Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela

Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela Armada Bolivariana de Venezuela
Coat of Arms of the Navy
Founded	1811 (1811)
Country	Venezuela
Allegiance	President of Venezuela
Branch	National Armed Forces of Venezuela
Type	Navy
Role	Defense of Venezuela's coastline and maritime and inland waters
Size	6 frigates, 4 corvettes, 2 submarines, 4 amphibious ships, 8 patrol boats, 3 auxiliary ships
Part of	Ministry of the Popular Participation for the Defense
Patron	Virgen del Valle
Motto(s)	Navegare necesse, vivere non necesse (Latin: "Sailing is necessary, but living is not".)
Colors	Navy blue
March	Marcha Epica de las Fuerzas Navales (English: "Grand March of the National Navy")
Anniversaries	July 24, Birthday of Simon Bolivar, Navy Day and Battle of Lake Maracaibo Anniversary
Engagements	Venezuelan War of Independence and the Battle of Lake Maracaibo
Commanders
Minister of the People's Power for Defense of the Republic of Venezuela and concurrently Operational Strategic Commander of the National Armed Forces	General-in-Chief Vladimir Padrino López
Commanding General, Venezuelan Navy	Admiral Orlando Miguel Maneiro Gaspar
Inspector General, Venezuelan Navy	Vice Admiral Carlos José Vieira Acevedo
Chief of Naval Staff, Venezuelan Navy	Vice Admiral Jorge Martín Hernández Salazar
Notable commanders	José Prudencio Padilla Luis Brión
Insignia
Naval ensign
Naval jack
Flag
Naval jack (1930–2006)

The Navy of Venezuela is officially called the Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela (Spanish: Armada Bolivariana de Venezuela).

It serves the purpose of defending the naval sovereignty of the country, including inland and fluvial security, and it also serves to prevent illegal activities in the Venezuelan borders and collaborates with international organizations to safeguard international waters from criminal activities.

History

The Navy was born as a coastal defense force during the beginning of the Venezuelan War of Independence. In May 1810, Commander Lino de Clemente, a veteran officer of the Spanish Navy who joined the April 1810 coup against the colonial government, was appointed the first Minister of Defense of the republic and began the long building of the armed forces including the formation of the navy. In April 1811 the Nautical School, with Ensign Vicente Parrado as its first superindentent, was opened by order of the national government in La Guaira to train future naval officers, months before the Venezuelan Declaration of Independence, thus the Navy's origins start from this date, with its first vessels being those formerly used by the naval forces of the Captaincy General of Venezuela, and participated in its first actions in the campaigns in Guayana in 1811-12, the baptism of fire for the fledgling naval service. Col. Antonio Mendoza from the Venezuelan Army was its first commanding general.

For long time their vessels, even if obsolete, were maintained properly by its sailors. In 1937 the Navy acquired from Italy two gunboats of the Azio class and rechristened them General Soublette and General Urdaneta; these ships where retained in service until 1951^[1] (for other sources in 1948^[2] or 1950^[3][4]) and scrapped later.^[5][6]

Joint exercises

In September, 2008, the Russian Navy's nuclear-powered missile cruiser Pyotr Velikiy, accompanied by three other ships of Russia's Northern Fleet, sailed from its base in Severomorsk on a cruise to the Caribbean Sea for a joint exercise with the Venezuelan Navy. This action represented the first major Russian power projection in that region since the end of the Cold War.^[7][8] The fleet of ships, headed by the nuclear-powered Pyotr Velikiy, set off from its base at Severomorsk in the Arctic on Monday, September 22. Russian Navy spokesman Igor Dygalo told the AFP news agency, "It's the nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser Peter the Great, the anti-submarine warship Admiral Chebanenko and other accompanying ships". The other ships included a tug boat and supply ships.^[9]

Organization of the Navy

As of 2016, Admiral Orlando Miguel Maneiro Gaspar is the Commanding General of the National Navy.^[10]

Naval Operations Command

The Naval Operations Command is commanded by the Chief of Naval Operations, currently Vice Admiral Antonio Díaz Clemente.^[11] This command is aimed towards the defense of the territorial maritime and inland waters and the coastline of the nation, and by extension into its ground and air territories.

