The Panama Sea Frontier was a U.S. Navy command responsible during and shortly after
World War II for the defense of the Pacific and Atlantic sea approaches to the
Panama Canal and naval shore facilities in the
Central America region. The
Sea Frontier headquarters were located in
Balboa, Panama.
On the west coast of the Americas, the responsibility of the Panama Sea Frontier was to protect Allied shipping in an ocean area extending from the
Mexico-
Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
border and out around the
Galapagos, then to latitude
5 degree south. On the eastern side of
Panama, the sea frontier was responsible for the coastal areas from the Mexico-
British Honduras boundary on the
Yucatán Peninsula along latitude 18 degrees 5 minutes north to longitude 80 degrees 27 minutes west, and thence to Punta de Gallinas. However, the prime responsibility of this sea frontier was the protection and defense of the Panama Canal and its operating equipment.
The Panama Sea Frontier also had to contend with political as well as military forces, since the president of
Panama,
Arnulfo Arias, had pro-
German leanings, and also because neutral Panama, like neutral
Spain in
Europe, was a haven for
Axis agents, sympathizers, and spies. Anulfo Arias was replaced as president with the pro-
Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
Ricardo Adolfo de la Guardia Arango, shortly before America was attacked at
Pearl Harbor. However, pro-Axis sympathy continued for the followers of Anulfo Arias, and others, and German influence continued to be very strong in the region.
Commanders
*Rear Admiral
Frank H. Sadler: 7 December 1941 - 15 April 1942
*Rear Admiral
Clifford E. Van Hook Clifford may refer to:
People
*Clifford (name), an English given name and surname, includes a list of people with that name
*William Kingdon Clifford
* Baron Clifford
*Baron Clifford of Chudleigh
* Baron de Clifford
*Clifford baronets
* Clifford f ...
: 15 April 1942 - 14 October 1943
*Rear Admiral
Harold C. Train
Harold Cecil Train (October 15, 1887 – September 7, 1968) was a rear admiral in the United States Navy who served as the Director of the Office of Naval Intelligence between 1942 and 1943 and as commanding officer of the battleship . He was fat ...
: 14 October 1943 - 10 June 1944
*Captain Ellis S. Stone (Acting): 11 June 1944 - 3 November 1944
*Rear Admiral
Howard F. Kingman
Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...
: 3 November 1944 - 9 July 1945
*Captain Schuyler Mills (Acting): 9 July 1945 - 23 August 1945
*Rear Admiral
John R. Beardall
John Reginald Beardall (February 7, 1887 – January 4, 1967) was a rear admiral in the United States Navy. He was Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. s ...
: 23 August 1945 - 27 June 1946
*Rear Admiral
John F. Shafroth Jr.: 27 June 1946 - April 27, 1948.
See also
*
Panama Conference (1939)
The Panama Conference was a meeting by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the United States, Panama, Mexico, Ecuador, Cuba, Costa Rica, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay, Honduras, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Dominican ...
*
American Theater (1939-1945)
References
*
Admiral Ernest J. KingFirst Report to the Secretary of the Navy: Covering our Peacetime Navy and our Wartime Navy and including combat operations up to 1 March 1944 April 1944, pp. 75-88.
*
Samuel Eliot Morison, ''
History of United States Naval Operations in World War II'', The Battle of the Atlantic, 1939-1943.
External links
Glossary of U.S. Naval Abbreviations (OPNAV 29-P1000)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Panama Sea Frontier
United States Navy sea frontiers
Military history of Panama during World War II
Military history of British Honduras during World War II