- Navy:
- Naval Forces of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front, 1988-93
- Career:
Freedom fighting in Eritrea began in 1961, eleven years after the United Nations had placed the territory under Ethiopian administration. Eritrean guerrillas fought a protracted war to liberate their country. Some members of the Ethiopian Navy deserted to the guerrillas in 1977-81, but an Eritrean navy was not created until 1988. The EPLF (Eritrean People’s Liberation Front) armed some motor launches supplied by Saudi Arabia and use them to attack coastal shipping in the Red Sea. They captured some merchant vessels and used their motor lifeboats to augment its Navy. In 1990 the EPLF launched a sea-borne assault against Massawa, the main base of the Ethiopian Navy, which fell after a two-day battle (8-10 February 1990). The war ended in May 1991 with complete victory for the Eritreans and the Ethiopian Fleet fleeing to Yemen and Djibouti. In 1993, Eritrea proclaimed independence and the naval forces of the EPLF became the country’s new national navy.