Venezuelan Naval Aviation Command

The command serves as the air arm of the Venezuelan Navy, with responsibity for air operations and transport for the entire Navy.^[12]

Coast Guard Command

Headquartered in La Guaira, Vargas, it is responsible for the surveillance of Venezuelas jurisdictional waters.^[13]

Fleet Forces and Coast Guard ship organization

The following was the roster of active duty vessels and ships of the Venezuelan Navy as of October 2001.^[14]

Current ships

Class	Image	Type	Ships	Origin	Note
Submarine(2)
Type 209		Diesel-electric	S-31 Sábalo S-32 Caribe	Germany	1,810 tonnes
Frigates (6)
Mariscal Sucre-class		Missile frigates	F-21 Mariscal Sucre F-22 Almirante Brion F-23 General Urdaneta F-24 General Soublette F-25 General Salom F-26 Almirante García	Italy	2,506 tonnes
Corvettes (4)
Guaiquerí class		Offshore patrol vessels	PC-21 Guaiquerí PC-22 Warao PC-23 Yekuana PC-24 Kariña	Spain	2,419 tons
Patrol Vessels (13)
Guaicamacuto class		Coast patrol	GC-21 Guaicamacuto GC-22 Yavire GC-23 Naiguata GC-24 Tamanaco	Spain	1,453 tons
Point class		Patrol boat	PG-31 Petrel PG-32 Alcatraz PG-34 Pelicano	United States	60 tons
Constitución Class		Patrol boat	PC-11 Constitución PC-12 Federación PC-13 Independencia PC-14 Libertad PC-15 Patria PC-16 Victoria	Canada	950 tons
Amphibious ship and service ships (7)
Capana-class LST		Landing Ship Tank	T-61 Capana T-64 Los Llanos	South Korea	?
Los Frailes-class LST		Landing Ship Tank	T-90 Los Frailes T-91 Los Testigos T-93 Los Roques T-94 Los Monjes	Cuba	740 tons
Ciudad Bolívar-class		Supply ship	T-81 Ciudad Bolívar	South Korea	?
Bricbarc type Simón Bolívar		Training sailboat	BE-11 Simón Bolívar	Spain	?
Punta Brava Class		Oceanographic ship	BO-11 Punta Brava	Spain	?

Light frigates

Venezuelan frigates General Salóm (foreground) and Mariscal Sucre conduct maneuvers

• Six Lupo/Mariscal Sucre-class missile frigates class^[18]
  • F-21 Mariscal Sucre, into service 1980^[14]
  • F-22 Almirante Brion, into service 1981^[14]
  • F-23 General Urdaneta, into service 1981^[14]
  • F-24 General Soublette, into service 1981^[14]
  • F-25 General Salom, into service 1982^[14]
  • F-26 Almirante García, into service 1982^[14]

Corvettes

PC-21 Guaiquerí

• Four Spanish-made offshore patrol vessels of the Guaiquerí class.
  • PC-21 Guaiquerí, in service^[19]
  • PC-22 Warao, to be repaired after grounding off Fortaleza, Brazil in August 2012^[20][21]
  • PC-23 Yekuana, in service
  • PC-24 Kariña, in service

Amphibious and service ships

• Four Capana-class LST.
  • T-61 Capana, into service 1983, as of 2001.^[14]
  • T-64 Los Llanos, into service 1983, as of 2001.^[14]
• Four Los Frailes-class LST
• One Ciudad Bolívar-class supply ship.
  • T-81 Ciudad Bolívar, in service since 09-23-2001^[22]
• One Bricbarc type/Simón Bolívar training sailboat.^[23]
  • BE-11 Simón Bolívar, in service since 08-6-1980
• One Almirante Francisco de Miranda-class tugboat^[24]
  • RA-11 Almirante Francisco de Miranda, in service since 28-03-2007

Coast patrol

GC-21 Guaicamacuto

• Four Spanish-made offshore patrol vessels of the BVL class (on order).
  • GC-21 Guaicamacuto, in service^[25]
  • GC-22 Yavire, in service
  • GC-23 Naiguata, in service
  • GC-24 Tamanaco, completed in Venezuela 2014

Coast guard ships

• Four USCG Point-class patrol boats, as of 2006.^[23]
• 16 Gavion-class patrol boats.
• Damen Stan 2600 vessels, built in Venezuela, similar to the United States Coast Guard's Marine Protector class, as of 2008.^[26][27] One already in service, 1 completed, 5 more to be built^[28]

Naval Aviation assets

CASA 212

Airplanes

Note: The Navy has others two or three light aircraft.

Helicopters

List of Commanding Generals of the Navy

References

External links

• (Spanish) Sitio oficial del Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Defensa de Venezuela
• (Spanish) Sitio oficial de la Armada Bolivariana de Venezuela