The fleet consists of east and west coast squadrons, which cannot support each other in the event of war with an adversary such as South Korea.

[4] A seaside grave was constructed for these sailors, which Kim Jong Un visited, in a move described by the New York Times as bolstering his image of caring for the soldiers.

Naval Institute News reported that unnamed US officials believed a North Korean submarine had been lost in the Sea of Japan.

[12] Most KPAN vessels are small patrol-size craft unable to operate over 50 nautical miles (NM) from the coast but capable of policing the DPRK's territorial waters.

The navy's numerous amphibious craft and midget submarines are intended to clandestinely insert SOF units into the ROK.

[9][needs update] The KPAN's most capable weapons systems are their approximately 43 guided-missile patrol boats equipped with the P-15 Termit antiship missile (or its Chinese version, the Silkworm (SY-1)).

Though their small size limits operations to coastal waters and calm seas, they have a capability to quickly respond to Combined Forces Command (CFC) shipping approaching the coast.

This unique vessel has a multiple rocket launcher in the center of its deck to provide fire support to ground troops or attack surface ships.

This includes approximately 100 Nampo personnel landing craft based on a former Soviet P-6 torpedo boat hull.

Defensive mine fields will be monitored by coastal observation teams and radar, and they will be supported by well emplaced artillery and missile batteries.

DPRK has a large inventory of older technology mines, significant historical experience with their effectiveness, and, most importantly, the willingness to use them.

[13] For years, the Korean People's Army Naval Force stagnated with a number of ships becoming old and weapons turning obsolete, this peaked with an accident during drills, when the Chosun Ilbo reported that in mid-October 2013, one of the DPRK's Hainan-class submarine chasers and one of its smaller patrol boats sank during maneuvers in the Sea of Japan with an unknown loss of life.

Called a Very Slender Vessel (VSV), it is cylindrical with a small cross section to pierce through waves at high speed.

VSVs are considered one of the most threatening craft in the Korean People's Army Naval Force for their commando infiltration capabilities onto border islands.

[16] In June 2014, propaganda pictures from the North Korean state TV briefly showed one of the newly built patrol SES vessels, firing a Kh-35 anti-ship cruise missile.

The naval officers wear black jackets and pants with blue shirt and dark tie underneath.

At first, an ordinance issued by the Supreme People's Assembly on June 3, 1972, designated August 28 as the Navy Day, claiming that the first leader Kim Il Sung organized the Torpedo Unit on that date of 1949.