| Spanish Navy Marines Infantería de Marina |
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|---|---|
Emblem of the Spanish Navy Marine |
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| Active | 27 February 1537 – present |
| Country | Spain |
| Branch | Spanish Navy |
| Type | Marine corps |
| Role | Amphibious Warfare |
| Garrison/HQ | San Fernando |
| Motto | "Per Terra et Mare" By Land and Sea |
| March | Marcha heroica de la Infantería de Marina |
| Anniversaries | Birthday: 27 February 1537 |
| Engagements | Battle of Lepanto Spanish-American War Spanish Civil War |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
Lieutenant General Juan Chicharro Ortega |
The Spanish Navy Marines (Spanish: Infantería de Marina; lit, Naval infantry) is a corps within the Spanish Navy responsible for providing amphibious warfare from the sea utilizing naval platforms and resources. It is fully integrated into the Spanish Navy structure.
The Corps was formed in 1537 by Charles I of Spain (also known as Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor), making it the oldest extant marine corps in the world, drawing from the Compañías Viejas del Mar de Nápoles.
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The Spanish Navy Marines is an elite corps, highly specialised in amphibious warfare, that is, to project an amphibious force onto a hostile, or potentially hostile, coast. Its ability to embark on a short term notice with (land, air and naval) Navy assets, makes it a unit with a high strategic value. Adding to this a high degree of training, and the capability to deploy swiftly in international waters, results in a potent disuasory force available at a short notice in distant regions.
One of the main characteristics of a marine is the uniform that he wears. On the sleeves of the Spanish Marines are the three "Sardinetas", which marks it as a member of the Royal House Corps. This was given in recognition for a heroic last stand in the Castillo del Morro of Havana, Cuba against a British expedition in 1762. The only other unit to wear the sardinetas and red trouser stripes is the Spanish Royal Guard.
Spanish Marines have modern assets to comply with its mission, having personnel specialised in artillery, sapping, helicopters, special operations, communications, tanks, among others. Some vehicles form the Grupo Mecanizado Anfibio del Tercio de Armada (the Mechanized Amphibious Group of the Navy Tercio).
The Marines of Spain are not only a fleet force, as the Spanish Royal Marine Guard Company are responsible for the defence and security forces of naval bases and facilities, naval schools and training units, and all facilities that support the Marines themselves.
The most famous Spanish marine is without a doubt Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, author of the novel Don Quixote, who was wounded in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Another famous writer, Calderón de la Barca, also served with the marines.
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 Sea Old Companies) to the Escuadras de Galeras del Mediterráneo (Mediterranean Galley Squadrons). But it was Philip II who established today's concept of a landing force. This was a pure naval power projection ashore by forces deployed from ships that could maintain their ability to fight despite 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 spearmen and the final third of pikemen):
Of the Tercios above, the first is considered the core of the Spanish Navy Marines, 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).
The battles that the marines served in during this very busy period included:
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 still a critical part of battle at sea. They were also gun crews.
In a 1793, a woman, Ana Maria de Soto, disguised as a man, and answering to the name of Antonio Maria de Soto, enlisted in the 6th company of 11° Battalion of the Navy, being licensed with pension and honors in 1798, when she was discovered to be a woman. She was the first female Marine of the world.
The major actions they took part in during this period were:
Though Spain's empire was dismembered in the nineteenth century the marines continued to be active abroad.
Its most important actions in this period were:
These actions were carried out by the Batallones Expedicionarios (Expeditionary Battalions), some of them campaigning abroad for up to ten years.
At the end of the World War I, the Battle of Gallipoli made almost all countries abandon the idea of amphibious assault. The world's marine corps fell into a deep crisis, with the Spanish Navy Marines being no exception, though it enjoyed success during the Third Rif War in its innovative Alhucemas amphibious assault in 1925, when it employed coordinated air and naval gunfire to support the assault.
The "Expeditionary Mission", was officially determined to be a "colonial force", and so denounced as an instrument of imperialism. It was sentenced to extinction by the Spanish republican government in 1931.
Before it was officially disbanded, the bitterly fought Spanish Civil War intervened and the corp split and served both sides, performing garrison duties, leading landing parties, and providing expert artillery and machine gun crews. After the civil war, the defeated republic's death decree for the Infantería Marina was revoked and its strength was increased during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco.
In 1957, the Grupo Especial Anfibio (Amphibious Special Group) was created, and the Spanish Navy Marines returned to its primary duty as a Landing Force Mission. In 1958 it established a beachhead in Spanish Sahara and Ifni during the Ifni War. The capabilities and strength of the Spanish Navy Marines were increased: new amphibious vehicles, anti-tank weapons, individual equipment and artillery.
The Tercio de Armada (TeAr) became the main amphibious unit and has experienced several restructures that led to the E-01 Plan, which defines the requirements and structures from the year 2000 for the Spanish Navy Marines. The Spanish Marines have been present in Europe, Central America and Asia in an anonymous role as an "emergency force" ready to evacuate civilians in conflict areas, or as a deterrence force in providing cover for the actions of allied forces. The current base for the Spanish Marines is in San Fernando.
Today the main fighting Force of the Spanish Marine Infantry is the Marine Infantry Brigade, which includes the following units:
Other Infantry units of the Spanish Navy are:
Even through the ranks of the Navy Marines are similar to Spanish Army ranks they wear also sleeve and cuff insignia to recognize them as part of the naval establishment, aside from shoulder rank insignia.