All the Indonesia Navy (Indonesian: Tentara Nasional Indonesia-Angkatan Laut, TNI-AL) vessels are named with the prefix KRI (Kapal Perang Republik Indonesia or Naval Vessel of the Republic of Indonesia). Smaller sized boats with light armaments usually have the prefix KAL (Kapal Angkatan Laut or Naval Vessel of the Indonesian Navy). The classes are often named after lead ships or the first ship commissioned.
The Navy has a traditional naming convention for its ships. Moreover, the ship's type and missions can be identified by the first number on the ship's three-digit hull number, which is located at the bow and the stern of a vessel. The naming convention is such as:[1][page needed]
Hull number beginning with 1 (reserved for aircraft carriers): historical empires and kingdoms
Hull number beginning with 2 (cruisers and destroyers): Indonesia's main islands (for cruisers), national heroes and other historical figure (for destroyers)
Hull number beginning with 3 (frigates, corvettes): national heroes or naval heroes
Hull number beginning with 5 (amphibious ships, LSTs, LPDs, LCUs, command ships): strategic bays or gulfs (for LSTs), big cities (for LPDs), small cities (for LCUs), national figures (for Command ship)
Hull number beginning with 6 (fast attack craft): mythical weapons (previous names for missile boats), traditional weapons (current names for fast missile boats), wild animals (for fast torpedo boats)
Hull number beginning with 8 (patrol boats): native fishes and sea creatures, native snakes and wild reptiles, wild insects, geographical places (such as towns, lakes or rivers begin with "si-", e.g. Sikuda, Sigurot, Sibarau)