Fallen Marines of the HMBS Flamingo are honored at a 45th anniversary memorial service. ROYAL BAHAMAS DEFENCE FORCE
THE WATCH STAFF
The Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) paid homage May 10 to four RBDF members killed 45 years ago, remembering Cuba’s deadly attack on the HMBS Flamingo with a solemn memorial service at Coral Harbour Base. The RBDF members’ “courage continues to serve as a beacon of hope and inspiration for all Bahamians in the face of adversity,” said Wayne Munroe, minister of national security.
The ceremony began with a wreath-laying at the Cenotaph in the Garden of Remembrance in Nassau, honoring the four Marines who died on May 10, 1980, when their patrol boat was attacked and sunk in Bahamian waters by two Cuban MiG-21 supersonic fighter jets.
The Flamingo had stopped two Cuban fishing vessels for poaching in Bahamian waters and were in the process of arresting the crew members. In response, the Cuban MiGs invaded Bahamian airspace and fired on the Flamingo. The Cubans sank the patrol boat with 23 mm cannons, and then fired on Marines who had ended up in the water. Fenrick Sturrup, Austin Smith, David Tucker and Edward Williams, all RBDF Marines, were killed in the attack.
Fifteen Flamingo crew members and the commander made it to Duncan Town on Ragged Island after being picked up by the fishing vessels they had boarded. The Cuban poachers were convicted in July 1980, and Cuba eventually admitted responsibility for the attack, paying the Bahamas $10 million in compensation.
Munroe paid tribute on May 10 to the fallen service members, who “exemplified the highest ideals of service and sacrifice.” Commodore Floyd Moxey, commander of the RBDF, joined Munroe and other guests in laying wreaths at the HMBS Flamingo Memorial Park Monument.
Family members and comrades of the fallen Marines placed personal tributes at the memorial park, honoring not only the Flamingo crew but all Marines who have died in service. The ceremony concluded with a wreath-laying in the waters of Coral Harbour in remembrance of those lost at sea.
The RBDF had just become an official organization on March 31, 1980. Officers and Marines had begun training in 1978, the year HMBS Flamingo and its sister ship, HMBS Marlin, were built and sailed from England to The Bahamas.
On April 10, 2025, members of the HMBS Flamingo Memorial Committee, led by Commander Andrew Bowe, visited Governor-General Cynthia Pratt at Government House. Pratt was presented with a pin commemorating the sacrifice of the HMBS Flamingo Marines.
The committee also noted several milestones achieved in the past four years, including the successful campaign to have the fallen Marines declared national heroes, the engraving of their names on the Cenotaph and a proclamation by Parliament recognizing their heroism.