Infanteria de Marina

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Spanish Marines were formed in 1537, making it the oldest Marine Corps in the world, drawing from the Compañías Viejas del Mar de Nápoles. Among their ranks, great men (e.g. Miguel de Cervantes) and women have served, making a history which has yet to end.

1 Mission
2 History
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Mission

The Infantería de Marina is part of the Armada Española (Spanish Navy). But it does not mean they are Naval Infantry (as a Navy unit with ground training, but Naval leaders and made up by sailors) nor an Army unit with some naval background.

Spanish Marines are Sea Soldiers. They belong to the Navy, have Navy regulations, the budget comes from the Navy, but they will always be Marines, serving in marine units and performing marine tasks. They are tankers, Artillerymen, Sappers, Soldiers inside the Navy.

The Infantería de Marina is an elite Corps, highly specialised in amphibious operations, that is, to project an Amphibious Force on a hostile, or potentially hostile, coast. Its ability to embark on a short term notice with (land, air and naval) Navy organic assets, makes it a unit with a high strategic value. Adding to this a high training degree, and the capability to deploy quick and swiftly on international waters, the result is a disuasory force available to Spain and allies.

One of the main characteristics of a Marine is the uniform that he wears. In the Spanish Marines you can find on the sleeve the three "Sardinetas", which means belonging to a Royal House Corps. It was earned in 1763 by defending Castillo del Morro, like the red stripes in the trousers. The only units to wear sardinetas and red stripes today are the Royal Guard and the Spanish Marines.

Spanish Marines have modern and proper assets to comply its mission, having organic personnel specialised in Artillery, Sappers, Helicopters, Special Operations, Communications, Tanks, and so on. Some vehicles form Grupo Mecanizado Anfibio del Tercio de Armada.

But the Marines of Spain are not only the Fleet Force, but the Defence and Security forces of Naval Bases and Facilities, the Schools and training units, the Marine Royal Guard Company, and all the facilities that make possible Marines of Spain to be as they are.

[edit] History

[edit] First period

The Infantería de Armada (Navy Infantry) was created by Charles V in 1537, when he permanently assigned the Compañías Viejas del Mar de Nápoles (Naples Old Sea Companies) to the Escuadras de Galeras del Mediterráneo (Mediterranean Galley Squadrons). But it was Philip II who settled today's concept of Landing force. This was pure Naval Power projection ashore by forces coming from ships and able to fight, not been downgraded by the fact of been based on board. This is the period of the famous Tercios (literally "One Third", due to its organisation: one third of musketeers, one third of spearers and the left third of pikers):

Tercio Nuevo de la Mar de Nápoles.
Tercio de la Armada del Mar Océano.
Tercio de Galeras de Sicilia.
Tercio Viejo del Mar Océano y de Infantería Napolitana.

Of the Tercios above, the first one is the real core of the Infantería de Marina, and it bears in its coat of arms two crossed anchors that became the Corps' coat of arms until 1931.

In 1704, the Tercios became Regiments: Regimientos de Bajeles (Vessel's Regiments), Regimiento de la Armada (Navy Regiment), R. del Mar de Nápoles (Naples' Sea Regiment), and R. de Marina de Sicilia (Sicily's Navy Regiment), detaching some small units to the Army, and the main body remained in the Navy becoming the Cuerpo de Batallones de Marina (Navy Battalions Corps).

In this period the Infantería de Marina fought, among many others, in the following battles:

Algiers expedition (1541).
Battle of Lepanto (1571).
Tunisia expedition (1573).
The conquest of Terceira Island (Azores) (1582).
Great Britain expedition (1599).
San Salvador (Brazil) expedition (1625).

[edit] Second period

In 1717 the Cuerpo de Batallones de Marina was definitively settled and organized, reaching its full strength of twelve battalions. The first ones were named: Armada, Bajeles, Marina, Oceano, Mediterráneo and Barlovento. Their mission was to form the "Main body of Landing Columns and Ship's Soldiers tasks" in a time that boarding was the way to fight among vessels, they also were gun crews.

Some of the actions they took part in were:

Sardinia, 1717.
Naples and Sicily, 1732.
Defence of Havana, 1762.
Algiers expedition, 1775.
Battle of Pensacola (1781).
Siege of Toulon, 1793.
Defense of Ferrol, 1800.
Recapture of Buenos Aires, 1806.

[edit] Third period

Spain's colonial conflicts gave a new mission to the Infantería de Marina: permanent expeditionary force.

Campaigns in Cochinchina (1858), Mexico (1862), Santo Domingo (1804), Cuba and Philippines (1898), Africa (1911) were the scenarios for the Batallones Expedicionarios (Expeditionary Battalions), some of them spending ten years in campaign abroad.

[edit] Fourth period

At the end of the WWI, the Battle of Gallipoli made almost all countries abandon the idea of the Amphibious Assault. All the world's Marine Corps fell in a deep crisis, and the Infantería de Marina was not an exception (despite of the successful Alhucemas amphibious assault in 1925, when it was first employed air and naval gunfire support).

Indeed, the "Expeditionary Mission", was considered a "colonial force" and in 1931 was condemnned to extinction by the 2nd Spanish Republic Government.

During the Spanish Civil War it fought on both sides, performing garrison duties, landing parties, gun and machine gun crews. After the end of the Civil War the death decree of the Infantería Marina was revoked and its strength was increased.

[edit] Fifth period

In 1957, the Grupo Especial Anfibio (Amphibious Special Group) was created, and the Infantería de Marina returned to its Landing Force Mission as the primary one, just in time to in 1958, establish the Beachhead in Spanish Sahara and Ifni. The beach was open and fully operational for one year in despite of the conflict that motivated the action.

From that year, the capabilities and strength of the Infantería de Marina was increased: new Amphibious vehicles, anti-tank weapons, individual gear and artillery.

The Tercio de Armada became the main Amphibious Unit and it has suffered several restructures that led to the E-01 Plan, which defines the requirements and structures of the year 2000 Infantería de Marina. The Spanish Marines have been present in Europe, Central America and Asia having an anonymous role of "emergency force" ready to evacuate civilians in conflict areas, or as deterrence force so covering the action of friendly forces.