The River and Coastal Police, also variously designated as Marine Police and ‘Police Nautique’ or ‘Police Fluviale et Côtière’ in French, was the ‘naval’ branch of the Republic of Vietnam National Police (Vietnamese: Cãnh Sát Quốc Gia – CSQG), active from 1965 to 1975.
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History
The Marine Police was officially established in 1965 by the south Vietnamese government to provide a waterborne law-enforcement capability to assist the CSQG in countering Vietcong (VC) activity on the more than 3,000 miles of navigable inland waterways. This effort was directed primarily at the Mekong Delta area. The Marine Police had responsibility for control and maintenance of security on navigable waterways and sea ports in the Republic of Vietnam, the support of resources control, the enforcement of civil and maritime law, and assistance in other police activities.
Structure
Headquartered at Phu Xuan, near Hué in Thùa Thiên Province, the Marine Police had an initial strength of 350 men, who operated 100 river patrol boats from three bases in the Mekong delta and patrolled 40 miles of waterways by late 1966. In 1969 the Marine Police was placed under the control of the Field Police (Vietnamese: Cãnh Sát Dã Chiên – CSDC) Command co-located to the CSQG Headquarters at Saigon. By 1970-71, it had grown to a force of 2,404 men operating from 22 riverine and coastal bases located in all of the four Military Regions, patrolling 440 miles of waterways and the sea coast in 380 river and inshore patrol craft. Boat crews were trained at the Marine Police Training Centre co-located at their Phu Xuan HQ, which also housed the Police repair yard.