Haitian Coast Guard

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Coast Guard Commission of Haiti
Commissariat des Gardes-Côtes d’Haïti
Flag[1]
Flag[1]
AbbreviationG-Cd'H
Agency overview
Formed1997
Employees50
Jurisdictional structure
National agency
(Operations jurisdiction)		Haiti
Operations jurisdictionHaiti
Legal jurisdictionHaitian and international waters
Specialist jurisdiction
  • Coastal patrol, marine border protection, marine search and rescue.
Operational structure
HeadquartersKillick, Port-au-Prince
Agency executive
Parent agencyHaitian National Police

The Haitian Coast Guard, officially the Haitian Coast Guard Commission (French: Commissariat des Gardes-Côtes d’Haïti or G-Cd'H), is an operational unit of the Haitian National Police. It is one of the few law enforcement organisations in the world to combine water policing and coast guard duties while remaining as a policing unit. It operates primarily as a law enforcement agency, with secondary responsibilities in search and rescue.

The Haitian Coast Guard had its name changed several times. The Haitian Navy (Marine Haitienne) existed from 1860 until the U.S. occupation in 1915 and then again from 1970 until the U.S. Operation Restore Democracy in 1994. The Coast Guard was established in the late 1930s and was renamed as the Navy in 1970, before being abolished with the rest of the Armed Forces in 1994.[2] In 1997, the Coast Guard was recreated as a special unit in the Haitian National Police.[3]

The Haitian Coast Guard has four bases (as of 2017),[1] along with eight patrol boats and 50 personnel (as of 2023).[4] The Killick Coast Guard base at the harbor of Port-au-Prince is the headquarters of the Coast Guard, and it also has bases in Cap-Haïtien, Les Cayes, and Port-de-Paix.[1]

History[edit]

Navy: 1860–1915[edit]

Crête-à-Pierrot after being attacked by SMS Panther in 1902

The Haitian Navy was established in 1860.[2]

By the early 1900s Haiti had the largest fleet of any Caribbean country, though its ships were crewed by foreigners and it mostly consisted of outdated gunboats.[2][5] The largest vessel in the Haitian navy was the Italian cruiser Umbria, which was purchased in 1910 but it sank in less than a year because of the crew's inexperience.[6]

Before 1915 the fleet included the following:[6]

  • Ex-Italian cruiser Umbria (1910–1911) renamed Consul Gostrück
  • gunboat Crête-à-Pierrot (1896–1902)
  • gunboat Liberté (1910–1911)
  • gunboat 22 Decebre 1804 (1860–1912)
  • gunboat 1804 (1875–1912)
  • gunboat Dessalines (1883–1915)
  • gunboat Toussaint-Louverture (1886–1915)
  • gunboat Capois La Mort (1893–1915)
  • gunboat Alexander Petion (1893–1915)
  • Two auxiliary schooners

Coast Guard: 1937–1970[edit]

The Haitian Coast Guard was formed in the late 1930s, 20 years after the disbandment of the Haitian Navy, and was equipped with two small picket boats named 1 and 2 and the 161-ton Sans Souci. The latter was formerly the American yacht Captain James Taylor.

During World War II, six 83-foot cutters, named 1 through 6, were transferred from the US Coast Guard in 1942. Three 121-ton SC-class submarine chasers, Touissaint L'Ouverture, 16 Aout 1946, and Amiral Killick, were transferred in 1947, along with the 47-ton cutter Savannah and the light transport Vertières. The two picket boats were withdrawn at this time.

In 1948, a US Naval Mission arrived in Haiti.

The transport Vertières sank in 1951 and was replaced by the Artibonite, a tank landing craft which had been previously wrecked on the Haitian coast and was subsequently salvaged.

The Coast Guard remained this way until the Admiral Killick was stricken in 1954 and was replaced by a US-sourced buoy tender given the same name in 1955. In 1956 a new 100-ton coast cutter, La Crête-à-Pierrot, was acquired from the United States. The two remaining submarine chasers were stricken in 1960 which is when the new Vertières, sister to the La Crête-à-Pierrot, was acquired. The US Navy netlayer USS Tonawanda, renamed Jean-Jacques Dessalines, arrived in 1960 for a five-year, extended to 17-year lease.

