Maritime Gendarmerie

Maritime Gendarmerie
Gendarmerie maritime
Agency overview
Formed1832 – present[1][2]
Employees1,157
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionFrance
General nature
Specialist jurisdiction
  • Coastal patrol, marine border protection, marine search and rescue.
Operational structure
Parent agencyNational Gendarmerie
National Gendarmerie
Civil and Naval Ensign of France
Components

The Maritime Gendarmerie (French: Gendarmerie maritime) is a component of the French National Gendarmerie under operational control of the chief of staff of the French Navy. It employs 1,157 personnel and operates around thirty patrol boats and high-speed motorboats distributed on the littoral waterways of France.[3] Like their land-based colleagues the Gendarmes Maritime are military personnel who carry out policing operations in addition to their primary role as a coast guard service. They also carry out provost duties within the French Navy.

The uniforms and insignia of the Gendarmerie Maritime are very similar to those of the French Navy, but the ranks used are those of the rest of the Gendarmerie (which are the same as the traditional ranks of the French Cavalry).

  1. ^ "La gendarmerie maritime". Net-Marine (in French). Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  2. ^ Le lieutenant-colonel Ebel. "La gendarmerie de la restauration au second empire". La société nationale de l’histoire et du patrimoine de la gendarmerie - société des amis du musée de la gendarmerie (in French). Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  3. ^ "La gendarmerie maritime". Ministry of Defense. 2021-03-16. Retrieved 2021-12-21.