Editing Offshore Patrol (section)

== History ==
[[File:Ang Base ng Patrulyang Pambaybayin 1939 NHCP Historical Marker.png|thumb|left|Historical marker unveiled in 1976 and located at the Port Area district of Manila]] 

The OSP was called for by the [[Philippine National Assembly]] in its [[National Defense Act of 1935]] that Offshore Patrol on 11 January 1936. Its guidelines were defined by Executive Order No. 11 as follows: <blockquote>"The Off-Shore Patrol shall comprise all marine equipment and personnel acquired by the Philippine Government and assigned either in peace or war to the control of the [[Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines|Chief of Staff]] (PA). It shall have such duties and powers as may be described by the Chief of Staff, PA."<ref name=Q-boats/></blockquote>

This act called for the creation, by 1946, of a force of thirty-six fast [[PT boat|torpedo boats]] (PT) as part of the [[Philippine Army]]. These were to be British-designed torpedo boats, with a speed of forty-one knots; they were to be armed with two torpedo tubes and built by British shipbuilders.<ref>{{citation |last=Morton |first=Louis |chapter=Chapter I: The Philippine Islands |volume=Part One: Prewar Plans and Preparations |series=United States Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific |title=The Fall of the Philippines |page=11}}</ref>  Only two of the boats were delivered by 1939, at which point the war in Europe curtailed any further supply.  By October 1941, a third torpedo boat had been assembled locally. The squadron was attached to [[United States Army Forces in the Far East]] (USAFFE), which had assumed overall control of military forces in the Philippines; and added two additional patrol boats (non-torpedo).

The first commanding OSP officer was Major Rafael Ramos, a [[Philippine Nautical School]] (PNS) graduate known to Philippine President [[Manuel L. Quezon]] on April 15, 1938.  Ramos was the first chief to start recruiting OSP personnel. In June 1938, he was relieved by Captain Jose V. Andrada, a [[United States Naval Academy]] graduate (Class of 1930), who originally assisted Ramos but was determined to be better qualified. Major Ramos was sent to the United States to study at [[Quartermaster Center and School|Quartermaster School]].<ref name=Q-boats>Alcaraz, Ramon, [https://www.questia.com/article/1P3-340682641/q-boats-heroes-of-the-off-shore-patrol "The Untold Saga of the Philippine Army's PT Boats"], Q-Boats: Heroes of the Off-Shore Patrol, Sea Classics, Vol. 36, Issue 7, July 2003, Retrieved February 13, 2016.</ref> He was supported by other Annapolis graduates, among them:  Lt. Alfredo Pecson (USNA 1933) as Executive Officer, Lt. Rafael Pargas (USNA 1935), and Lt. Marcelo Castillo (USNA 1938).  The OSP was later joined by Lt. Enrique L. Jurado (USNA 1934) as Base Commander, and Lt. Carlos Albert (USNA 1938) as instructors.<ref name=Ramos>Ramos, Fidel V., [http://www.mb.com.ph/enhancing-security-the-philippine-american-memorial/#6gqXx8DAQ6qIMJKH.99 "Enhancing security: The Philippine-American Memorial"], Manila Bulletin, July 12, 2014, Retrieved February 14, 2016.</ref>

Shortly after his appointment, Capt. Andrada announced his volunteer recruiting program and began personally interviewing interested candidates. By the end of 1938, [[United States Naval Academy|USNA]] graduates: Lt. Alfredo Peckson (1933), Lt. Marcelo Castillo (1938); [[Philippine Military Academy|PMA]] graduates: Lieutenants Nestor Reinoso (1934), Alberto Navarette (1935), Simeon Castro (1935), Juan Maglayan (1937), Alfonso Palencia (1938), Santiago Nuval (1938), [[Emilio S. Liwanag|Emilio Liwanag]] (1938), nine officers, and twenty-five enlisted men had joined the OSP. They were all trained on seamanship, navigation and gunnery in sessions that were conducted with the USNA graduates as instructors at OSP headquarters in Muelle del Codo, Port Area, Manila.  On February 9, 1939, the first OSP class graduated; Capt. Andrada marked it as the birth date of the Offshore Patrol.<ref name=Q-boats/>

On December 4, 1941, Captain [[Enrique L. “Henry” Jurado]] (1911 &ndash; Oct. 19, 1944), a [[United States Naval Academy|USNA]] graduate (Class of '34), became the officer-in-command of the OSP, just before the [[Pearl Harbor attack]].<ref>[https://www.usna.com/SSLPage.aspx?pid=5625  "1934: Wartime Patrol"], U.S. Naval Academy: Alumni Association & Foundation, 1999. Retrieved October 8, 2011.</ref><ref name=expendable>[https://bataancampaign.wordpress.com/2014/02/22/they-were-expendable-too-the-torpedo-boats-of-the-off-shore-patrol/ "They were Expendable Too: The Torpedo Boats of the Offshore Patrol"], The Bataan Campaign, February 17, 2014, Retrieved February 9, 2016.</ref> Jurado took over as OSP Commander as Capt. Andrada became Commander of the Coast Artillery Battalion, [[Fort Wint]], [[Corregidor]].<ref name=Ramos/>

The OSP was a close-knit unit composed of men in their late teens or twenties, more than sixty men overall. They were divided into two main groups: shore and sea duty.<ref name=Wartime>Jurado, Gene, Page 7,[http://www.orosa.org/WARTIME%20PATROL1941-3.pdf Wartime Coastal Patrol - December 1941], Oroso Family Website, June 24, 2008, Retrieved August 5, 2011.</ref>