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[[Image:Naval Ensign of Georgia.svg|thumb|The Georgian Naval Forces flag]]

{{Current-related|article|2008 South Ossetia War|date=August 2008}}

The '''Georgian Navy''' (Georgian Naval Forces; {{lang-ka|საქართველოს სამხედრო საზღვაო ძალები}}, ''sak'art'velos samkhedro-sazghvao dzalebi'') is a branch of the [[Georgia (country)|Georgian]] [[Military of Georgia (country)|Defense Ministry armed forces]]. It is responsible for the security of the entire coastline of Georgia, [[List of countries by length of coastline|310 km]], as well as the Georgian [[territorial waters]].   

The headquarters and a principal naval base are located at the [[Black Sea]] port of [[Poti]]. The other, smaller naval base is in [[Batumi]], [[Adjara]]. Besides the Poti-based naval force, the Georgian navy also includes a Special Counter-terrorist Detachment.

The Georgian Navy consists of 19 boats and 531 personnel of which 181 are officers, 200 [[Non-commissioned officer|NCO]]s, 114 conscripts and 36 civilians.<ref name="MOD">[http://www.mod.gov.ge/?l=E&m=5&sm=6 Georgian Navy]. Ministry of Defense of Georgia. Accessed on [[August 13]], [[2007]].</ref> The current commander is Vice-Colonel Mamuka Balakhadze.  

== History ==
[[Image:Rustaveli naval1.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Naval battle scenes from the 17th century manuscript of [[Shota Rustaveli]]'s poem]]  
Despite Georgia's location at the [[Black Sea]] coast and historical association with maritime commerce, it has never actually possessed any sizable fleet. The first attempt to build a modern navy dates to the country's short-lived independence as the [[Democratic Republic of Georgia]] from 1918 to 1921. The Georgian navy at that time consisted of a [[flagship]], several sailing-boats, and a few tugs commandeered from Russian owners during the [[Russian Civil War]]. The 1921 [[Red Army invasion of Georgia|Red Army invasion]] brought the nation-building to an end and Georgia became part of the [[Soviet Union]]. By 1990, Georgia’s coastal waters had been controlled by the Poti-based 184th Coast Guard Brigade of the Soviet [[Black Sea Fleet]]. Smaller bases were located at [[Ochamchire]], Batumi, [[Anaklia]], and [[Sukhumi]]. After the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]], the Poti brigade was completely withdrawn from Georgia in 1992, having left behind only six vessels. However, the Russian frontier guards continued to patrol Georgia’s coastline until the mid-1990s. 
[[Image:Georgian Navy personnel.jpg|thumb|Georgian Navy personnel]]
In February 1990, the Cabinet of Ministers of Georgia decreed an [[ad hoc]] commission for the army-building problems. One of its groups, led by Captain Alexander Javakhishvili, the former commander of a Soviet [[nuclear submarine]], was responsible for building up a navy. After the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]], Georgia, not a [[Commonwealth of Independent States|CIS]] member at that time, was not included in the initial [[Russian Federation|Russian]]-[[Ukraine|Ukrainian]] Black Sea Fleet partition negotiations in January 1992. Thus, when the separatist [[war in Abkhazia]] broke out in 1992, Georgia was without an effective naval force and defense system. The only two significant naval operations during the war included the August 1992 evacuation of 173 women and children from [[Bichvinta]] (Pitsunda) and the April 1993 destruction of a pro-Abkhaz [[Chechnya|Chechen]] warlord [[Shamil Basayev]]’s camp at [[Gudauta]].
[[Image:Georgian Navy parade.jpg|thumb|Georgian Navy officers]]
Georgia set out to build a navy on [[July 7]], [[1993]] (Georgia’s Navy Day). The navy-building began with equipping fishing vessels by small caliber anti-aircraft guns and machine guns. In 1996, Georgia resumed its demands on its portion of the ex-Soviet Black Sea Fleet, and the Russian refusal to allot Georgia a portion of the ex-Soviet navy became another bone of contention in the progressively deteriorating [[Georgian-Russian relations]]. This time, Ukraine endorsed [[Tbilisi]]’s claims, turning over several patrol boats to the Georgian Navy and starting to train Georgian crews, but was unable to include in the final fleet deal a transfer of the formerly Poti-based vessels to Georgia.<ref>[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]]'s [http://www.friends-partners.org/friends/news/omri/1997/05/970530I.html(opt,mozilla,unix,english,,new) Newsline]. Vol. 1, No. 42, Part I, 30 May 1997</ref> Later, the rest of the Georgian share was decided to be ceded to Russia in return for diminution of debt.

