Navy of El Salvador

Salvadoran Navy
Active	1842-present
Country	El Salvador
Branch	Navy
Size	876 personnel[1]

The Navy of El Salvador is the naval arm of the Armed Forces of El Salvador. The current navy was created in 1952, after an absence of almost forty years.

Built around craft and duties absorbed from the Salvadoran Coast Guard, the navy is primarily composed of patrol boats tasked with coastal patrol and fishery protection.^[2] The current fleet is made up of three Camcraft-type patrol boats originally built in the United States for use as oilfield crew boats. New patrol boats have been ordered from Chile to replace or supplement the current, aging ships^[3].

Current fleet

Class overview
Name:	Camcraft-type small patrol boat
Preceded by:	N/A (British built patrol boats, retired in 1981)
Succeeded by:	New Small Patrol Boat
Active:	3
General characteristics
Type:	Patrol Boat
Displacement:	100 tons
Length:	30.5m
Beam:	6.4m
Draught:	1.5m
Propulsion:	3 diesel engines, 1,200 bhp
Speed:	25 knots
Complement:	10
Armament:	1 x 81mm mortar 2 x 12.7mm MG (GC7, GC8) 1 x 20mm gun (GC6)
Notes:	Oilfield crew boats converted to patrol boats.

Number/Name	Class	Builder	Type	Year	Details
General Manuel José Arce[1]	Cactus/Balsam class	United States	Support vessel	2002	Ex-USCGC Madrona. Built as a seagoing buoy tender for the US Coast Guard in 1942. Decommissioned and sold to El Salvador in 2002.
GC6	Camcraft-type	United States	Patrol boat	1975
GC7	Camcraft-type	United States	Patrol boat	1975
GC8	Camcraft-type	United States	Patrol boat	1975

Future fleet

Two (possibly three) new patrol boats have been ordered from Chile. They will be slightly larger than the current patrol boats with a displacement of 107 tons, measure 32.7 x 6.7 x 2.1 meters, and have a crew of 14. They will also be slightly slower with a top speed of 18 knots. Armament will be 1 x 20mm gun, and one 12.7mm machine gun. ^[3]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "El Salvador". Military Technology World Defence Almanac (Bonn : Wehr & Wissen): 60. 2005. ISSN 0722-3226. 
2. ^ "Country-Data.com". http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-4310.html. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Hazegray.org". http://hazegray.org/worldnav/americas/americas.htm#1.