''Dewantara'' class is a class of

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

intended as

training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house classr ...

that were built in

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

. Three ships were planned, with each ordered by

Iraqi Navy The Iraqi Naval Forces (Arabic: القوات البحرية العراقية), or the Iraqi Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Armed forces of Iraq. Formed in 1937, initially as the ''Iraqi Coastal Defense Force,'' its primary resp ...

Indonesian Navy The Indonesian Navy ( id, Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Laut, , Indonesian National Military-Naval Force, TNI-AL) is the naval branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It was founded on 10 September 1945 and has a role to patrol I ...

, and

Yugoslav Navy The Yugoslav Navy ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска ратна морнарица, Jugoslavenska ratna mornarica, Yugoslav War Navy), was the navy of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1992. It was essentially a coastal defense force with the miss ...

. The Yugoslav ship was never completed,Gardiner, Chumbley & Budzbon 1995, p. 179 & 188 while the other two were commissioned in 1980 and 1981 respectively.

Development

Iraqi ''Ibn Khaldoum'' is the first ship in the class, which was laid down in 1977, launched in 1978, and commissioned on 20 March 1980. The Indonesian KRI ''Ki Hajar Dewantara'' was laid down on 11 May 1979, launched on 11 October 1980, and commissioned on 31 October 1981.Sharpe 1989, p. 266 & 282 The two ships had different machineries and weapons, with the Iraqi ship have more

autocannon An autocannon, automatic cannon or machine cannon is a fully automatic gun that is capable of rapid-firing large-caliber ( or more) armour-piercing, explosive or incendiary shells, as opposed to the smaller-caliber kinetic projectiles (bull ...

s, while the Indonesian ship instead having helicopter deck in stern. ''Ki Hajar Dewantara'' had its hull and machineries built and installed in Yugoslavia, with her armaments and electronics installed in the Netherlands and Indonesia.

Operational history

''Ibn Khaldoum''

''Ibn Khaldoum'' was later renamed as ''Ibn Marjid''. She was mainly used for training and transport during

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...

and still operational in 1988, despite several Iranian claims that she has been sunk. In February 1991 she was severely damaged, albeit still afloat, as the result of

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

. ''Ibn Khaldoum'' survived the Gulf War, but with its capability reduced as she lacked spare parts for her Roll-Royce engines. She was sunk in the United States air attacks during the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.

''Ki Hajar Dewantara''

In 1992, KRI ''Ki Hajar Dewantara'', along with KRI ''Yos Sudarso'' and KRI ''Teluk Banten'' intercepted the Portuguese ship ''Lusitania Expresso'' in

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...

. Col. Widodo, deputy assistant of the Indonesian Navy's Eastern Fleet, told

Radio Republik Indonesia ''Radio Republik Indonesia'' (Radio of the Republic of Indonesia, abbreviated as RRI), legally ''Lembaga Penyiaran Publik (LPP) Radio Republik Indonesia'' ( Public Broadcasting Institution Radio of the Republic of Indonesia), is a public radio ...

from aboard the Indonesian warship KRI ''Yos Sudarso'' that the ferry entered Indonesian waters at 5:28 in the morning of 11 March 1992. At 6:07, ''Lusitania Expresso'' had traveled into Indonesian territory and Captain Luis Dos Santos (''Lusitania Expresso''s captain) was ordered to leave immediately. Col. Widodo said the Portuguese ship captain obeyed the order and turned his ship around and headed back to sea.

List of ships

Notes

Reference

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dewantara-class corvette Frigate classes Corvette classes Frigates of the Iraqi Navy‎ Corvettes of the Indonesian Navy Training ships