| Belgian Navy | |
|---|---|
| |
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| Founded | 15 January 1831 |
| Country |  Belgium |
| Type | Navy |
| Role | Maritime warfare |
| Size | 1,354 (2022) |
| Part of |  Belgian Armed Forces |
| Garrison/HQ | Zeebrugge, Bruges, Ostend |
| Ship classes | |
| Commanders | |
| Commander | Divisional admiral Tanguy Botman |
| Admiral Benelux | Vice admiral Harold Liebregs |
| Insignia | |
| Naval ensign |  |
| Naval jack |  |
The Belgian Navy (Dutch: Marine, French: Marine) of the Belgian Armed Forces, is the naval service of Belgium.
The Belgian Navy was created as the Marine Royale (English: Royal Navy) on 15 January 1831. The force has operated in various forms throughout Belgian history.
When the country became independent after the Belgian Revolution of 1830, a Dutch squadron blocked the Scheldt estuary. To deal with this threat the Belgian Congress ordered two brigantines to be built, which bore the names Congrès and Les Quatre Journées. After the French Army, led by Marshal Count Gérard, captured the citadel of Antwerp in 1832, the captured Dutch gun boats were pressed into Belgian service. In 1840 the Belgian government bought the schooner Louise Marie and in 1845 the brig Duc de Brabant. Louise Marie participated in the Rio Nuñez Incident in 1849. In 1862, the Belgian government discarded its navy and pursued a minimalistic naval policy.
In April 1862 the existing royal navy was disbanded as an economy measure. The navy's personnel were transferred to a "state navy force" manning small vessels and employed in non-military functions such as the provision of ferry services, inspection of incoming vessels and charting research. The need for a proper naval service to provide coastal and port defence was raised periodically but did not progress beyond the retention as a reserve of four lightly armed gunboats, moored in the Port of Antwerp and crewed by members of the Belgian Army's Engineering Corps.
At the outbreak of World War I, Belgium had no navy (an impromptu force was assembled at the Battle for Lake Tanganyika) but the war caused this policy to change and a Corps of Destroyers and Sailors was created in 1917. The Belgian naval personnel served onboard French minesweepers and provided the artillerymen for Belgian merchant ships. The Treaty of Versailles allocated Belgium 11 torpedo boats and 26 minesweepers. For budgetary reasons, Belgium again abolished its navy in 1927.
In 1939, against the looming threat of a new war with Germany, Belgium once again resurrected its navy as the Naval Corps. This new navy, consisting mostly of small patrol vessels and coastal artillery units, lasted barely a year until the German invasion of May 1940. During the 18 days campaign, the trawler A4 evacuated much of the government's gold reserve to Britain, while several others helped at the Allied evacuation at Dunkirk.
During World War II many members of the Naval Corps, together with Belgian fishermen and merchant sailors, escaped to Britain with the explicit wish of fighting the German occupiers. The Royal Navy took advantage of this opportunity to enlist the Belgians into separate groups of more or less entirely Belgian-crewed ships. From 1940 to 1946, the Belgian Section of the British Royal Navy crewed two corvettes, (Buttercup and Godetia), a squadron of MMS minesweepers and three patrol boats (Phrontis, Electra and Kernot). In 1946, Britain donated the ships to Belgium. These vessels became the backbone of the new Belgian Navy.
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The Belgian Navy was expanded in the late 1940s and the 1950s with the transfer of former U.S., British, and Commonwealth warships. After Belgium became a member of NATO, the role of the Belgian Navy was to help secure the North Sea, the English Channel, and the Western Approaches in cooperation with other navies in northwestern Europe. The first major surface ships that Belgium received were six Algerine-class minesweepers from the United Kingdom. They also received the Agile and Adjutant minesweepers from the United States. Later developments occurred in the 1970s, when the natively designed Belgian Wielingen-class frigates were built, and in the 1980s when Belgium, France, and the Netherlands launched the Tripartite-class minehunters.
In the beginning of the nineties, the end of the Cold War caused the Belgian government to restructure the Belgian Armed Forces in order to cope with the changed threats. This led to a reduction in the size of the Armed Forces. With regards to the Belgian navy, these cutbacks meant that one Wielingen-class frigate was taken out of service and that three Tripartite-class minehunters were sold to France. In 2002, the government decided to impose a "single structure" on the armed forces in which the independent Belgian Marine Royale ceased to exist. The former Navy became the Belgian Naval Component (COMOPSNAV) of the Armed Forces; it is also generally referred to as the Belgian Navy.
