- Navy:
- Biafra Navy, 1967-70
- Name:
- Biafra Navy
- Career:
A small navy, under Commander (later Captain) William A. Anuku, was established first in Calabar with the patrol boat BNS Vigilance, formerly the Nigerian Navy ship Ibadan. In June 1967, the Biafra Navy base settled at Kidney Island, Port Harcourt. The Vigilance was sunk at Bonny (25 July 1967) but more gunboats were later manufactured locally. These were ocean-going tugs seized from the Nigerian Ports Authority, plated with light armour and fitted with light guns and machine-guns. First was the Ikwerre (in 1967), and then the PC101, PC202 and PC203 (in 1968). The Biafra Navy also used one artillery barge, some speed boats mounted with machine-guns and rocket launchers, and various troop-carriers and landing crafts.
The Biafran Navy successfully guarded the seaways to Port-Harcourt in 1967-68. After Port-Harcourt fell in May 1968 most of the ships were lost. The Navy moved to Isiokpo and two months later to Oguta, where only PC203 and some speedboats arrived. PC203 sank during the Nigerian attack on Oguta (10-12 September 1968), and another gunboat (PC204) was built there in 1969. The navy provided support for army operations in the Niger River and maintained detachments in Atani and Arochukwu, which continued to fight till the end of the war in January 1970.
