Navy of El Salvador

Salvadoran Navy
Active 1842present
Country  El Salvador
Branch Navy
Type Naval warfare
Size 876 personnel[1]

The Navy of El Salvador (Spanish: Fuerza Naval de El Salvador) is the naval arm of the Armed Forces of El Salvador. The current navy was created in 1952, after an absence of almost forty years.

Built around craft and duties absorbed from the Salvadoran Coast Guard, the navy is primarily composed of patrol boats tasked with coastal patrol and fishery protection.[2] The current fleet is made up of three Camcraft-type patrol boats originally built in the United States for use as oilfield crew boats. New patrol boats have been ordered from Chile to replace or supplement the current, aging ships.[3]

Current fleet

Class overview
Name: Camcraft-type small patrol boat
Preceded by: N/A (British built patrol boats, retired in 1981)
Succeeded by: New Small Patrol Boat
Active: 3
General characteristics
Type: Patrol Boat
Displacement: 100 tons
Length: 30.5m
Beam: 6.4m
Draught: 1.5m
Propulsion: 3 diesel engines, 1,200 bhp
Speed: 25 knots
Complement: 10
Armament:
  • 1 × 81mm mortar
  • 2 × 12.7mm MG (GC7, GC8)
  • 1 × 20mm gun (GC6)
Notes: Oilfield crew boats converted to patrol boats.
Number/name Class Builder Type Year Details
General Manuel José Arce[1] Cactus/Balsam-class  United States Support vessel 2002 Ex-USCGC Madrona. Built as a seagoing buoy tender for the U.S. Coast Guard in 1942. Decommissioned and sold to El Salvador in 2002.
GC6 Camcraft-type  United States Patrol boat 1975
GC7 Camcraft-type  United States Patrol boat 1975
GC8 Camcraft-type  United States Patrol boat 1975

Future fleet

Two (possibly three) new patrol boats have been ordered from Chile. They will be slightly larger than the current patrol boats with a displacement of 107 tons, measure 32.7 x 6.7 x 2.1 meters, and have a crew of 14. They will also be slightly slower with a top speed of 18 knots. Armament will be 1 x 20mm gun, and one 12.7mm machine gun.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 "El Salvador". Military Technology World Defence Almanac. Bonn : Wehr & Wissen: 60. 2005. ISSN 0722-3226.
  2. "Country-Data.com".
  3. 1 2 "Hazegray.org".


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