As of 2010, the Colombian Navy had 35,502 personnel including approximately 22,000 in the Marine Infantry corps.
"ARC", (Spanish: Armada de la República de Colombia) is used both as the official ship prefix for all the Colombian Navy ships, as well as the common acronym for the navy itself.
History
The Colombian Navy was born with Colombian independence from Spain. The president of the Supreme Board of Cartagena, José María García Toledo, created the Naval Command Office by means of a decree dated September 17, 1810. The navy was placed under the command of Captain Juan Nepomuceno Eslava, junior son of the (former) Spanish Viceroy Sebastián de Eslava.On June 28, 1822, General Francisco de Paula Santander created the Naval School, which was later on decommissioned until 1907, when President Rafael Reyes Prieto created the Naval Academy, through decree 783 of July 6, 1907 only to be closed off yet again by his successor, Ramón González Valencia on December 28, 1909.
The conflict with Peru in 1932 made the Colombian Navy reappear, this time to stay. New ships were acquired and the "Escuela de Grumetes" (Navy Sailors School) was founded in 1934 and the "Escuela de Cadetes" (Navy Officers School) was founded in 1935. Nowadays both schools continue their work of instructing the Colombian men and women of the sea.
Engagements and Conflicts
- Battle of Lake Maracaibo
- Thousand Days War (Civil war)
- Colombia-Peru War
- World War II
- Korean War
- Colombian Armed Conflict
World War II, the U-154 Incident
While initially declaring neutrality, but nevertheless being aligned towards the Allied cause, Colombia declared a state of war against Germany on November 23, 1943. The Colombian navy was already active on combat patrols in the Caribbean, after multiple depredations by U-boats in the area towards US and UK ships entering or leaving the Panama Canal. On March 29, 1944 the tanker ARC Cabimas was en route from Cartagena to Panama City, escorted by the destroyer ARC Caldas under the command of Captain Federico Diago. Around 8:00 pm, the Caldas detected the periscope of a U-boat and proceeded to engage with cannon fire and depth mines. Later accounts identified this U-boat as the U-154. While badly shaken and perhaps damaged, the U-154 managed to escape, and was finally sunk four months later in another engagement with the USS Frost and the USS Inch. For his quick reaction in defence of the national seas, Captain Diago was later decorated by the Colombian government.Organization
The Navy is part of the executive branch of the Colombian Government, the President of Colombia being the commander-in-chief of all military forces,via the civilian Minister of Defense, and the General Commander of Military Forces (Spanish: Comandante General Fuerzas Militares), who is a senior officer appointed by the president from any of the 3 services (Army, Air Force or Navy). The most senior officer organic to the Navy is the Commander of the Navy (Spanish: Comandante de la Armada Nacional).Forces and Commands
The Colombian Navy operates with 7 specialized forces or commands across the territory:- Marine Infantry Command: Land, amphibious and riverine operations across all territory.
- Naval Force of the Pacific: Surface and submarine defense and patrol of the Colombian Pacific sea.
- Naval Force of the Caribbean: Surface and submarine defense and patrol of the Colombian Caribbean sea.
- Naval Force of the South: Riverine operations across the Southern and Southeastern areas of the country.
- Coast Guard Command: Maritime security, control, monitoring and interdiction in both Caribbean and Pacific seas.
- Navy Aviation Command: Naval air support, surveillance, transport and logistics and Search and Rescue.
- Specific Command of San Andres y Providencia:Surface and submarine defense and patrol of the Colombian Caribbean sea around the San Andres Archipelago.
