Argentine Naval Prefecture

The Argentine Naval Prefecture ( or PNA) is a service of the Argentina Ministry charged with protecting the country's rivers and maritime territory. It therefore fulfills the functions of other countries' coast guards, and furthermore acts as a gendarmerie force policing navigable rivers.
According to the Argentine Constitution, the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic cannot intervene in internal civil conflicts, so the Prefecture is defined as a civilian "security force of a military nature". It maintains a functional relationship with the Ministry of Defense, as part of both the National Defense System and the Interior Security System. It therefore maintains capabilities arising from the demands required by joint military planning with the armed forces.
The PNA is a large organization for a coastguard. With a strength of 45,750 sworn members, the PNA is a larger organization than most national navies, and is in fact slightly larger than the Argentine Navy - the organization upon which it had been attached for a long time until the 1980s, when it was transferred to direct control of the Ministry of Defense.
History.
Creation.
The Prefecture's predecessor is the ports service founded by the first autonomous Argentine government in June 1810, six years before Argentina declared independence. In Argentina this is considered the official founding date of the PNA. The first commander of the force was Colonel Martín Jacobo Thompson, a Porteño of partially English descent who had served against the British in the invasions of 1806–7. Thompson was given the title of "Captain of Ports" (Spanish: "Capitán de Puertos").
Although the PNA traces itself back to its predecessor of 1806, the modern Prefecture was in fact founded in the late nineteenth century as the "National Maritime Prefecture" on the initiative of Manuel Florencio Mantilla, a well-known Argentine senator who was also a respected academic and intellectual. The law pertaining to it was enacted in October 1896.
Falklands War.
The Prefecture had a minor role in the Falklands War (). As with other Argentine military services, participation in this conflict is given considerable weight in the institutional memory of the service.
Two PNA patrol vessels, "Islas Malvinas" (GC-82) and "Rio Iguazu" (GC-83), were sent to provide an Argentine coastguard service to the islands. According to Argentine sources, "Rio Iguazu" came into contact with a British Sea Harrier aircraft on 21 May and one member of the vessel's crew was killed while firing a 12.7 mm machine gun at the British jet. The ship ran aground, but most of its cargo -among them two 105 mm howitzers- was recovered later.
The crew of the patrol boat claimed the shooting down of the aircraft, but this was later proved to be unfounded. The sortie was actually carried out by two Sea Harriers of 800 Naval Air Squadron, Nº XZ460 and XZ499, which strafed the vessel with 30 mm cannon fire. The patrol vessel "Islas Malvinas" was captured and operated by the Royal Navy, as .
Illegal fishing.
The Prefecture is constantly battling illegal fishing vessels in the Argentine exclusive economic zone (EEZ), mostly from eastern countries. The Argentine Naval Aviation also collaborates in detection of such ships with their CASA 212 S68 and Beechcraft 350ER' maritime surveillance aircraft.
"Chian-der 3" incident.
The sinking of "Chian-der 3" was an incident which occurred on 28 May 1986 when the Taiwanese flag naval trawler "Chian-der 3" was detected, tracked, shot, set on fire and finally sunk by the PNA. The sinking was carried out by PNA vessel "Prefecto Derbes". Two Taiwanese fishermen were killed; four others were injured. The Taiwanese fishermen's union called the incident a "barbaric act" and the British government condemned it as "unjustifiable and excessive".
Organization.
Headquarters.
The PNA is subordinate to the Ministry of Interior. The organization is headed by the National Naval Prefect ("Prefecto Nacional Naval"), currently Prefect-General Carlos Edgardo Fernandez, assisted by the Deputy National Naval Prefect ("Subprefecto Nacional Naval"), currently Prefect-General Ricardo Rodriguez.
The Prefecture's main facility is located in the Edificio Guardacostas (which translates as "the Coastguard Building") at 235 E. Madero Avenue, Buenos Aires.
The PNA headquarters is divided into three main departments, each headed by a Director-General with the rank of "Prefecto General". These are each divided into a number of directorates, each headed by a Director with the rank of Prefect-General ("Prefecto General").
the Intelligence Service ("Servicio de Inteligencia") is directly responsible to the National Naval Prefect and is also headed by a Prefect-General.
Regions.
The PNA is divided into ten zones:
Ranks.
The highest rank of the service, Prefect-General, is held by both the National Naval Prefect and Deputy National Naval Prefect, as well as by many of the most senior officers of the prefecture, such as the heads of the different directorates of the national headquarters. While the rank itself equals that of Rear Admiral in the Argentine Navy, the National Naval Prefect and the Deputy National Naval Prefect titles are both equated to the ranks of Admiral and Vice Admiral, respectively, and wear corresponding insignia.
Officer ranks are as follows:
The non-commissioned officer and enlisted ranks of the Prefecture are as follows:
Inventory.
Main ships.
Patrol vessels.
The Argentine Naval Prefecture use the following ships for patrol purposes.
At least other 50 vessels on the 8–15-ton range.
Aircraft.
Former aircraft.
Previous aircraft operated by the Coast Guard were the Aérospatiale Puma, Hughes 369, Bell 47J, and the Sikorsky H-5.