SLNS Jayesagara (P-601) (Jayesagara, in Sinhalese: Sea of victory) is an Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) of the Sri Lanka Navy. It was the lead ship of the locally built Jayasagara class

Jayasagara class patrol craft

The Jayasagara class is a class of Offshore patrol vessels that are part of the Sri Lankan Navy and have been locally built.-History:Built by Colombo Dockyard Limited for the Sri Lankan Navy in the early 1980s, these were the first warships built in Sri Lanka in modern times...

. She served as the flag ship of the fleet in the 1980s and 1990s.

Operations

Since joining the Sri Lankan fleet in 1983, she served as its flag ship and was deployed for patrolling the coastal water around Sri Lanka. Due to this she was attached to the 7th Surveillance Command Squadron. During the Sri Lankan Civil War

Sri Lankan civil war

The Sri Lankan Civil War was a conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka. Beginning on July 23, 1983, there was an on-and-off insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a separatist militant organization which fought to create an independent Tamil state named Tamil...

, Jayesagara was involved in anti arms smuggling patrols and maritime surveillance. In 2004 she took part in a joint naval exercise with the Indian Coast Guard

Indian Coast Guard

The Indian Coast Guard is a branch of the Indian Armed Forces. Its mission is the protection of India's maritime interests and maritime law enforcement with jurisdiction over both territorial and international waters....

. Since the end of the civil war she has engaged in search and rescue missions in the Indian Ocean.