Navy: 1970–1994[edit]

On April 21, 1970,[7] three units — La Crête-à-Pierrot, Vertières, and Jean-Jacques Dessalines — mutinied and shelled the Presidential Palace in Port-au-Prince. They were driven off by fighter aircraft and then interred themselves in the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. The US disarmed the vessels and relocated them initially to Puerto Rico and then back to Haiti. Duvalier celebrated this event by renaming the Coast Guard the "Haitian Navy" (La Marine Haitienne).

In 1973, Duvalier attempted to expand this with the purchase of up to 24 small boats, allegedly to include PT boats, but these plans came to naught.

In 1976, the Haitian Navy purchased five small patrol craft from Sewart Seacraft of Berwick, Louisiana. The Dessalines was returned to the United States, while the Admiral Killick, Artibonite and the Savannah and the six 83-foot cutters were stricken.

In 1978, the USS Samoset, a Sotoyomo-class tugboat, was acquired and recommissioned as the Henri Christophe. The planned sale of a sister ship fell through.

The Coast Guard in the late 1980s consisted of only the armed tug Henri Christophe, nine small patrol craft built in the United States between 1976 and 1981, and the old presidential yacht Sans Souci. This small force was composed of 45 officers and 280 enlisted personnel based at Port-au-Prince.

Coast Guard: 1997–present[edit]

The remnants of the Haitian Navy were transferred to the Coast Guard,[8] which was active from 1997 as part of the Haitian National Police, the agency that replaced the Armed Forces.[9] In the year 2000, the Coast Guard had 40 personnel and four Boston Whaler boats that were provided by the United States in 1996.[8]

Structure[edit]

The marine police is exercised by a specialized unit of the National Police called the Commissariat des Gardes-Côtes d’Haïti.[1]

Role and mission[edit]

The core mission of the Coast Guard is to secure the maritime area of Haiti through surveillance of territorial waters and the safety of maritime navigation divided into these different functions:

  • Perform active surveillance of the national maritime areas;
  • Ensuring compliance with laws and regulations regarding fishing and navigation;
  • Participate in the fight against drug trafficking;
  • Participate in the fight against all forms of crime.

Current fleet[edit]

As of 2023:[4]

  • 5 Dauntless-class patrol boats
  • 3 3812-VCF patrol boats

Identification[edit]

Haitian Coast Guard vessels are marked with a diagonal blue before red slash and before the words Gardes-Côtes. Coast Guard vessels are painted all-white.[10]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e "High Level / Technical Visit Report to the Republic of Haiti" (PDF). International Hydrographic Organization. June 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Metz 2001, pp. 470–471.
  3. ^ Metz 2001, p. 479.
  4. ^ a b IISS 2023, p. 402.
  5. ^ Walker 2004, pp. 160–161.
  6. ^ a b Smigielski & Jaskula 1986, p. 416.
  7. ^ "Defend HT – Site-ul Cumparatorilor Online Isteti".
  8. ^ a b Sharpe 2000, p. 285.
  9. ^ Metz 2001, p. 477–479.
  10. ^ "SeaArk Completes Haiti Coast Guard Boats". MarineLink.com. 22 February 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2024.

References[edit]

  • Avril, Prosper (1999). From Glory to Disgrace: The Haitian Army, 1804-1994. Universal Publishers. ISBN 978-1-58112-836-9.
  • Blackman, Raymond V. B. (1969). Jane's Fighting Ships 1969-70. London: Jane's Yearbooks. ISBN 978-0-354-00050-5.
  • Smigielski, Adam & Jaskula, Andrzej M. (1986). "Haiti". In Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
  • IISS (2023). The Military Balance 2023. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-032-50895-5.
  • Metz, Helen Chapin (2001). Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies. Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. LCCN 2001023524.
  • Sharpe, Richard (2000). Jane's Fighting Ships 2000-2001. Coulsdon, Surrey: Jane's Information Group. ISBN 0-7106-2018-7.
  • Walker, Thomas C. (2004). "The U.S. Navy in the Caribbean 1903-1920". Presence, Prevention, and Persuasion: A Historical Analysis of Military Force and Political Influence. Lanham: Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-7391-0726-3.
  • Williamson, Charles T. (1999). The U.S. Naval Mission to Haiti, 1959-1963. ISBN 1-55750-941-7.

External links[edit]

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