|
Nicaragua Navy
The "navy" of Somoza's National Guard consisted of a
few old
patrol boats. The Sandinistas acquired more modern
vessels,
although none was larger than fifty tons. The navy's
mission was
to discourage seaborne Contra attacks and to deter CIA-run
operations such as the destruction of diesel storage
facilities
at Corinto in 1983 and the mining of Nicaraguan harbors in
1984.
The Sandinista navy (Marina de Guerra Sandinista--MGS),
which had
reached a peak strength of 3,000 personnel in 1990,
suffered a
sweeping reduction to 800 by 1993.
The commander of the navy is an EPS officer with the
rank of
major. The principal bases of the MGS are at the ports of
Corinto
on the Pacific and Puerto Cabezas on the Caribbean. Other
installations are at El Bluff near Bluefields and San Juan
del
Sur on the Pacific.
The Sandinistas had acquired eight Soviet minesweeping
boats,
of which seven remained in 1993, but none is known to be
in
operating condition. Three Soviet Zhuk-class patrol boats
are
believed to be seaworthy, out of seven that remained at
the end
of 1990. Also believed to be operational are three North
Korean
fast patrol boats as well as two Vedette-type boats built
in
France and armed with Soviet 14.2mm machine guns.
Data as of December 1993
|
