Cyprus Navy

Naval Command of Cyprus Ναυτική Διοίκηση Κύπρου Kıbrıs Deniz Kuvvetleri
Cyprus Naval Command Emblem
Active	July 1964
Country	Cyprus
Branch	Navy
Size	about 400 personnel (2008)
Part of	Cypriot National Guard
Engagements	Battle of Tylliria (Cyprus 1964), Turkish invasion of Cyprus
Commanders
Current commander	Captain Kyriakos Pochanis
Notable commanders	Lieutenant Elefterios Tsomakis
Insignia
Ensign
Naval Jack

The Cyprus Naval Command (Greek: Ναυτική Διοίκηση Κύπρου, Turkish: Kıbrıs Deniz Kuvvetleri) (also known as the Cyprus Navy or Cypriot Navy) is the armed sea wing of the Cyprus National Guard. 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. The Cyprus Navy has the primary mission of defending the sea borders of the Republic of Cyprus, but is currently unable to access waters around Northern Cyprus which are controlled by the Turkish Navy since the 1974 conflict.

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.