Argentine Naval Prefecture

The Argentine Naval Prefecture (Spanish: Prefectura Naval Argentina or PNA) is a service of Argentina's Security Ministry charged with protecting the country's rivers and maritime territory. It therefore fulfills the functions of other countries' coast guards, and furthermore acts as a gendarmerie force policing navigable rivers. According to the Argentine Constitution, the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic 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, 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 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, 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" ("Capitán de Puertos"). 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, 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 (Spanish: 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 (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 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 howitzers- 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 HMS Tiger Bay. The Argentine Naval Prefecture purchased five Short SC.7 Skyvan unarmed light transport aircraft in 1971, which they gave the call signs PA-50 to PA-54. During the Falklands War these aircraft were assigned to conduct search and reconnaissance, rescue and transport duties. PA-50 arrived at BAN Río Grande on 15 April 1982 and was joined by PA-54 arrived on 17 April 1982. PA-54 was subsequently deployed to Stanley/EAN Malvinas on 20 April 1982 and was joined on the Falklands by PA-50 on 30 April 1982, which was based at Pebble Island/EAN Calderón. Meanwhile, PA-51 was deployed to EAN Río Gallegos on 24 April 1982 and PA-52 to BAN Río Grande on 11 May 1982. While waiting to be put into service PA-54 was damaged while sitting on the Stanley racecourse by British naval gunfire on the evening of 3 May 1982. It did not fly again and was finally destroyed by shellfire during British bombardments on 12/13 June 1982. PA-50 saw some action at Pebble Island, but it ended up becoming bogged down in the soft ground, and on 15 May 1982 it was destroyed by a British raiding party. At the conclusion of the war PA-51 and PA-52 returned to Aeroparque Jorge Newbery/Buenos Aires on 26 June 1982. Illegal fishing The Prefecture is constantly battling illegal fishing vessels in the Argentine exclusive economic zone (EEZ), mostly from eastern countries. The Argentine Naval Aviation 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. 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 (prefectures of Posadas, Iguazú, San Javier, Itá Ibaté, Ituzaingó, Libertador General San Martín, and Eldorado) Alto Uruguay Paraná Superior and Paraguay (prefectures of Corrientes, Formosa, Barranqueras, Pilcomayo, Reconquista, Goya, and Paso de la Patria e Itatí) Lower Uruguay (prefectures of Concepción del Uruguay, Gualeguaychú, Colón, Concordia, Salto Grande, and Federación) Lower Paraná Delta Río de la Plata North Argentine Sea 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. Mantilla class (Halcón II class): 1,000 tons with helicopter deck built by Bazan (Ferrol), Spain GC-24 PNA Doctor Manuel Mantilla GC-25 PNA Azopardo GC-26 PNA Thompson GC-27 PNA Prefecto Fique GC-28 PNA Prefecto Derbes GC-13 PNA Delfín, 700-ton patrol vessel Z-28 class: 81 tons built by Blohm + Voss, Germany GC-64 to GC-83: Last two lost in Falklands War(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 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 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): 334 GRT Ketch rigged sail training and research vessel named for Dr Bernardo Houssay. She was originally built for Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution by Burmeister & Wain in 1930. She was acquired by CONICET in 1966 and was transferred to PNA in 1996. SB-15 Tango: salvage cutter. Former 635 GRT research/survey ship Seismic Surveyor (IMO 7048128), built 1969 in United States and purchased in 2005. DF-19 Recalada: former 17,707 GT 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 helicopters operated by the Coast Guard were the Aérospatiale Puma (3), Hughes 369 (6), Bell 47J (5), and the Sikorsky H-5 (1). Previous fixed-wing types include Grumman G-21 Goose (6), de havilland DH.104 Dove (2), Nord 1203 Norécrin (4), Douglas C-47 (2), Short SC.7 Skyvan (5) Firearms See also Argentine Federal Police Argentine National Gendarmerie Buenos Aires Provincial Police Santa Fe Provincial Police Interior Security System Sinking of the Chian-der 3 References External links Official website (in Spanish and English) International Lifeboat Federation (in English) Article Un guardacostas argentino hunde un pesquero de Taiwan en aguas reclamadas por Buenos Aires in Spanish newspaper El País on 30. May 1986 about bombardment and sinking of a Taiwan trawler by the Argentine Naval Prefecture (in Spanish) Argentinian Coast Guard Helicopters