SLNS ''Sayura'' (''Sayura'', in

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

: Sea) is the former

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

and an

offshore patrol vessel A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval ship, naval vessel generally designed for Coastal defence and fortification, coastal defence, Border control, border security, or law ...

(OPV) of the Sri Lanka Navy. She was formerly, , a of the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...

sold to

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

in 2000. She was upgraded with new armament in India before being delivered to the Sri Lanka Navy. India also committed to providing maintenance and refit of the ship.

Operations

''Sayura'' was tasked with deep sea patrolling both within the Sri Lankan territorial waters and in international waters to curb arms smuggling by the

LTTE The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

. During the 4th Ealam war after undergoing a major refit in India, ''Sayura'', along with other OPVs of the Sri Lanka Navy, has successfully intercepted several ships smuggling arms for the LTTE. In all these cases the ships were sunk when the LTTE Sea Tigers attacked the naval vessels with mortars. ''Sayura'' also participated in the Cadex 2009 military training exercises with the

after the war ended. In 2017, it sailed to Langkawi to take part in LIMA 2017 with a detachment of the newly formed

Marine battalion The 121st Pioneers were an infantry regiment of the East India Company's Bombay Army and later the British Indian Army. The regiment traces their origins to 1777, when they were raised as the Marine Battalion. The regiments first action was in th ...

.‘Sayura’ leaves for Malaysia to attend LIMA-2017
/ref>

Commanding officers

The first Sri Lankan Navy officer to Captain the ship was then Captain SMAJ Perera USP, psc. Since then it has been commanded by: Captain (Later CMDE while commanding) AARA Dias RSP, USP, psc, MSc(DS) Captain AR Amarasinghe RSP, USP, psc Captain RC Wijegunaratne WV, RWP, RSP, psn Captain DMS Dissanayake RWP, psc Captain (Later CMDE while commanding) KKVPH De Silva WWV, USP CMDE SWC Mohotty MSc (DS) Mgmt) CMDE NAN Sarathsena RSP, MSc (DS) Mgmt. CMDE WASS Perera RWP, RSP, USP, psc

INS ''Sarayu''

Commissioned 10 April 1991, INS ''Sarayu'' (P54) served with the Indian Navy until she was sold to Sri Lanka on 1 November 2000.

References

External links

Sri Lanka NavyDefenders of the ocean receive heroes’ welcome on their triumphant return to home base
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sayura Ships of the Sri Lanka Navy Naval ships of Sri Lanka 1989 ships Ships built in India