterranean.[5] The navy also used the coastal artillery to the east of Port Fouad to support the Egyptian Army in order to prepare for the assault on the Suez Canal.[13] In the Battle of Baltim, three Egyptian Osa-class missile boats were sunk.

Officers

Equivalent NATO code	OF-10		OF-9		OF-8		OF-7		OF-6		OF-5		OF-4		OF-3		OF-2		OF-1						OF(D) and student officer
Egyptian Navy	No equivalent																								No equivalent
			Admiral		Vice Admiral		Rear Admiral		Commodore		Captain		Commander		Lieutenant Commander		Lieutenant		Sub Lieutenant			Ensign
			Fariq awwal (فريق أول)		Fariq (فريق‎‎)		Liwaa' (لواء‎‎)		'amid (عميد)		'aqid (عقيد)		Moqaddim (مقدم)		Ra'id (رائد‎‎)		Naqib (نقيب)		Molazim awwal (ملازم أول)			Molazim (ملازم)

Enlisted

Equivalent NATO code	OR-9						OR-8		OR-7		OR-6						OR-5						OR-4				OR-3		OR-2						OR-1
Egyptian Navy									No equivalent																		No equivalent								No equivalent
	Warrant Officer Class 1						Warrant Officer Class 2				Chief Petty Officer						Petty Officer						Leading Seaman						Able Seaman
	Mosa'id awwal (مساعد أول)						Mosa'id (مساعد)				Raqib awwal (رقيب أول)						Raqib (رقيب)						'arif (عريف)						Jondi (جندي)

The Egyptian Navy is structured into two different fleets, one for the Mediterranean sea and the other for the Red Sea. This in a context where the safety of shipping in the Red Sea is becoming increasingly important.[14]

Amphibious fleet

Two Egyptian navy amphibious landing craft in 2009

The first Mistral helicopter carrier named after late President Gamal Abdel-Nasser arrived in Alexandria in June 2016. On 16 September 2016, the Egyptian Navy Commander, Admiral Osama Rabie, raised the Egyptian flag on board of the BPC-210 Mistral Class amphibious assault ship (BPC/LHD).[20] Russia and Egypt had signed a deal for Egypt's purchase of 50 Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopters from Russia. The purchase includes the variant of the Ka-52 Katran, which specifically designed for the Mistrals that Russia had intended to acquire.[16]

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The Egyptian Coast Guard is responsible for the onshore protection of public installations near the coast and the patrol of coastal waters to prevent smuggling. Currently consists of one hundred five ships and craft.

The Egyptian Navy has adopted the 60m diesel-powered Ambassador MK III fast missile patrol craft. The construction of the boats began in spring 2001. Egypt already had an older version of the Ambassador patrol craft in service, but the new boats would contain an update in design meant to make the vessels more resistant to radar detection. Design was conducted with the assistance of Lockheed Martin. Throughout recent years, Egypt has been constructing various Ramos-grade shipyards, which are capable of making more recent vessels like larger fast attack craft, low-grade aircraft carriers (such as Oryx-class or Nimitz-class) and nuclear submarines, though none of the aforementioned vessels have been constructed there.

The navy is currently undergoing a modernization of its surface fleet. On 16 February 2015, the Egyptian Navy ordered one FREMM multipurpose frigate from the French shipbuilder DCNS to enter service before the opening of the New Suez Canal, as part of a larger deal (including 24 Rafales and a supply of missiles) worth €5.2bn.[24][25] Egypt has also signed a €1bn contract with DCNS to buy four Gowind 2,500 ton corvettes with an option for two more.[26] The ageing submarine fleet is to be replaced starting in 2016 when the first of four Type 209 submarine's worth €920 million start arriving from Germany.[27]

On 7 August 2015, Le Monde reported that Egypt and Saudi Arabia are in discussions with France to purchase the two amphibious assault ship Mistral class originally intended for Russia. Le Monde quoted a French diplomatic source as confirming that French President François Hollande discussed the matter with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi during his visit to Egypt during the inauguration of the New Suez Canal in Ismailia.[28][29] On 24 September 2015, the French presidency announced that an agreement had been reached with Egypt for the supply of the two Mistrals.[30][31]

Spiegel online announced on 2 January 2019 that the German federal security council approved the sale of 1 Meko 200 frigate similar to the South African Valour class for 500 million euros, Egypt also intends to buy at least another frigate of the class in the future .[32]

In April, 2019, the German parliament approved the euler hermes guarantee of 2.3 billion euros for the sale of 6 Meko A200 class frigates to the Egyptian navy[33]

In 2020, the Italian government accepted the proposal to sell two Bergamini-class frigates to Egypt for a value of 1.2 billion euros.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Egyptian Navy.

• Ancient Egyptian navy
• Battle of Navarino included the Egyptian Navy
• Egyptian Armed Forces
• List of ships of the Egyptian Navy

• Globalsecurity.org – Egyptian navy
• armstrade.sipri.org