Honduras Navy

Before the early 1970s, Honduras did not have an independent navy. The country had only one utility boat twelve meters in length, which allowed personnel from the army to patrol coastal waters intermittently. In 1972 the Navy of Honduras (Marina de Honduras) became a separate service with its own mission and general staff.

The navy had a personnel strength of 1 ,200, including 600 marines, in 1993. The navy had doubled in size since 1983 because of changing military perspectives concerning the importance of naval forces in Central America and because of an increase of United States aid. The navy is headquartered at three bases: Amapala on Isla del Tigre in the Golfo de Fonseca on the Pacific coast, Puerto Cortes on the western Caribbean coast, and Puerto Castilla on the central Caribbean coast. In 1993 the fleet consisted of five fastattack craft, eight river- and seven coastal-patrol craft, nine landing craft, and six auxiliary craft. In addition, the navy controls the First Naval Infantry Battalion, based at Puerto Cortes.