The Khmer National Navy (; , MNK) was the naval component of the Khmer National Armed Forces (FANK), the official military of the Khmer Republic during the Cambodian Civil War between 1970 and 1975.
History The Royal Khmer Navy (, MRK) was officially established on 1 March 1954, to provide limited patrolling of Cambodia's maritime coastline and territorial waters, monitoring the security of its main deep-water ports and major waterways. The MRK was formed with an initial strength of just 600 officers and enlisted men placed under the authority of Captain () Pierre Coedes, a naval officer of mixed French-Cambodian origin, who acted as Chief of Naval Operations (). They crewed a handful of World War II-vintage ex-French Navy vessels transferred to Cambodia at the end of the First Indochina War: British-made Harbour Defence Motor Launches (), U.S.-made Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel (LCVP) and LCM (6) Landing Crafts. Most of the MRK's naval assets and personnel, together with its administrative headquarters, were harboured at the former French colonial riverine station situated in the Chrui Chhangwar Peninsula () across the Tonle Sap river from Phnom Penh.Corfield and Summers, Historical Dictionary of Cambodia (2003), p. 88. However, the tiny facilities proved so inadequate that the Navy HQ was allocated aboard an old French-made riverine vessel named La Payotte, permanently moored at Chrui Chhangwar base.Conboy, FANK: A History of the Cambodian Armed Forces, 1970–1975 (2011), p. 239.
Early expansion phase 1955–1964 Closely modelled after the Naval and riverine component of the French Far East Expeditionary Corps (CEFEO), the MRK received training, technical and material assistance primarily from France and the United States. At first, the Cambodian naval service continued to expand rapidly under French auspices between 1955 and 1957 – at this stage, a French Military Mission in Cambodia helped in the renovation or construction of new harbour facilities, provided technical assistance and training programs, and supervised equipment deliveries. The MRK also began to receive additional assistance from the United States Military Assistance Advisory Group (U.S. MAAG) aid program, established since June 1955 at Phnom Penh.Ross, Cambodia, a Country Study (1987), p. 241.
The cramped Chrui Chhangwar base was modernized and enlarged to accommodate a new dock designed for large-sized riverine vessels and a Naval Training School (), established in January 1955 to train ship crews and other specialized personnel. The MRK had no naval academy at the time, so Khmer officer candidate students ( – EOM) were sent to France, in order to attend advanced Officer courses at the French Naval Academy in Brest.Conboy, FANK: A History of the Cambodian Armed Forces, 1970–1975 (2011), p. 240.
A new coastal naval base was constructed at Ream in Kampot Province, near the newly built port city of Sihanoukville (rechristened Kampong Som in 1970), equipped with a floating dockConboy and Bowra, The War in Cambodia 1970–75 (1989), p. 23. whilst the Cambodian Navy's tiny surface fleet was augmented at the time by the addition of fifteen sea and river crafts of British and U.S. origin donated by the French government. Under the U.S. MAAG aid program, the Cambodian Navy received three LSSLs, four Landing Craft Utility (LCU/YFU), two 63-foot Combat Salvage Boats (CSB) armed with M2 Browning 12.7 mm Heavy Machine Guns, five LCM (8) LCUs, and more LCM (6) landing crafts.
The neutrality years 1964–1970 By November 1963, MRK strength had grown to 1,200 Ratings and seamen under the command of the Chief of Naval Operations Captain Pierre Coedes until August 1969, when he was replaced by then Lieutenant commander () Vong Sarendy. However, its steady expansion came to a halt on 20 November 1963, when Prince Norodom Sihanouk cancelled all American aid in response to the coup against President Ngô Đình Diệm in South Vietnam and on 15 January 1964 the U.S. MAAG aid program was suspended when Cambodia adopted a neutrality policy.Chinnery, The rise of the Eagle Flights in Vietnam, the air war over south-east Asia (2016), p. 26. Deprived of further American support, the MRK continued to rely on the French military mission to provide both vital basic and technical training for its own naval personnel, receiving thereafter some aid from China and Yugoslavia. Between 1965 and 1969, these latter countries delivered three s and two TC-101 torpedo boats (the latter soon rendered unserviceable due to accidents and natural disasters), whilst France provided an EDIC III-class Landing craft tank (LCT) for coastal transport duties.Conboy, FANK: A History of the Cambodian Armed Forces, 1970–1975 (2011), pp. 239; 245.
As with the other branches of the then FARK, the Cambodian Navy's own military capabilities in the late 1960s remained low and the missions that they performed mirrored those of a peacetime River Police force or Coast Guard rather than a true Navy. Therefore, MRK activities were restricted to inland patrols on the Bassac River, the Mekong, and the Tonle Sap River in the vicinity of the namesake Great Lake whilst high seas operations were limited to routine inshore patrolling in the Gulf of Thailand.Bowra, Cambodia: analysis of U.S. military assistance to Cambodia, 1970–1975 (1983), p. 34.Cambodia Navy - History at GlobalSecurity.org, Accessed 24 Nov 2013
Pre-1970 fleet organization
MRK strength in February 1970 stood at about 1,600 Ratings and seamen under the command of Captain Vong Sarendy, who crewed a small fleet comprising two flotillas (one sea and one riverine) and a training squadron. They were organized as follows: The Riverine Patrol Force ( – FPF), headquartered at the Chrui Chhangwar riverine Navy base operated one U.S. Landing Craft Infantry (LCI) used as a riverine support gunboat, three British Harbour Defence Motor Launches, four U.S. LCTs, one British LCT, and an unspecified number of LCM (6) and LCVPs. The Sea Patrol Force ( – FPM), based at the Ream naval base operated one U.S. Landing Ship Infantry Large (LSIL/LCI) in the coastal support gunboat role, three U.S. PC-461-class Patrol Craft, three Chinese Yulin-class gunboats, two U.S. Rescue Boats, one French EDIC III-class LCT, three U.S. Light Tugs, plus some LCM (6) landing crafts. The Training Squadron (), allocated at the Naval Training School in Chrui Chhangwar, had four LCM (6) and two LCVPs employed for instruction purposes only.