On 20 July 2005, the Belgian government decided to buy two of the remaining six Dutch M-class frigates to replace the two remaining frigates of the Wielingen class (Wielingen and Westdiep) at the time still in service with the Belgian Navy, which in turn were sold to Bulgaria. On 21 December 2005, the Dutch government sold Karel Doorman (F827) and Willem Van Der Zaan (F829) to Belgium. The two ships were sold for about 250 million Euros. These two M-class frigates entered service with the Belgian Navy where they were renamed Leopold I and Louise-Marie. In October 2005, the Wielingen-class frigate Wandelaar was officially handed over to the Bulgarian Navy, which christened the ship as Drăzki ('The Bolds'). The remaining ships of the class were transferred to Bulgaria as well, after completing modernization in Belgium. A Tripartite-class minehunter, Myosotis, which was renamed Tsibar was transferred to Bulgaria soon after.
The current Commander of the Belgian Navy is Rear Admiral Jan De Beurme (since September 2020).
In February 2013 it was announced that Belgium had ordered two 52-metre (171 ft) patrol vessels from the French shipyard SOCARENAM, to be delivered within two years. Both were received, P901 Castor in 2014 and P902 Pollux in early 2015. The two vessels are to remain in service until 2044–2045.
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In times of crisis and war the Belgian Navy will manage, with the support of its allies, the crises rising from the infringements to the principles of International law and from the Humans right and exercise the Belgian sovereignty in the maritime zones where the Belgian Navy is qualified, defend the underwater communication lines, main roads and allied, and protect the ports against any air, surface or underwater attack.
In times of peace the Belgian Navy has the following roles:
| NATO code | OF-10 | OF-9 | OF-8 | OF-7 | OF-6 | OF-5 | OF-4 | OF-3 | OF-2 | OF-1 | ||||||||||||||
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| Admiraal | Vice-admiraal | Divisieadmiraal | Flottieljeadmiraal | Kapitein-ter-zee | Fregatkapitein | Korvetkapitein | Luitenant-ter-zee 1ste klasse | Luitenant-ter-zee | Vaandrig-ter-zee | Vaandrig-ter-zee 2de klasse | ||||||||||||||
| Amiral | Vice-amiral | Amiral de division | Amiral de flottille | Capitaine de vaisseau | Capitaine de frégate | Capitaine de corvette | Lieutenant de vaisseau de 1re classe | Lieutenant de vaisseau | Enseigne de vaisseau | Enseigne de vaisseau de 2e classe | ||||||||||||||
| Admiral | Vizeadmiral | Divisionsadmiral | Flotillenadmiral | Kapitän zur See | Fregattenkapitän | Korvettenkapitän | Linienschiffsleutnant 1. klasse | Linienschiffsleutnant | Seefahnrich | Seefahnrich 2. klasse | ||||||||||||||
| NATO code | OR-9 | OR-8 | OR-7 | OR-6 | OR-5 | OR-4 | OR-3 | OR-2 | OR-1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Belgian Navy |
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| Oppermeester-chef | Oppermeester | Eerste meesterchef | Eerste meester | Meester-chef | Meester | Tweede meester | Eerste kwartiermeester-chef | Kwartiermeester-chef | Kwartiermeester | Eerste matroos | Matroos | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maître principal-chef | Maître-principal | Premier-maître chef | Premier maître | Maître-chef | Maître | Second-maître | Premier quartier-maître-chef | Quartier-maître-chef | Quartier maître | Premier matelot | Matelot | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chefhauptmeister | Hauptmeister | Erster chefmeister | Erster meister | Meister-chef | Meister | Zweiter meister | Erster oberquartiermeister | Oberquartiermeister | Quartiermeister | Erster matrose | Matrose | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Class | In service | Origin | Picture | Type | Builder | Ship | No. | Comm. | Displacement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frigates (2) | ||||||||||
| Karel Doorman class
M class |
2 |  Netherlands |
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ASW frigates | Schelde Naval Shipbuilding | Leopold I | F930 | 29 Mar 2007 (in Belgian service) 31 May 1991 |
3,300 tonnes | Second-hand purchase from the Royal Netherlands Navy, replaced 2 remaining Wielingen class. Modernised in 2012–15.
