Prefectura Naval Argentina
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The Argentine Naval Prefecture ( es, Prefectura Naval Argentina or PNA) is a service of
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
's Security Ministry charged with protecting the country's rivers and maritime territory. It therefore fulfills the functions of other countries'
coast guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...
s, and furthermore acts as a
gendarmerie Wrong info! --> A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (literally, ...
force policing navigable rivers. According to the
Argentine Constitution The Constitution of the Argentine Nation ( es, Constitución de la Nación Argentina) is the basic governing document of Argentina, and the primary source of existing law in Argentina. Its first version was written in 1853 by a constitutional ...
, the
Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic The Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, in es, Fuerzas Armadas de la República Argentina, are controlled by the Commander-in-Chief (the President) and a civilian Minister of Defense. In addition to the Army, Navy and Air Force, there are ...
cannot intervene in internal civil conflicts, so the Prefecture is defined as a civilian "security force of a military nature". It maintains a functional relationship with the
Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
, as part of both the National Defense System and the Interior Security System. It therefore maintains capabilities arising from the demands required by joint military planning with the armed forces. The PNA is a large organization for a coastguard. With a strength of 45,750 sworn members, the PNA is a larger organization than most national navies, and is in fact slightly larger than the
Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; es, Armada de la República Argentina). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the ...
– the organization upon which it had been attached for a long time until the 1980s, when it was transferred to direct control of the Ministry of Defense.


History


Creation

The Prefecture's predecessor is the ports service founded by the first autonomous Argentine government in June 1810, six years before Argentina declared independence. In Argentina this is considered the official founding date of the PNA. The first commander of the force was Colonel
Martín Jacobo Thompson Martín Jacobo Thompson (1777–1819) was an Argentine patriot, who had an active participation during the English invasions, and the Revolution of May. He is considered the founder of the Argentine Naval Prefecture. Biography Martín Jacob ...
, a Porteño of partially English descent who had served against the British in the invasions of 1806–7. Thompson was given the title of "Captain of Ports" (""). Although the PNA traces itself back to its predecessor of 1806, the modern Prefecture was in fact founded in the late nineteenth century as the "National Maritime Prefecture" on the initiative of
Manuel Florencio Mantilla Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name) * Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Charlie Manuel, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * M ...
, a well-known Argentine senator who was also a respected academic and intellectual. The law pertaining to it was enacted in October 1896.


Falklands War

The Prefecture had a minor role in the
Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
( es, Guerra de las Malvinas ). As with other Argentine military services, participation in this conflict is given considerable weight in the institutional memory of the service. Two PNA patrol vessels, ''
Islas Malvinas The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...
'' (GC-82) and ''Rio Iguazu'' (GC-83), were sent to provide an Argentine coastguard service to the islands. According to Argentine sources, ''Rio Iguazu'' came into contact with a British
Sea Harrier The British Aerospace Sea Harrier is a naval short take-off and vertical landing/vertical take-off and landing jet fighter, reconnaissance and attack aircraft. It is the second member of the Harrier family developed. It first entered servic ...
aircraft on 21 May and one member of the vessel's crew was killed while firing a 12.7 mm machine gun at the British jet. The ship ran aground, but most of its cargo -among them two 105 mm
howitzer A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...
s- was recovered later. The crew of the patrol boat claimed the shooting down of the aircraft, but this was later proved to be unfounded. The sortie was actually carried out by two Sea Harriers of 800 Naval Air Squadron, Nº XZ460 and XZ499, which strafed the vessel with 30 mm cannon fire. The patrol vessel ''Islas Malvinas'' was captured and operated by the Royal Navy, as .


Illegal fishing

The Prefecture is constantly battling
illegal fishing Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) is an issue around the world. Fishing industry observers believe IUU occurs in most fisheries, and accounts for up to 30% of total catches in some important fisheries. Illegal fishing takes pl ...
vessels in the Argentine exclusive economic zone (EEZ), mostly from eastern countries. The
Argentine Naval Aviation ) Gulf War , anniversaries = , decorations = , battle_honours = , commander1 = President , commander1_label = Commander-in-Chief , commander2 ...
also collaborates in detection of such ships with their CASA 212 S68 and Beechcraft 350ER' maritime surveillance aircraft.


''Chian-der 3'' incident

The sinking of ''Chian-der 3'' was an incident which occurred on 28 May 1986 when the Taiwanese flag naval trawler ''Chian-der 3'' was detected, tracked, shot, set on fire and finally sunk by the PNA. The sinking was carried out by PNA vessel ''Prefecto Derbes''. Two Taiwanese fishermen were killed; four others were injured. The Taiwanese fishermen's union called the incident a "barbaric act" and the British government condemned it as "unjustifiable and excessive".


