1937–1970 The Haitian Coast Guard was formed in the late 1930s, 20 years after the disbandment of the
Haitian Navy, and was equipped with two small
picket boats named
1 and
2 and the 161-ton . The latter was formerly the American
yacht Captain James Taylor. During World War II, six
83-foot cutters, named
1 through
6, were transferred from the
US Coast Guard in 1942. Three 121-ton SC-class
submarine chasers,
Toussaint Louverture,
16 Aout 1946, and
Amiral Killick, were transferred in 1947, along with the 47-ton cutter
Savannah and the light transport
Vertières. The two picket boats were withdrawn at this time. In 1948, a US Naval Mission arrived in Haiti. The transport
Vertières sank in 1951 and was replaced by the
Artibonite, a
tank landing craft which had been previously wrecked on the Haitian coast and was subsequently salvaged. The Coast Guard remained this way until the
Admiral Killick was stricken in 1954 and was replaced by a US-sourced
buoy tender given the same name in 1955. In 1956 a new 100-ton coast cutter, , was acquired from the United States. The two remaining submarine chasers were stricken in 1960 which is when the new
Vertières, sister to the
La Crête-à-Pierrot, was acquired. The US Navy
netlayer , renamed
Jean-Jacques Dessalines, arrived in 1960 for a five-year, extended to 17-year lease.
1997–present After the
Armed Forces of Haiti were disbanded in 1995, the remnants of the Haitian Navy were transferred to the Coast Guard, which was active from 1997 as part of the
Haitian National Police, the agency that replaced the Armed Forces. Since being reestablished, the Haitian Coast Guard received extensive support from the
United States Coast Guard. As of 2004, the U.S. spent $4.6 million on training Haitian personnel, providing them with boats, and restoring the Coast Guard base in Port-au-Prince. In the year 2000, the Coast Guard had 40 personnel and four
Boston Whaler boats that were provided by the United States in 1996. The older ships from the Haitian navy were no longer operational. The Boston Whaler boats underwent a refit in Miami in 1999. As of 2011 there were 99 coast guardsmen. In 2015 the number of Coast Guard personnel increased to 150, and as of 2019 it was 200. ==Structure==