To be replaced with 3 Future Surface Combatant frigates around 2030. |
| Louise-Marie | F931 | 8 Apr 2008 (in Belgian service) 28 Nov 1991 | ||||||||
| Patrol vessels (2) | ||||||||||
| Castor class | 2 |  France |
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Coastal patrol vessel | SOCARENAM
Sociéte Calaisienne de Réparation Navale et Mécanique |
Castor | P901 | 10 Jul 2014 | 455 tonnes |
A third one has been ordered in 2024. |
| Pollux | P902 | 6 May 2015 | ||||||||
| Mine warfare ships (5) | ||||||||||
| Tripartite class | 4 | Belgium Netherlands France |
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Minehunters | Mercantile-Belyard Shipyard | Bellis | M916 | 13 Aug 1986 | 536 tonnes | 6 City-class mine countermeasures vessel to replace this class from 2025.
In September 2025 Belgium announced that it will donate its four remaining Tripartite-class minehunters to Bulgarian Navy (Bellis, Crocus, Lobelia, and Primula). |
| Crocus | M917 | 3 Sep 1986 | ||||||||
| Lobelia | M921 | 3 Feb 1988 | ||||||||
| Primula | M924 | 20 Dec 1990 | ||||||||
| City class | 2 | France Belgium |
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MCM
"Mine Countermeasures Vessel" |
Piriou Concarneau(hull) | Oostende | M940 | 3 Nov 2025 | 2,800 tonnes | Successor of the Tripartite class in collaboration with the Royal Netherlands Navy announced in March 2019. |
| Tournai | M941 | 25 Sep 2026 | ||||||||
| Auxiliary ships (1) | ||||||||||
| 1 |  Spain |
Hydrographic research vessel | Freire Shipyard | Belgica II (ship) | 25 June 2022 | 1,200 tonnes | Successor of the Belgica. | |||
Note: 1 Tripartite class ship donated to the Ukrainian Navy in June 2025. The Narcis underwent full maintenance before being donated. Belgium provided basic training and the Netherlands offered on-the-job training for the crews.
| Class | On order | Origin | Picture | Type | Builder | Ship | No. | Planned Comm. | Status | Displacement / length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frigates (2) | |||||||||||
| ASWF class
"Anti-Submarine Warfare Frigate" |
2
(+ 1 planned to be ordered) |
_artist_view_(cropped).jpg) Artist impression |
Anti-submarine frigate | Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding | – | – | 2030 | Under contract | 6,400 tonnes | The Belgian Armed Forces and Royal Netherlands Navy will replace their M-class frigates with the Future Surface Combatant. The new Belgian government announced its intention to order an additional third frigate. | |
| – | – | 2031 | Under contract | ||||||||
| Mine countermeasures vessels (5) | |||||||||||
| City class | 4 | France Belgium |
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MCM
"mine countermeasures vessel" |
Piriou Concarneau(hull) | Brugge | M942 | Dec 2026 | Fitting out | 2,800 tonnes | Successor of the Tripartite class in collaboration with the Royal Netherlands Navy announced in March 2019. |
| Liège | M943 | Dec 2027 | Construction | ||||||||
| Antwerpen | M944 | Dec 2028 | Under contract | ||||||||
| Rochefort | M945 | Dec 2029 | Under contract | ||||||||
| Patrol vessels (1) | |||||||||||
| Castor class | 1 | France |
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Coastal patrol vessel | SOCARENAM
Sociéte Calaisienne de Réparation Navale et Mécanique |
Vega | P903 | Delivery first half of 2027 | Under contract | 455 tonnes | In 2023 Belgium decided to get a third patrol ship to patrol the Belgian sector of the North Sea. |
Aircraft operated by 40th Heli Squadron, from the Belgian Air Force.
| Model | Quantity | Origin | Picture | Type | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NH90 NFH | 4 | France  Germany  Italy Netherlands Spain |
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Medium helicopter | Utility and search and rescue | 2013 The first NH90 helicopter was delivered and introduced into service replacing the Westland Sea King and Alouette III from 2014 onwards.
The 4 helicopters will be transformed for the ASW mission. It was planned as part of the STAR plan. It was confirmed in December 2025. |
| UMS Skeldar V-200 | 1
(+ 5 on order) |
 Sweden  Switzerland |
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Unmanned rotorcraft | Naval surveillance and mine countermeasure drone | First flight performed in 2026.
1 will equip each ship of the City class. |
| Model | On order | Type | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TBD | 4 | Helicopter | Search and rescue | Four new helicopters will succeed the NH90 NFH in the SAR role from 2026-2027.
The purchase was planned as part of the STAR plan, and was confirmed in December 2025. |
Belgian Navy ships since 1945:
| Type | Origin | Variants | Period of service | Notes | Aircraft serial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aérospatiale Alouette III | France | SA.316B Alouette III | 1971 - 2021 | Three helicopters | M |
| Sikorsky S-58 | United States | HSS-1 Seabat | 1962 - 1971 | Two helicopters | B |
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