Organization


Headquarters

The PNA is subordinate to the Ministry of Security. The organization is headed by the National Naval Prefect (''Prefecto Nacional Naval''), currently Prefect-General Carlos Edgardo Fernandez, assisted by the Deputy National Naval Prefect (''Subprefecto Nacional Naval''), currently Prefect-General Ricardo Rodriguez. The Prefecture's main facility is located in the Edificio Guardacostas (which translates as "the Coastguard Building") at 235 E. Madero Avenue,
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
. The PNA headquarters is divided into three main departments, each headed by a Director-General with the rank of ''Prefecto General''. These are each divided into a number of directorates, each headed by a Director with the rank of Prefect-General (''Prefecto General''). The Intelligence Service (''Servicio de Inteligencia'') is directly responsible to the National Naval Prefect and is also headed by a Prefect-General. *''Dirección General de Seguridad'' (Directorate-General of Security) **''Dirección de Operaciones'' (Directorate of Operations) **''Dirección de Policía de Seguridad de la Navegación'' (Directorate of Navigation Security Police) **''Dirección de Policía Judicial, Protección Marítima y Puertos'' (Directorate of Judicial Police, Maritime Protection and Ports) **''Dirección de Protección Ambiental'' (Directorate of Environmental Protection) *''Dirección General de Logística'' (Directorate-General of Logistics) **''Dirección de Personal'' (Directorate of Personnel) **''Dirección de Material'' (Directorate of Materiel) **''Dirección de Educación'' (Directorate of Education) **''Dirección de Administración Financiera'' (Directorate of Financial Administration) **''Dirección de Bienestar'' (Directorate of Welfare) *''Dirección General de Planeamiento y Desarrollo'' (Directorate-General of Planning and Development) **''Dirección de Planeamiento'' (Directorate of Planning) **''Secretaría General'' (Secretariat-General; headed by the Secretary-General, a ''Prefecto Mayor'')


Regions

The PNA is divided into ten zones: *
Alto Paraná The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...
(prefectures of Posadas, Iguazú, San Javier,
Itá Ibaté Itá Ibaté (in Guarani ''high stone'') is a town in Corrientes Province, Argentina. It is located in the General Paz Department General Paz Department is a department of Corrientes Province in Argentina Argentina (), officially th ...
, Ituzaingó, Libertador General San Martín, and
Eldorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king o ...
) * Alto Uruguay * Paraná Superior and
Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
(prefectures of
Corrientes Corrientes (; Guaraní language, Guaraní: Taragüí, literally: "Currents") is the capital city of the Provinces of Argentina, province of Corrientes Province, Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from ...
,
Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...
,
Barranqueras Barranqueras is a city in the southeast of the province of Chaco, Argentina, on a small tributary river on the right-hand-side (western) shore of the Paraná River, only 7 km from the provincial capital Resistencia and within its metropo ...
, Pilcomayo,
Reconquista The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...
,
Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and ...
, and Paso de la Patria e Itatí) * Lower Uruguay (prefectures of
Concepción del Uruguay Concepción del Uruguay is a city in Argentina. It is located in the Entre Ríos Province, Entre Ríos province, on the western shore of the Uruguay River, some 320 kilometers north from Buenos Aires. Its population is about 80,000 inhabitants ( ...
, Gualeguaychú, Colón, Concordia, Salto Grande, and Federación) * Lower Paraná *
Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...
*
Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata (, "river of silver"), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and fo ...
* North
Argentine Sea The Argentine Sea ( es, Mar Argentino) is a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the southern tip of South America. It ranges from the mouth of the estuary of the Río de la Plata in the north ( 35th parallel south) to the Isla de los Es ...
* South Argentine Sea * Lacustre and Comahu


Ranks

The highest rank of the service, Prefect-General, is held by both the National Naval Prefect and Deputy National Naval Prefect, as well as by many of the most senior officers of the prefecture, such as the heads of the different directorates of the national headquarters. While the rank itself equals that of Rear Admiral in the Argentine Navy, the National Naval Prefect and the Deputy National Naval Prefect titles are both equated to the ranks of Admiral and Vice Admiral, respectively, and wear corresponding insignia. Officer ranks are as follows: The non-commissioned officer and enlisted ranks of the Prefecture are as follows:


