Royal Bahamas Defence Force
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The Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) became an official entity on March 31, 1980 by an Act of Parliament. It falls under the Ministry of National Security.
Under The Defence Act, the Defence Force has been mandated to defend The Bahamas, protect its territorial integrity, patrol its waters, provide assistance and relied in times of disaster, maintain order in conjunction with other law enforcement agencies of The Bahamas, and carry our any such duties as determined by the National Security Council.
Enlisted personnel are called Marines.
The commander of the RBDF is Lieutenant Commander Clifford 'Butch' Scavella. The force has just fewer than 1,000 members.
The force has several armed patrol craft. They regularly intercept fishery poachers, drug smugglers and illegal aliens trying to enter the Bahamas from Haiti. The only combat the RBDF has ever been involved with is against Cuba.
On May 10, 1980, the HMBS Flamingo attempted to arrest two Cuban fishing vessels, the Ferrocem 165 and the Ferrocem 54, for poaching in Bahamian waters.
In retaliation, two Cuban MiG-21s invaded Bahamas airspace and fired on the patrol boat. The Cubans sank the ship with their 23 mm cannons and fired upon marines in distress in the water. Fenrick Sturrup, Austin Smith, David Tucker and Edward Williams, all Bahamian Defense Force marines, were killed in the attack. Fifteen crewmen and the Commander made it safely to Duncan Town on Ragged Island, after being picked up by the very fishing vessels they had boarded.
There are two interpretations. One position is that the incident appeared to result from a genuine case of mistaken identity – the four Bahamian marines were thought to be Cuban exile “pirates.”
The other point of view is that the incident was an act of aggression. Not only was the Flamingo sunk without warning but also the marines who were killed were strafed with cannon fire in the water after they had abandoned ship.
The poachers were convicted in July 1980 and Cuba eventually admitted responsibility, paying the Bahamas $10 million in compensation for the incident.
The force is now going through a major reorganization. The future revitalization of the RBDF will include the provision of additional aircraft, increased manpower, salaries, base facilities and command outposts.
