Marine Detachment aboard the USS Augusta (CA-31) in the 1930s

A Marine Detachment, or MarDet, was a unit of 35 to 85 United States Marines aboard large warships including cruisers, battleships, and aircraft carriers. They were a regular component of a ship's company from the formation of the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through ...

until 1998. Missions of the Marine Detachment evolved, and included protecting the ship's captain, security and defense of the ship, operating the

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the latter part ...

, limited action ashore, securing nuclear weapons and ceremonial details.

History

Marines served aboard sailing ships as a small

amphibious force Amphibious means able to use either land or water. In particular it may refer to: Animals * Amphibian, a vertebrate animal of the class Amphibia (many of which live on land and breed in water) * Amphibious caterpillar * Amphibious fish, a fish ...

able to capture and hold minor port facilities as required for protection of American interests. Marine

sharpshooter A sharpshooter is one who is highly proficient at firing firearms or other projectile weapons accurately. Military units composed of sharpshooters were important factors in 19th-century combat. Along with " marksman" and "expert", "sharpshooter" ...

s were often stationed in the rigging during ship-to-ship combat to fire at officers and

helmsmen A helmsman or helm (sometimes driver) is a person who steers a ship, sailboat, submarine, other type of maritime vessel, or spacecraft. The rank and seniority of the helmsman may vary: on small vessels such as fishing vessels and yachts, the fun ...

aboard enemy warships. Marines often operated

naval artillery Naval artillery is artillery mounted on a warship, originally used only for naval warfare and then subsequently used for naval gunfire support, shore bombardment and anti-aircraft roles. The term generally refers to tube-launched projectile-firi ...

during general quarters when the distances of gunnery engagements exceeded the range of small arms. As modern Navy tactics evolved away from traditional ship-to-ship combat to fighting over the horizon threats with guided missiles and computer controlled weapons systems, the shipboard responsibilities requiring an independent Marine Detachment aboard ships became more of an anachronism better suited to be absorbed by Navy Master-at-arms. The individual seaborne landing parties became Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Teams (FAST), able to rapidly deploy where and as needed instead of scattered across the fleet. By 1998, only 11 officers and 275 enlisted Marines remained assigned to individual Marine Detachments when ALMARS 24/98 announced all Marine ships' detachments were to be disestablished. USMC 1stLt Grant Goodrich would be the last commander of a MarDet when he stood down his unit aboard

USS George Washington (CVN-73) USS ''George Washington'' (CVN-73) is a United States Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the sixth carrier in the and the fourth US Navy ship named after George Washington, Founding Father, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army durin ...

on 1 May 1998, at a ceremony following their return home from their deployment.

Officers

Each MarDet included a Marine Corps commanding officer who reported to the

Commandant of the Marine Corps The commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC) is normally the highest-ranking officer in the United States Marine Corps and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Joint Chiefs of Staff: composition; functions. The CMC reports directly to the sec ...

through the

ship's captain A sea captain, ship's captain, captain, master, or shipmaster, is a high-grade licensed mariner who holds ultimate command and responsibility of a merchant vessel.Aragon and Messner, 2001, p.3. The captain is responsible for the safe and effici ...

. When more than one Marine officer was assigned to a ship, United States Navy Regulations required one Marine officer to be aboard ship at all times unless excused by the ship's captain. Marine officers below the rank of major sometimes served as officer of the deck.

Horse Marines

The Marines also employed mounted Horse Detachments called "Horse Marines" in places such as Peking, China from early 1900 to 1938 and

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea, Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to ...

in 1927 during the

Second Nicaraguan Campaign The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...

.Macomber, Frank
"Horse Marines...Rich in History"
'' Sunday The Indianapolis Star Magazine'', volume 64, number 126, October 9, 1966, pages 30 and 32. In Africa during the First Barbary War 1805-05 and in the diplomatic mission to

Abyssinia The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historical ...

in 1903, the Marine Detachments used camels.

Sources

{{reflist Military units and formations of the United States Marine Corps