National Navy of Colombia

Mission

"Protecting the blue of our flag"

As stated in its institutional site, the mission of the Colombian Navy is:

“Contribute with the defense of the Nation through the effective use of flexible naval power in the maritime, river and land spaces under its responsibility, in order to fulfill the constitutional role and participate in the development of sea power and the protection of the interests of Colombians".

In order to accomplish its mission, the Colombian navy establishes four strategic objectives:

Protection of the population and resources and consolidation of territorial control.

Neutralization of illegal drug trafficking.

Strategic deterrence.

Maritime and riverine safety.

In addition to functions of security and defense the Navy is called to participate in missions aimed to ensure the integral use of the sea by the Nation. For this purpose it must fulfill both military and diplomatic activities along with implementation and enforcement of law and order.

Its formal motto has been historically, "Plus Ultra" (Latin: further beyond); but more recently, and as part of a public media campaign in the 2000s, the additional slogan "Protecting the blue of our flag" (Spanish: Protegemos el azul de la bandera) became known and has been adopted institutionally as well, perhaps as a result of being a more relatable catchphrase to the public than the formal Latin motto.

Its former slogan was "Sailing our pride" (Spanish: Navega nuestro orgullo).

History

The history of the Colombian Navy is interesting.

19th century and origins

The Colombian Navy celebrates its birthday on July 24, the anniversary of the Battle of Lake Maracaibo fought on July 24, 1823, which was the last large naval battle of the Spanish American wars of independence.

During 1815, a Spanish army headed by Pablo Morillo besieged Cartagena, as the first step of its "Pacifying Expedition" (Spanish: Expedición Pacificadora). The five-month siege was so harsh that earned the city its title of "Heroic" (Spanish: La Heróica). The small independent navy was impotent against the large fleet commanded by Morillo, but nevertheless managed some daring actions, in particular that of Luis Brión, who attempted to run the blockade with his corvette Dard with a load of guns and powder to the city before fleeing again to Haiti.

In 1816, Simón Bolívar attempted his first campaign, the Cayos expedition, sailing from Haiti with seven schooners and corvettes: Bolivar, Mariño, Piar, Constitución, Brión, Fénix, and Conejo. But this expedition fizzled out due to infighting amongst its generals shortly after the liberation of Margarita Island.

General Francisco de Paula Santander created the Naval School on June 28, 1822.

In 1824 the first – and only – eight cadet officers graduated from naval school. On March 3, 1826, the Ministry of the Navy was created, with Lino de Clemente as minister. By 1826, both from bought and captured vessels, the Colombian Navy had become a respectable force, commanding a relatively large number of ships, including a ship of the line, a frigate, six corvettes, five brigantines, 10 schooners, 13 gunboats, and many minor vessels.

But the fledgling government was strapped financially, and in a decree of December 7, 1826, Bolívar decommissioned the Naval school, abolished the Ministry of the Navy, and slashed the budget for all navy and marine affairs by more than half. The Navy would not recover from this blow for almost a hundred years. The incipient navy of 1825 saw its ships slowly sold, scrapped, or abandoned, and by the late 1830s there were no more than a handful of serviceable ships, mostly assigned to the Army.

Early 20th century

By 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.

During World War II, Colombia initially declared its neutrality, but nevertheless leaned towards the Allied cause; between 1939 and 1941 nothing much changed either in political relations nor in the sea, as the war was seen as a mostly European issue. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 changed things somewhat and prompted Colombia to break diplomatic relations with the Axis countries, but not to formally declare war. By 1942 the Colombian Navy found itself performing regular patrols in the Caribbean Sea-something that was only occasionally done in the years previous to the war-due to German U-boats marauding the Panama Canal access routes, mostly hunting for American and British vessels entering or leaving the canal.

These German hunting runs, despite the Colombian Navy patrols, eventually resulted in the sinking of three Colombian ships during 1942–43, under circumstances that were never fully cleared up. The three vessels were: Resolute, a 52-tonne schooner sunk on June 23, 1942, by U-172; Roamar (originally registered as Urious), a 110-tonne schooner sunk on July 27, 1942, by U-505 and finally, Rubby, a 39-tonne schooner sunk on November 1, 1943, by the German submarine U-516. Rubby's sinking led to Colombia formally declaring a 'belligerent status' against Germany and the other Axis powers on November 23, 1943 and as a result the Colombian Navy significantly stepped up its presence in the Caribbean after this date and throughout the rest of the war.