Later in the 1990s, Georgia, with the help of the [[NATO]] member states, chiefly the [[United States]], [[Turkey]] and [[Greece]], managed to build up a small naval force. Yet, until recently, the Georgian Navy had, in many ways, been the most inferior component of the armed forces without any clear operational doctrine and lacking resources necessary to maintain seaworthy ships or conduct training missions. In contrast, the Georgian Coast Guard, which is part of the Border Guard Department and subordinate to the Interior Ministry, is the most effective force in Georgia today. Responsible for border security, the coast guard polices Georgia's coastline (with the exception of a portion of breakaway Abkhazia's waters), manages the {{convert|12|nmi|km|0}} of territorial water and secures the country's two principal ports, Poti and Batumi.<ref>[http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticleprint/2006/02/364ca127-7c2f-4249-81ff-943099cf1b90.html Georgia: Gas Cutoff Highlights National Security Flaws]. [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]]. [[February 2]], [[2006]].</ref>

Georgia is one of the founding members and a participant of the [[Black Sea Naval Co-operation Task Group]].

== Georgian Navy vessels ==
[[Image:Dioskuria.jpg|thumb|The missile boat Dioskuria]] 

The Georgian Navy consists of 19 boats. The most powerful combat units are two [[missile boats]]: the Tbilisi and the Dioskuria. The rest are chiefly patrol boats of various sizes, although there is one larger patrol ship, the ''Aeti'' (აეტი), formerly the [[Germany|German]] minesweeper М-1085 ''Minden''. The navy may have suffered losses in the [[2008 South Ossetia war]], so the figures are not possibly up to date.

===Missile boats===
[[Image:Georgian Navy missile boat Tbilisi.jpg|thumb|The missile boat Tbilisi]]

*The Tbilisi (თბილისი) is a Soviet [[206MR]] project boat, obtained in [[1999]] from [[Ukraine]]. It is equipped with two [[P-15 Termit|Termite]] missile launchers, a 76 mm [[AK-176]] [[dual purpose gun]] and a six-barreled 30 mm [[AK-630]]M [[Gatling gun]]. On [[August 9]] [[2008]] ''Tbilisi'' was reported to have been [[Action off Abkhazia|hit by gunfire and sunk]] by units of the [[Russian Black Sea Fleet]] off the [[Abkhazia]]n coast when allegedly entered a Russia imposed 'security zone' along with four other vessels.<ref>{{ru icon}} [http://lenta.ru/news/2008/08/10/destroy1/index.htm Russian Navy spokesman Igor Dygalo confirms sinking of a Georgian boat''], [[Lenta.Ru]], [[August 10]], 2008</ref> It was discovered on fire in the Georgian port of Poti on [[August 13]] [[2008]]. <ref>[http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/6235/12186421371218163121bf8.jpg Picture of The Tbilisi on fire]<(ref>

*The Dioskuria (დიოსკურია) is a [[France|French]]-built ''La Combattante II'' ([[1971]]), obtained in [[2004]] from [[Greece]], formerly the PG ''[[Greek guided missile boat Batsis|Ypoploiarchos Batsis]]'' (P 17). Equipped with the four MM38 [[Exocet]] missile system , two [[Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon]]s and two 533 mm torpedo-launchers, it is the most powerful combat craft in the Georgian Navy.<ref>{{ru icon}} {{cite web |url=http://www.abkhaziya.org/server-articles/article-511a62b09f51007d2368eee87ec2f70f.html |title=Secrets of the Georgian military         Russian reporter: It is damaged |accessdate=2008-01-18}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
*[http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/doemoff/slavic/pdfs/army798.pdf Army & Society in Georgia (1998)]. ''Slavic & East European Collections at [[UC Berkeley]]''. Accessed on [[August 13]], [[1992]]. 
*{{ge icon}} [http://www.geoarmy.info/sazgvao.htm The Georgian Naval Forces]
*{{ge icon}} [http://www.geoarmy.info/katerebi.htm Vessels of the Georgian Navy]

[[Category:Navies by country]]
[[Category:Military of Georgia (country)]]

[[lt:Gruzijos karinis jūrų laivynas]]
[[ja:グルジア海軍]]
[[ru:Военно-морские силы Грузии]]