Nicaraguan Navy

The Nicaraguan Navy, officially the Naval Force of the Nicaraguan Army, (Spanish: Fuerza Naval del Ejercito de Nicaragua) is the naval service branch of the Nicaraguan Armed Forces. The navy's mission is to ensure the defense and security of the islands, territorial waters and exclusive economic zone of Nicaragua in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea.

Nicaraguan Navy
Fuerza Naval del Ejercito de Nicaragua
Founded	1980; 44 years ago (1980)
Country	Nicaragua
Type	Navy
Role	Naval warfare
Part of	Nicaraguan Armed Forces
Commanders
Commander-in-Chief	President Daniel Ortega
Minister of Defence	Rosa Adelina Barahona Castro
Chief of Naval Force	Rear Admiral Ángel Eugenio Fonseca Donaire
Insignia
Ensign

History

Founded on August 13, 1980, as the Sandinista Navy, it consisted of a few old patrol boats in the early 1980s. The Sandinistas acquired eight Soviet Yevgenya class minesweepers, of which seven remained in 1993. Three Soviet Zhuk-class patrol boats were believed to be seaworthy, out of seven that remained at the end of 1990. Also believed to be operational are three North Korean fast patrol boats as well as two Vedette-type boats built in France and armed with Soviet 14.5mm machine guns.

The primary mission was to discourage seaborne Contra attacks and to deter CIA-run operations such as the destruction of diesel storage facilities at Corinto in 1983 and the mining of Nicaraguan harbors in 1984. The Sandinista navy (Marina de Guerra Sandinista—MGS), which had reached a peak strength of 3,000 personnel in 1990, suffered a sweeping reduction to 800 by 1993.

Nicaragua ordered two additional patrol vessels based on the Damen Stan 4207 design in 2017.^[1] The vessels were commissioned as Soberanía I (409) and Soberanía II (411) in August 2019. Unlike many other nations vessels, which are designed solely for coast guard or environmental monitoring, these two have added a military sensor suite and a deck gun. Militarizing the vessels boosted their cost from US$20 million to US$65 million. The vessels are used, had previously been employed by Jamaica - HMJS Cornwall and HMJS Surrey.^[2][3]

Organization

The commander of the navy was a Sandinista Popular Army (Ejército Popular Sandinista—EPS) officer with the rank of major. The principal bases of the MGS are at the ports of Corinto on the Pacific and Puerto Cabezas on the Caribbean. Other installations are at El Bluff near Bluefields and San Juan del Sur on the Pacific.

Fleet

Class	Origin	Type	In Service	Fleet
Damen Stan 4207 Patrol Vessel	Netherlands	Patrol Vessel	2
Clase Rodman-101	Spain	Fast Patrol Boat	4
Sin Hung-class torpedo boat	North Korea	Torpedo Boat	2
Zhuk-class patrol boat	Soviet Union	Patrol Boat	3
Dabur-class patrol boat	Israel	Fast Patrol Boat	10
Vedettes côtières de surveillance maritime	France	Swift Boat	2

References

1. "Nicaraguan Navy commissions two more Damen Stan Patrol 4207 vessels". Navy Recognition. 2019-08-09. Retrieved 2019-08-09. Rather than design vessels that were strictly for naval use, the underlying Damen Stan patrol vessel designs do not include weapons nor a sensor suite. The designs have been adapted for constabulary duties, and for fishery and environmental patrols. According to Sanjay Badri-Maharaj, of the -Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, described how adding an autocannon and military-class sensor suite to the USCG's Sentinel-class boosted its cost per vessel from $20 million USD to $65 million.
2. Alejandro Sanchez (2019-08-09). "Nicaragua commissions new Damen patrol vessels". Jane's Navy International. Washington, DC. Retrieved 2019-08-09. Plans to acquire two Damen Stan Patrol 4207 craft from Damen were confirmed in December 2017. The ships are understood to have previously been operated by Jamaica until 2016 and were overhauled in the Netherlands.
3. Julio Montes (2019-03-12). "Las Patrulleras Damen entran en servicio en la Fuerza Navalde Nicaragua" [Damen patrol cars enter service in the Naval Force of Nicaragua]. Defensa (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-08-09. Los navios tenian el numero de astillero YN549860 y YV 549862, correspondientes al ex HMJS Cornall, y el ex HMJS Surrey.