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 US MAAG aid program was suspended when Cambodia adopted a neutrality policy. 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 "Yulin"-class gunboats 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.