On March 29, 1944, as the tanker MC Cabimas was en route from Cartagena to Panama City escorted by the destroyer ARC Caldas, the latter under the command of Captain Federico Diago Díaz. Around 8:00 pm, Caldas detected the periscope of a U-boat and proceeded to engage it with cannon fire and depth charges. Later accounts identified this U-boat as U-154. While badly shaken and perhaps damaged, U-154 managed to escape, and was sunk four months later in another engagement with USS Frost and USS Inch. For his quick reaction in defence of the national seas, Captain Diago Díaz was later decorated by the Colombian government.

21st century

On 27 July 2015, the Colombian offshore patrol vessel ARC 7 de Agosto set sail from the port city of Cartagena de Indias to take part in both Operation Atalanta and Operation Ocean Shield. During the operations, the Colombian Navy monitored over 400 watercraft near the coast of Somalia. The operations also saw an opportunity for the Colombian Navy patrol vessel to perform naval exercises with other navies taking part in the surveillance efforts; amongst them where Hyanë and Erfurt of the German Navy, Galicia, Victoria, and Meteoro of the Spanish Navy, the destroyer JS Akizuki of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and HDMS Absalon of the Royal Danish Navy. While stationed on Victoria, Seychelles, the crew aboard ARC 7 de Agosto also instructed and shared information, with members of the Seychelles Coast Guard and Maritime Police, on structural and naval operations.

Engagements and Conflicts

Battle of Lake Maracaibo

Thousand Days War (Civil war)

Colombia-Peru War

World War II

Korean War

Colombian Armed Conflict

Operation Atalanta

Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa

Operation Ocean Shield

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, Aerospace 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 8 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.

Naval Force of the East

Comando de Guardacostas: 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.

Naval educational institutions

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

The Navy also has 12 other post graduate schools aimed at sharpening and intensifying the needed capacities and personnel of the various naval services and the Marine Corps.

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

Naval Base ARC Bahía Málaga (BN-2), near Buenaventura, 3°58′8.64″N 77°19′1.09″W

Naval Base ARC Leguízamo (BN-3), near Puerto Leguízamo, 0°12′10.92″S 74°46′37.29″W

Naval Base ARC San Andrés (BN-4), at San Andrés, 12°31′31.16″N 81°43′48.61″W

Naval Base ARC Puerto Carreño (BN-5), near Puerto Carreño, 6°10′43.63″N 67°28′54.49″W

some of the more important operational bases are:

Riverine and Coast Guard Post, near Tumaco, 1°48′43.56″N 78°45′59.33″W

Riverine and Marine Infantry Post, near Leticia, 4°12′48.25″S 69°56′46.23″W

Riverine and Marine Infantry Post, near Puerto Berrío 6°29′27.32″N 74°23′44.91″W

Riverine and Marine Infantry Post, near Puerto Carreño 6°10′43.63″N 67°28′54.49″W

Riverine and Marine Infantry Post, near Puerto Inírida 3°52′7.35″N 67°55′43.41″W

The Colombian Navy also plans to establish a naval base in Antarctica, to be called the "Almirante Padilla Summer Scientific Station".

Personnel

In 2013, the Colombian Navy had approximately 35,000 personnel, including roughly 22,000 Marine Infantry, 8,000 sailors and NCOs, 2,500 officers, 1,300 personnel in training and some 2,000 civilians (these usually deployed to specialty technical or medical posts).

Ranks & Insignias

The tables below display the rank structures and rank insignias for the Colombian Navy personnel.

Equipment

Ships

In keeping with its three 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 1950s and 1960s, usually as war surplus from the US Navy, and then went through a somewhat dormant period during the 1960s to 1980s, 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 1970s and 1980s 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, four 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 the late 1990s and extended over to 2005–2006, provided strengthening of its riverine and littoral capabilities, involving research and development 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 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)

Aircraft

The Navy Aviation Command operates approximately 17 fixed and rotary wing aircraft for naval surveillance and patrol, Search and Rescue (SAR), and logistical support of naval facilities and operations.