Inventory


Main ships


Patrol vessels

The Argentine Naval Prefecture use the following ships for patrol purposes. * (Halcón II class): 1,000 tons with helicopter deck built by Bazan (Ferrol), Spain ** GC-24 ** GC-25 ** GC-26 ** GC-27 ** GC-28 * GC-13 , 700-ton patrol vessel * Z-28 class: 81 tons built by
Blohm + Voss Blohm+Voss (B+V), also written historically as Blohm & Voss, Blohm und Voß etc., is a German shipbuilding and engineering company. Founded in Hamburg in 1877 to specialise in steel-hulled ships, its most famous product was the World War II battle ...
, Germany ** GC-64 to GC-83: Last two lost in
Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
(GC-82 and 83) ** GC-64 ''Mar del Plata'' ** GC-65 ''Martin Garcia'' ** GC-66 ''Rio Lujan'' ** GC-67 ''Río Uruguay'' ** GC-68 ''Rio Paraguay'' ** GC-69 ''Río Paraná ** GC-70 ''Río de la Plata'' ** GC-71 ''La Plata '' ** GC-72 ''Buenos Aires'' ** GC-73 ''Cabo Corrientes'' ** GC-74 ''Quequén'' ** GC-75 ''Bahía Blanca'' ** GC-76 ''Ingeniero White'' ** GC-77 ''Golfo San Matías'' ** GC-78 ''Madryn'' ** GC-79 ''Río Deseado'' ** GC-80 ''Ushuaia'' ** GC-81 ''Canal Beagle'' ** GC-82 ''
Islas Malvinas The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...
'' ** GC-83 ''Rio Iguazu'' * Stan Tender 2200 class: 61 tons built by Damen, Netherlands ** GC-122, 123, 124, 125, 129, 130, 150, 151 * Stan Tender 1750 class: 55 tons built by Damen, Netherlands ** GC-118, 119, 133 * Damen Alucat 1050 class: 15 tons built by Damen, Netherlands ** GC-137, 138, 139, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149 *
Shaldag-class patrol boat The Shaldag-class patrol boat ( he, שלדג, ''Kingfisher'') is a small but fast class of patrol boats developed for the Israeli Navy and launched in 1989, it has since seen service with several other navies. Designed for security tasks where h ...
MK II ** GC-195 ''Guaraní'' ** GC-196 ''Mataco'' ** GC-197 ''Timbu'' ** GC-198 ''Toba'' At least other 50 vessels on the 8–15-ton range.


Other vessels

* PNA ''Dr. Bernardo Houssay'' (MOV1): Ketch rigged sail training and research vessel named for Dr Bernardo Houssay. She was originally built for
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, acronym pronounced ) is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of marine science and engineering. Established in 1930 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, it i ...
by
Burmeister & Wain Burmeister & Wain was a large established Danish shipyard and leading diesel engine producer headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded by two Danes and an Englishman, its earliest roots stretch back to 1846. Over its 150-year history, it g ...
in 1930. She was acquired by CONICET in 1966 and was transferred to PNA in 1996. * SB-15 ''Tango'': salvage cutter. Former research/survey ship ''Seismic Surveyor'' (IMO 7048128), built 1969 in United States and purchased in 2005. * DF-19 ''Recalada'': former Shell Argentina oil tanker ''Estrella Atlantica'' ex-''Humberto Beghin'', built 1982 in Argentina and purchased in 2011. Converting in Buenos Aires to a pilot boarding station. Tanker ''Estrella Austral'' will be similarly converted to pilot boarding station DF-20.


Aircraft


Former aircraft

Previous aircraft operated by the Coast Guard were the
Aérospatiale Puma Aérospatiale (), sometimes styled Aerospatiale, was a French state-owned aerospace manufacturer that built both civilian and military aircraft, rockets and satellites. It was originally known as Société nationale industrielle aérospatiale ( ...
,
Hughes 369 The MD Helicopters MD 500 series is an American family of light utility civilian and military helicopters. The MD 500 was developed from the Hughes 500, a civilian version of the US Army's OH-6A Cayuse/Loach. The series currently includes the M ...
,
Bell 47J The Bell 47J Ranger is an American single-engine single-rotor light helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It was an executive variant of the highly successful Bell 47 and was the first helicopter to carry a United States president. Design ...
, and the
Sikorsky H-5 The Sikorsky H-5 (initially designated R-5 and also known as S-48, S-51 and by company designation VS-327Fitzsimons, Bernard, (general editor). ''Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare'' (London: Phoebus, 1978), Volume 20, ...
.


Firearms


See also

*
Argentine Federal Police The Argentine Federal Police ( es, Policía Federal Argentina or PFA) is the national civil police force of the Argentine federal government. The PFA has detachments throughout the country. Until January 1, 2017, it also acted as the local la ...
*
Argentine National Gendarmerie The Argentine National Gendarmerie ( es, Gendarmería Nacional Argentina, GNA) is the national gendarmerie force and corps of border guards of the Argentine Republic. It has a strength of 70,000. The gendarmerie is primarily a frontier guard forc ...
*
Buenos Aires Provincial Police The Buenos Aires Provincial Police (Spanish: ''Policía de la Provincia de Buenos Aires'', informally ''Policía Bonaerense'') is the police service responsible for policing the Province of Buenos Aires, in Argentina. It is one of the biggest pol ...
*
Santa Fe Provincial Police The ''Policía de la Provincia de Santa Fe'' (Santa Fe Province Police, PPSF) is an Argentine police agency, responsible for policing the Santa Fe Province The Province of Santa Fe ( es, Provincia de Santa Fe, ) is a province of Argentina, lo ...
* Interior Security System * Sinking of the Chian-der 3


References


External links

*
International Lifeboat Federation
*Articl
Un guardacostas argentino hunde un pesquero de Taiwan en aguas reclamadas por Buenos Aires
in Spanish newspaper
El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...
on 30. May 1986 about bombardment and sinking of an Taiwan trawler by the Argentine Naval Prefecture
Argentinian Coast Guard Helicopters
{{Authority control Military of Argentina Coast guards Sea rescue organizations Military units and formations established in 1810 1810 establishments in Argentina Maritime law enforcement agencies