Marine Detachment aboard the USS Augusta (CA-31) in the 1930s

A Marine Detachment, or MarDet, was a unit of 35 to 85 United States Marines aboard large warships including

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

s, and

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

s. They were a regular component of a ship's company from the formation of the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

until 1998. Missions of the Marine Detachment evolved, and included protecting the ship's captain, security and defense of the ship, operating the

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...

, limited action ashore, securing nuclear weapons and ceremonial details.

History

Marines served aboard sailing ships as a small amphibious force able to capture and hold minor port facilities as required for protection of American interests. Marine

sharpshooter A sharpshooter is one who is highly proficient at firing firearms or other projectile weapons accurately. Military units composed of sharpshooters were important factors in 19th-century combat. Along with "marksman" and "expert", "sharpshooter" i ...

s were often stationed in the

rigging Rigging comprises the system of ropes, cables and chains, which support a sailing ship or sail boat's masts—''standing rigging'', including shrouds and stays—and which adjust the position of the vessel's sails and spars to which they are ...

during ship-to-ship combat to fire at officers and helmsmen aboard enemy warships. Marines often operated

naval artillery Naval artillery is artillery mounted on a warship, originally used only for naval warfare and then subsequently used for naval gunfire support, shore bombardment and anti-aircraft roles. The term generally refers to tube-launched projectile-firi ...

during

general quarters General quarters, battle stations, or action stations is an announcement made aboard a naval warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed ...

when the distances of gunnery engagements exceeded the range of

small arms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes c ...

. As modern Navy tactics evolved away from traditional ship-to-ship combat to fighting over the horizon threats with guided missiles and computer controlled weapons systems, the shipboard responsibilities requiring an independent Marine Detachment aboard ships became more of an anachronism better suited to be absorbed by Navy

Master-at-arms A Master-at-Arms (US: MA; UK & some Commonwealth: MAA) may be a naval rating, responsible for law enforcement, regulating duties, security, anti-terrorism/force protection (AT/FP) for/of a country's navy; an army officer responsible for physical ...

. The individual seaborne landing parties became Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Teams (FAST), able to rapidly deploy where and as needed instead of scattered across the fleet. By 1998, only 11 officers and 275 enlisted Marines remained assigned to individual Marine Detachments when ALMARS 24/98 announced all Marine ships' detachments were to be disestablished. USMC 1stLt Grant Goodrich would be the last commander of a MarDet when he stood down his unit aboard

USS George Washington (CVN-73) USS ''George Washington'' (CVN-73) is a United States Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the sixth carrier in the and the fourth US Navy ship named after George Washington, Founding Father, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army durin ...

on 1 May 1998, at a ceremony following their return home from their deployment.

Officers

Each MarDet included a Marine Corps commanding officer who reported to the

Commandant of the Marine Corps The commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC) is normally the highest-ranking officer in the United States Marine Corps and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Joint Chiefs of Staff: composition; functions. The CMC reports directly to the secr ...

through the

ship's captain A sea captain, ship's captain, captain, master, or shipmaster, is a high-grade licensed mariner who holds ultimate command and responsibility of a merchant vessel.Aragon and Messner, 2001, p.3. The captain is responsible for the safe and efficie ...

. When more than one Marine officer was assigned to a ship,

United States Navy Regulations United States Navy Regulations is the principal regulatory document of the Department of the Navy (not just the ''United States Navy''), endowed with the sanction of law, as to duty, responsibility, authority, distinctions and relationships of var ...

required one Marine officer to be aboard ship at all times unless excused by the ship's captain. Marine officers below the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

sometimes served as officer of the deck.

Horse Marines

The Marines also employed mounted Horse Detachments called "Horse Marines" in places such as

Peking, China } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

from early 1900 to 1938 and

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

in 1927 during the Second Nicaraguan Campaign.Macomber, Frank
"Horse Marines...Rich in History"
'' Sunday The Indianapolis Star Magazine'', volume 64, number 126, October 9, 1966, pages 30 and 32. In Africa during the

First Barbary War The First Barbary War (1801–1805), also known as the Tripolitan War and the Barbary Coast War, was a conflict during the Barbary Wars, in which the United States and Sweden fought against Tripolitania. Tripolitania had declared war against Sw ...

1805-05 and in the diplomatic mission to

Abyssinia The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...

in 1903, the Marine Detachments used camels.

Sources

{{reflist Military units and formations of the United States Marine Corps