Along with the 7 operational commands above, the Colombian Navy maintains 3 major training schools for its personnel:
- Naval Academy: Escuela Naval de Cadetes Almirante Padilla
- Navy NCO School: Escuela Naval de Suboficiales ARC Barranquilla
- Marine Infantry Basic School: Escuela de Formación Infantería de Marina
Operating Bases
The ARC maintains a number of major bases in both Caribbean and Pacific littorals, as well as multiple operational riverine bases scattered over the territory.The principal naval bases are:
- Naval Base ARC Bolívar (BN-1), near Cartagena, 10°24′42.91″N 75°32′55.62″W / 10.4119194°N 75.5487833°W
- Naval Base ARC Bahía Málaga (BN-2), near Buenaventura, 3°58′8.64″N 77°19′1.09″W / 3.9690667°N 77.3169694°W
- Naval Base ARC Leguízamo (BN-3), near Puerto Leguízamo, 0°12′10.92″S 74°46′37.29″W / 0.2030333°S 74.777025°W
- Naval Base ARC San Andrés (BN-4), at San Andrés, 12°31′31.16″N 81°43′48.61″W / 12.5253222°N 81.7301694°W
- Naval Base ARC Barranquilla (BN-5), near Barranquilla, 11°0′19.55″N 74°47′8.35″W / 11.0054306°N 74.7856528°W
- Riverine and Coast Guard Post, near Tumaco, 1°48′43.56″N 78°45′59.33″W / 1.8121°N 78.7664806°W
- Riverine and Marine Infantry Post, near Leticia, 4°12′48.25″S 69°56′46.23″W / 4.2134028°S 69.946175°W
- Riverine and Marine Infantry Post, near Puerto Berrío 6°29′27.32″N 74°23′44.91″W / 6.4909222°N 74.3958083°W
- Riverine and Marine Infantry Post, near Puerto Carreño 6°10′43.63″N 67°28′54.49″W / 6.1787861°N 67.4818028°W
- Riverine and Marine Infantry Post, near Puerto Inírida 3°52′7.35″N 67°55′43.41″W
Equipment
In keeping with its 3 major operational scenarios: blue-water operations, littoral/riverine operations and coast guard, the ARC maintains a mix of ships suited to each of those profiles. The scope of its operation has been historically oriented towards lightly armed coastal patrol, and as such, the majority of its vessels had been usually mid-size cutters. Traditionally, the ARC has had strong ties to the American and German navies and shipbuilders and much of its equipment traces its roots to them.Similar to other navies in the latin-american region, the Colombian Navy acquired many vessels in the postwar years of the 50s and 60s, usually as war surplus from the US Navy, and then went through a somewhat dormant period during the 60s to 80s, during which few major acquisitions were performed.
In more recent years, the Colombian Navy has seen two major periods of upgrading and modernization of its equipment:
The first period, as a result of the rise of the drug trade in the late 70s and 80s as well as, at the time, increased political tensions in the Caribbean due to territorial disputes with some of its neighbors -with Nicaragua over the San Andres archipelago and with Venezuela over the Los Monjes Archipelago- saw the need for a stronger caribbean patrol force, and resulted in the acquisition of its biggest vessels to date, 4 missile corvettes ( later upgraded to light frigates ) in 1983 as well as some additional patrol craft.
The second period, as a consequence of the deepening in the internal Colombian conflict, started in late 90s and extended over to 2005-2006, provided strengthening of its riverine and littoral capabilities, involving R&D for new indigenous designs in collaboration with the state-owned Cotecmar shipyards that resulted in new types of vessels such as the state-of-the-art Riverine Support Patrol Boats (Spanish: Patrullera de Apoyo Fluvial, "PAF"), also called "riverine mothership" (Spanish: Nodriza Fluvial) like the ARC Juan Ricardo Oyola Vera (NF-613) which have drawn the eye of other navies with similar requirements.
Currently, the ARC is working on additional medium and long-term programs, including the development and acquisition of a number of Coastal Patrol Vessels (Fassmer CPV-40) in 2011-2012, 2 Oceanic Oceanic Patrol Vessels (Fassmer OPV-80) (2011–2013), and the R&D of an indigenous corvette or frigate-class vessel ("Plataforma Estratégica de Superficie"), planned towards 2018-2020.
7 October 2011, South Korea is to donate a recently retired Po Hang-class corvette to Colombia as part of a drive to boost arms exports to the South American region. Kun San (757) was decommissioned by the Republic of Korea Navy (RoKN) on 29 September, having been active for some 27 years since entering service in 1984.
