Royal Coast Guard (Belfras)

The Belfrasian Coast Guard, more commonly referred to as the Royal Coast Guard (RCG) is a branch of the Belfrasian Armed Forces and is a maritime law enforcement and humanitarian organization. The Royal Coast Guard provides a civilian and military service to the law enforcement of Belfrasian maritime territories and the escort of Belfrasian-flagged vessels through dangerous areas. For most of the Coast Guard's history, it has operated under civilian authority with the vast majority of it's personnel being considered as law enforcement officers. In times of war, the Coast Guard can be transferred under the command of Home Fleet, the primary fleet of the Royal Navy for the defence of the country. To date, this has occurred once from 1903 to 1950 during what became one of the most violent periods in modern history.

The Coast Guard was originally created in two separate branches in the period of a hundred years. The Treasury Protection Fleet was originally created in 1730 to form as escorts for gold-carrying vessels that transported the wages of over-seas military and civilian personnel. The Life-Saving Flotilla was created in 1892 as an amalgamation of Provincial-level coast-guards and is considered by many to be the original coast guard. The two services were merged in 1900 under the New Century Act, which also saw the reformation of several other civilian-sector agencies.

The legal authority of the Coast Guard extends to both the maritime territories and places of which maritime vessels may make land-falls, i.e ports. The primary roles of the Coast Guard in this authority is the maritime safety, security, and stewardship of waters and large waterways and may, in a secondary role, conduct military operations.

As of 2017 the Coast Guard consists of 30,000 active personnel with authority over the Republic Navy Reserve of 90,000.

Equipment

Nautical vessels

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