SLNS Sagarawardena

History
Sri Lanka
Builder	Colombo Dockyard Limited
Launched	1983
Commissioned	1983
Fate	Sunk
General characteristics
Type	Offshore patrol vessel
Displacement	330 tons full load
Length	39.8 metres
Beam	7 metres
Draught	2.2 meters
Propulsion	2 × diesel engines, 2 shafts, 2,040 bhp
Speed	15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	52
Sensors and processing systems	civil navigation radar and day/night Optics.
Armament	1 dual 25mm, 2 dual 14.5mm, 1 40mm L/70? and additional armaments.
Aircraft carried	none
Aviation facilities	none

SLNS Sagarawardena (P-602) (Sagarawardena, in Sinhalese: Sea advancer) was an Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) of the Sri Lanka Navy. It was the second ship of the locally built Jayasagara class. The ship was sunk in 1994 when it was hit by two suicide crafts of the LTTE whilst on routine patrol off the coast of Mannar.

Operations

Sagarawardena was the second ship of the Jayasagara class to join the Sri Lanka Navy and was assigned duty of offshore patrols to counter arms smuggling in the early stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War.

On September 20, 1994 she sailed from Colombo along the coast of Mannar on patrol with Commander Ajith Boyagoda as captain and a crew of 42 officers and men. It was tasked with monitoring LTTE communications during patrol.

Around 11.55 pm Sagarawardena was attacked by a large group of LTTE boats with two explosive laden suicide crafts ramming into the ship, exploding on impact. Following the two initial explosions the ship began to sink.

Of the crew of 43 there were 18 survivors including its captain Commander Ajith Boyagoda, who was captured along with another crewmen by the LTTE. Until his release in 2002 Boyagoda would be the most senior officer in LTTE detention. At the time of its sinking it was the largest ship in the Sri Lankan navy and its sister ship SLNS Jayasagara was the flagship of the fleet.

External links

• Sri Lanka Navy