The Navy's inventory also included a small number of American, Thai, and South Vietnamese riverine and sea craft seized while straying into Cambodian territory. The captured vessels comprised one River Monitor (H) Howitzer version (MON), one LCM (6) landing craft, and two LCVPs taken from the South Vietnamese Navy (VNN), plus two Hurricane Aircat airboats captured from the U.S. Special Forces (USSF) by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) in September 1967 and one U.S. Navy LCU1466-class Landing craft utility that accidentally entered Cambodian waters in July 1968; in addition, ten Thai civilian fishing junks were apprehended after being washed ashore along the coast due to inclement weather.
Main naval bases were located at the Chrui Chhangwar Peninsula, which harboured the MRK headquarters', the Naval Training School, and the riverine flotilla outside Phnom Penh and at Ream; the latter served not only as the headquarters of the sea flotilla, but also of the Cambodian Marine Corps – comprising four naval infantry battalions ( – BFM) maintained primarily for static defense, and a French-trained UDT-type Combat Swimmer Unit () employed in salvage operations, obstacle clearance, and underwater demolitions.Conboy and Bowra, The War in Cambodia 1970–75 (1989), p. 17.
Reorganization 1970–1972 Re-designated Khmer National Navy ( – MNK) on 9 October 1970, the Cambodian Navy and its fleet were given responsibility for escorting supply convoys on the lower Mekong-Bassac corridors. Such operations were carried out in conjunction with the Khmer Air Force (KAF), which began to provide since mid-1971 air cover to MNK convoys with their Douglas AC-47D Spooky gunshipsDavis and Greer, Gunships, A Pictorial History of Spooky (1982), pp. 13–14. and later AU-24A Stallion mini-gunships.Davis and Greer, Gunships, A Pictorial History of Spooky (1982), pp. 63–64. In addition, the Navy also provided logistic support (including troop transport and casualty evacuation) for the FANK ground forces. Shortly after the March 1970 coup, however, the French military mission suspended all the cooperation with the Cambodian armed forces, thus depriving the new MNK of vital training and technical assistance. During this phase, the MNK was assisted in its new roles by the South Vietnamese Navy, which lent extensive convoy protection to riverine commercial shipping and helped patrol the Cambodian coastline to prevent North Vietnamese infiltration attempts.
The MNK underwent a major reorganization program in late 1970, with the creation of two operational zones: a Riverine Region ( or RegFlu) headquartered at Chrui Chhangwar and a Maritime Region ( or RegMar) headquartered at Ream; a Mekong Special Zone ( – ZSM; later 12th Tactical Zone or Zone Tactique 12), also headquartered at Chrui Chhangwar was created in mid-1971 at Kandal Province, situated between the Cambodian Capital and the South Vietnamese border.Conboy, FANK: A History of the Cambodian Armed Forces 1970–1975 (2011), p. 19. The Sea Patrol Force and the Training Squadron remained untouched by these changes, though the Riverine Patrol Force was re-organized into three squadrons – the river patrol craft under the Riverine Patrol Division ( – DPF), the landing craft under the Assault Division () and the transport vessels under the Logistics Support Group ( – GSL). These new formations, together with the Naval Infantry battalions, were under the direct command of Captain (promoted to Commodore in December 1971) Vong Sarendy, who in turn reported directly to the FANK Chief-of-Staff for operational orders.Conboy, FANK: A History of the Cambodian Armed Forces, 1970–1975 (2011), p. 20.
As the newly restructured MNK had gained by late 1971 enough experience to commence its own escort and combat patrol operations, an expansion of its naval assets and support facilities, and training establishments was therefore deemed necessary. The two pre-existing Naval Bases were once again upgraded, while another two riverine stations were established on the lower Mekong corridor at Neak Leung in Kandal Province, and at the provincial capital of Kampong Chhnang, on the Tonle Sap River. To train officer cadets, a Naval Academy () was established at Chrui Chhangwar in late 1971, and an Enlisted Man Training Center (), which provided specialized courses for junior ranks was set up one Kilometer south of the Cambodian Capital. The MNK headquarters was moved from the old La Payotte vessel at Chrui Chhangwar to Phnom Penh, where it was provisionally allocated in a rented building at the Psar Thmei Central Market area before moving that same year to a permanent facility at the former French military mission compound in Norodom Boulevard near Wat Phnom.Conboy, FANK: A History of the Cambodian Armed Forces, 1970–1975 (2011), pp. 240; 252.