[reprinted from 2013]

As a port city, and proudly having this fact as part of its name, Puerto Peñasco dearly embraces this special date: el Día de la Marina, or Marine (Naval) Day.

This is celebrated with the popular Fiesta de la Marina (now named Marina Fest), crowning of a Queen from among various candidates, civic actions such as commemoration of fallen sailors, parades with the participation of schools, and a ceremony with the placement of floral wreaths at the statue of El Pescador (Plaza Gobernadores in the Malecón), to José the fisherman (representing fishermen of Puerto Peñasco), and a wreath at sea in honor of the Mexican Navy. The latter is usually accompanied by two or three boats, which people are able to board if they so wish.

Foto: Ariel Gonzalez

Nevertheless, this is a date not solely celebrated in Puerto Peñasco but rather across the nation, instituted in 1942 to honor crews of the Mexican tanker ships the “Potrero del Llano” and “Faja de Oro” that were torpedoed and sunk by German submarines on May 13th and 20th, 1942. During the months of June and July that same year, the tanker ships “Tuxpan,” “Las Choapas,” “Amatitlán,” and the “Oaxaca” were also attacked and sunk during World War II. These actions took the lives of many Mexican marines.

Historically, June 1st was selected as the date to pay homage to Mexican marines as it was on June 1st, 1917 when the “Tabasco”, a Mexican merchant ship, first set sail from the port of Veracruz with the entirety of its crew made up solely by individuals born in Mexico. This was in fulfillment of Article 32 of Mexico’s Political Constitution that had been enacted on February 5th of that same year. This was quite an achievement as prior to when this article went into effect, captains, chief machinists and officials on Mexican ships had all been foreigners.