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Angola Navy
The People's Navy of Angola (Marinha de Guerra Popular
de
Angola -- MGPA) remained a relatively unimportant branch
of the
armed forces because of the exigencies of the ground and
air wars
in the interior. The navy's fortified headquarters and
home port,
as well as major ship repair facilities, were at Luanda.
Although
there were several good harbors along Angola's coastline,
the only
other ports used regularly were Lobito and Namibe, and
these were
used only to support temporary southern deployments. The
latter two
ports were located near railheads and airfields. Lobito
had minor
repair facilities as well.
The navy's mission was to defend the 1,600-kilometer
coastline
and territorial waters against South African sabotage,
attacks, and
resupply operations to UNITA; to protect against
unlicensed fishing
in Angolan waters; and to interdict smugglers. In early
1985,
President dos Santos transferred responsibility for
protecting the
rich offshore fisheries from the coast guard to the MGPA
to provide
more effective enforcement of fishing regulations. After
Lieutenant
Colonel Manuel Augusto Alfredo, vice minister of defense
and MGPA
commander, was killed in a road accident in June 1985, he
was
succeeded by Rear Admiral António José Condessa de
Carvalho (nom de
guerre Toka), who had spent the previous four years in the
Soviet
Union studying military science.
The MGPA officially dates from July 10, 1976, when
latePresident Agostinho Neto visited the naval facilities at
Luanda.
Its senior officers had actually begun training in 1970,
during the
war of liberation, when the MPLA sent the first cadre of
twentyfour naval trainees abroad for a three-year training
program.
However, there was no navy awaiting their return. The MPLA
inherited a small number of Portuguese ships at
independence, which
were subsequently augmented by various Soviet warships and
support
craft. In 1988 the MGPA was reported to have 1,500
personnel
(thought to be volunteers) and a fleet of about fifty
vessels that
included guided-missile fast patrol boats, torpedo boats,
inlandwater and coastal patrol vessels, mine warfare craft, and
amphibious landing craft. The independent merchant marine
fleet had
about 100 vessels that could be impressed into service
(see
table 14, Appendix A).
Most of the navy's maintenance, repair, and training
were
provided by Soviet and Cuban technicians and advisers;
Portugal and
Nigeria also provided training assistance. Despite
extensive
foreign support, in late 1988 the serviceability of many
of the
vessels and equipment was in question. Moreover, naval
recruitment
and the proficiency of MGPA personnel remained
problematic; indeed,
the MPLA and Ministry of Defense leadership repeatedly
appealed to
youth (the JMPLA in particular) to join the navy.
Data as of February 1989
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