Belgian Navy The Naval Component ( , , ) of the Belgian Armed Forces , formerly the Belgian Naval Force , is the naval service of Belgium . History . Early history . The Belgian Navy was created as the " Marine Royale " ( ) in 1831 . This force has operated in various forms throughout Belgian history . When after the Belgian Revolution , the country became independent in 1830 , a Dutch squadron blocked the Scheldt estuarium . To deal with this threat the Belgian Congress ordered two brigantine s 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 " . In 1865 , the Belgian government discarded its navy and pursued a minimalistic naval policy . World War I . At the outbreak of World War I , Belgium had no navy but the war caused this policy to change and in 1917 a " Corps of Destroyers and Sailors " was created . 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 . World War II . 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 lasted barely a year until the German invasion of May 1940 . During World War II many members of this 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 - manned ships . From 1940 to 1946 , the Belgian Section of the British Royal Navy manned 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 which along with its crews became the backbone of the new Belgian Navy . Post - Cold War . 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 called the " Marine " . On July 20 , 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 ) currently still in service with the Belgian Navy , which in turn might be sold to Bulgaria . On December 21 , 2005 , the Dutch government sold the " 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 it as the " Drăzki " ( ' The Bolds ' ) . The country ' s government plans to put an order for a second ship of the Wandelaar class together with a minesweeper , both second - hand . The current Commander of the Naval Component is Divisional Admiral Jean - Paul Robyns . In February 2013 it was announced that Belgium had ordered two 52 - meter patrol vessels from the French shipyard SOCARENAM , to be delivered within two years . Mission . 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 / or from the Humans right and exercise the Belgian sovereignty in the maritime zones where the Navy is qualified , defend the lines maritime of communication , 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 : Flag Officers . There are currently four officers of flag rank in the Naval Component : Current Fleet List . Frigates . Karel Doorman class Mine Hunters . Tripartite class Former Fleet List . Principal Belgian Navy ships since 1945 : Future . During 2012 - 2014 the 2 Belgian Navy Frigates will be upgraded followed suit by the 2 Frigates of the Dutch Navy . In 2013 the first NH - 90 Helicopter has been delivered and will be introduced into service replacing the Westland Seaking and Alouette - II from 2014 onwards . In December 2012 it was announced that the navy will receive two new patrol boats for the EEZ area . The navy announced the ships specifications in January 2013 on its website [ http : / / www . mil . be / navycomp / subject / index . asp ? LAN = nl & FILE = subjecttext & ID = 2159 [ 2 < nowiki > ] < / nowiki > ] Crew : up to 30 ( 12 permanent + 18 embarked ) Length : 52 m ( 170 feet ) Width : 9 . 30 m ( 30 feet ) Draft : 3 . 38 m ( 11 feet ) Displacement : 448 tons Speed : 21 knots ( 39 kmh / 24 mph ) Propulsion : 2x MTU Diesel Engine ( 2880 kW each ) Armament : 1x . . 50 Cal ( 12 , 7 mm ) Remote controlled Machine gun Boats : 2x RHIB ( max . speed 37 knots / 69 kmh / 43 mph ) Ships will be build by French Yard Socarenam based on improved French Customs ships http : / / www . meretmarine . com / fr / content / socarenam - va - construire - deux - patrouilleurs - pour - la - marine - belge The navy released the names and pennants for the two ships