The Nicaraguan Navy of Somoza

Anastasio Somoza Debayle

Anastasio Somoza Debayle was a Nicaraguan leader and officially the 73rd and 76th President of Nicaragua from 1 May 1967 to 1 May 1972 and from 1 December 1974 to 17 July 1979. As head of the National Guard, he was de facto ruler of the country from 1967 to 1979...

's National Guard

National Guard (Nicaragua)

In Nicaragua, the National Guard was a militia and a gendarmerie created during the occupation of that country by the United States from 1909 to 1933. It became notorious for human rights abuses and corruption under the regime of the Somoza family.-Creation:...

 consisted of a few old patrol boat

Patrol boat

A patrol boat is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defense duties.There have been many designs for patrol boats. They may be operated by a nation's navy, coast guard, or police force, and may be intended for marine and/or estuarine or river environments...

s in the early 1980s. The Sandinistas acquired more modern vessels, although none were larger than fifty tons.

The navy's mission was to discourage seaborne Contra

Contras

The contras is a label given to the various rebel groups opposing Nicaragua's FSLN Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction government following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle's dictatorship...

 attacks and to deter CIA-run operations such as the destruction of diesel storage facilities at Corinto

Corinto, Nicaragua

Corinto is a town of 17,000 on the northwest Pacific coast of Nicaragua in the province of Chinandega. The municipality was founded in 1863 and was named in honour of the Greek city of Corinth.- Economy :...

 in 1983 and the mining of Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...

n harbors in 1984. The Sandinista navy (--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 was a Sandinista Popular Army

Sandinista Popular Army

The Sandinista Popular Army was the military established in 1979 by the new Sandinista government to replace the National Guard, following the overthow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. In post-Sandinista Nicaragua, it has been remolded into the National Army of Nicaragua. Joaquín Cuadra was chief of...

 (--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

Puerto Cabezas

Puerto Cabezas is a municipality in, and capital of, the North Atlantic Coast department of Nicaragua....

 on the Caribbean. Other installations are at El Bluff

El Bluff

El Bluff is a port city on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua within the bay of Bluefields. El Bluff handles limited cargo and has basic piers. It is also a base for the fishing vessels serving the Nicaraguan east coast going out to sea.-See also:Nicaragua...

 near Bluefields

Bluefields

Bluefields is the capital of the municipality of the same name, and of Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur in Nicaragua. It was also capital of the former Zelaya Department, which was divided into North and South Atlantic Autonomous Regions...

 and San Juan del Sur

San Juan del Sur

San Juan del Sur is a municipality and coastal town on the Pacific Ocean, in the Rivas department in south-west Nicaragua. San Juan del Sur is popular among surfers and is a vacation spot for many Nicaraguan families and foreign tourists....

 on the Pacific.

The Sandinistas had acquired eight Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 Yevgenya class minesweeper

Yevgenya class minesweeper

The Yevgenia class are a group of minesweepers built for the Soviet Navy and export customers between 1967 and 1980. The Soviet designation was Project 1258 Korund.-Design:These were small minehunters built for inshore work...

s, of which seven remained in 1993. Three Soviet Zhuk-class patrol boats were believed to be seaworthy, out of seven that remained at the end of 1990. Also believed to be operational are three North Korea

North Korea

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...

n fast patrol boats as well as two Vedette

Vedette

The French military term vedette , also spelled vidette, migrated into English and other languages to refer to a mounted sentry or outpost, who has the function of bringing information, giving signals or warnings of danger, etc., to a main body of troops...

-type boats built in France and armed with Soviet 14.5mm machine guns.