The Armed Forces of São Tomé and Príncipe are the armed forces of the island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe, off the coast of West Africa. The islands' military consists of a small land and naval contingent, with a limited budget. Sitting adjacent to strategically important sea lane of communication in the Gulf of Guinea, due to recent concerns about regional security issues including security for oil tankers transiting the area, the US military and other foreign navies have increased their engagement with the FASTP, providing the country with assistance in the form of construction projects and training missions, as well as integration into international information and intelligence sharing programs.
A patrol boat is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and they generally range in size. They may be operated by a nation's navy, coast guard, police, or customs, and may be intended for marine, estuarine, or river environments.
In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number. Historically, naval ships flew a flag that identified a flotilla or type of vessel. For example, the Royal Navy used a red burgee for torpedo boats and a pennant with an H for torpedo boat destroyers. Adding a number to the type-identifying flag uniquely identified each ship.
The Portuguese Navy is the naval branch of the Portuguese Armed Forces which, in cooperation and integrated with the other branches of the Portuguese military, is charged with the military defense of Portugal.
The Marine Protector-class patrol boat is a type of coastal patrol boat of the United States Coast Guard. The 87-foot-long (27 m) vessels are based on the Stan 2600 design by Damen Group and were built by Bollinger Shipyards of Lockport, Louisiana. Each boat is named after sea creatures that fly or swim.
An aviso was originally a kind of dispatch boat or "advice boat", carrying orders before the development of effective remote communication.
The Viana do Castelo class is a class of offshore patrol vessels planned by and for the Portuguese Navy, as a result of the NPO2000 Project, that are being constructed in the West Sea Shipyard.
The East Timorese patrol boat Oecusse is one of the two Albatroz class patrol boats operated by the Timor Leste Defence Force. She was built in the mid-1970s for the Portuguese Navy and was commissioned on 9 December 1974 as NRP Albatroz. She was donated to East Timor in January 2002 and was renamed. Oecusse is based at Hera Naval Base.
The East Timorese patrol boat Atauro is one of the two Albatroz class patrol boats operated by the Timor Leste Defence Force. She was built in the mid-1970s for the Portuguese Navy and was commissioned on 9 December 1974 as NRP Açor. She was donated to East Timor in January 2002 and was renamed. Atauro is based at Hera Naval Base.
The Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) is the law enforcement arm of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), tasked with enforcing laws on the state's public lands and waterways, protecting fish and wildlife, and leading search and rescue efforts. The Natural Resources Police is also the state's maritime homeland security agency.
The Centauro-class patrol boat is a series of four patrol boats in service with the Portuguese Navy. It is an evolution of the preceding Argos class. This class is meant for fisheries inspection and control duties mainly in the Mainland Portugal shores – with some sporadic presence in the Madeira Archipelago. The Centauro class is Portuguese-designed and built at the Arsenal do Alfeite (Almada) and Estaleiros Navais do Mondego.
The PC-461-class submarine chasers were a class of 343 submarine chasers constructed mainly for the US Navy and built from 1941 to 1944. The PC-461s were based primarily on two experimental submarine chasers, PC-451 and PC-452. While PC-461 began the series, the first of the class to enter service was PC-471. As part of the Lend-Lease program, 46 ships of this class were transferred to allies of the United States. Fifty-nine PC-461s were converted to other types of patrol vessels. Eight vessels of this class were lost, and one vessel was lost after conversion to a PGM-9-class motor gunboat. Only one of the class, USS PC-566 commanded by Lieutenant Commander Herbert G. Claudius, actually sank a submarine, U-166, during World War II; however, the website 'Patrol Craft Sailors Association' cites PC-461-class ships sinking or assisting sinking up to 6 German and Japanese subs.
The action of 14 October was a naval engagement of the First World War when the Imperial German Navy submarine SM U-139 attacked the Portuguese civilian steamer São Miguel and the Portuguese Navy naval trawler NRP Augusto de Castilho in the Atlantic Ocean on 14 October 1918.
The Davis class patrol boats are a six-boat class of patrol gunboats, operated by the Texas Department of Public Safety Texas Highway Patrol Division for patrolling the Rio Grande. Each boat has an armament of five FN M240 7.62 mm (0.300 in) medium machine guns, and is powered by three 300 hp (220 kW) outboard engines.
The Albatross class is a class of patrol boats in the Portuguese Navy and in the Naval Component of the Timor Leste Defence Force (FDTL). These vessels were built in 1974 and 1975 at the Alfeite Arsenal, Lisbon.
The rivers of Galicia form part of a dense hydrographical network in the Spanish autonomous community of Galicia and has been described by Otero Pedrayo as “the land of a thousand rivers”. Most rivers are not deep enough to be navigable. However, small boats are sailed in the lower courses of the River Minho and several others, as well as at many of the dams.
In Portugal, the coast guard role is performed by several government agencies that, together, form the Maritime Authority System. The SAM includes the Portuguese Navy, the National Republican Guard (GNR), the Portuguese Air Force, the Border and Immigration Service (SEF), the Civil Protection Authority, the National Medical Emergency Institute and the Criminal Investigation Police (PJ).
Arsenal do Alfeite, SA is a company with an area of 36 hectares of implantation included in the Lisbon Naval Base. It is mainly dedicated to satisfying the needs of shipbuilding, maintenance, modernization and repair of the Portuguese Navy, other NATO and commercial navies, using advanced technologies, namely in the areas of electronics, optronics, armament, mechanics and electrical engineering. Alfeite's arsenal has already built more than 150 boats. Arsenal do Alfeite has a close relationship with Royal Moroccan Navy, repairing and modernizing ships since 2012.
West Sea Shipyard is a shipbuilding company of the Martifer Group, created in 2014 after the extinction of ENVC Shipyard. West Sea is dedicated to the construction of various types of ships, such as cruise ships and offshore patrol vessels. Since 2014 it has built more than 15 ships and repaired more than 50 ships, such as Container ships, Tankers, Platform supply vessels, Cargo ships, Cruise ships, Reefer ships and Tugs.
Portuguese Navy 
