NAVY is the branch of a nation’s armed forces that consists
of warships and support ships, their crews, and land bases and their personnel.
Many of the world’s navies also have an air force. Some navies include combat
forces called marines, who are trained to fight in the air and on land.
Most nations that have a coastline have a navy. But the world’s navies greatly in size, in fighting strength, and in the types of ships and aircraft that they have. Smaller navies consist mainly of warships called small combatants, such as patrol boats, missile boats, and minesweepers. The main task of a small navy is to defend its nation’s coastline. Larger navies also have major warships, such as aircraft carriers, submarines and frigates. These warships can operate far out at sea without returning to port for weeks or months. Nations use large navies to control the sea and, during times of war, to attack enemy shores.
The United States and Russia have the world’s largest navies. Other countries with large navies include China, France, India and the United Kingdom (UK). For centuries, the most powerful nations were often those with the strongest navies. The development of aircraft and missiles in the 1900’s reduced the importance of seagoing forces. Nevertheless, navies still have tremendous military and political value. Warships are flexible in operation and they can travel the seas freely. International law allows ships to sail within 22.2 kilometers of any country’s coast without permission. Thus, a group of warships can serve as a temporary military base. More importantly, ships can carry out their mission independent of foreign land bases.
The role of navies
Nations use their navies in many different roles. A navy’s role depends on its size and composition and whether the nation is at war or at peace.
Peacetime roles. When a nation is at peace, it may show political support by sending its ships to an ally’s port or by training with an ally’s navy. Navies may also help deliver FOOD, MEDICINE AND OTHER HUMANITARIAN AID to war-torn countries or to areas struck by a natural disaster. In addition, nations may use their navies to collect intelligence (information about potential enemies).
Sometimes, navies perform limited military operations during peacetime. For example, in the 1980’s in the Persian Gulf, the UK’s Royal Navy cleared mines and US warships escorted oil tankers to protect them from attack during the war between Iran and Iraq. This was a military action, even though the UK and the United States were not directly involved in the war.
Wartime roles. During a war, the primary role of a small navy is to defend its nation’s coastline against enemies. Large navies have two principal wartime roles: (1) controlling the sea and (2) providing a base from which to lunch attacks against the shore.
Controlling the sea means that a navy takes over specific areas of the ocean to ensure the safe passage of its own ships and to deny passage to enemy ships. Control of the sea involves defending ships against attack. It also may involve blockading enemy land bases so that enemy ships and aircraft cannot use them. A navy may control some areas of the sea by laying naval mines (explosive devices in the water). Naval mines can damage or destroy ships that try to pass over them.
A nation with a large navy also has the power to attack targets on land from the sea. Modern warships can launch attacks from positions far out at sea using missiles and aircraft. Navies may also launch amphibious assaults – invasions of enemy coastal coastal areas by the combined action of land, sea, and air forces.
The organization of navies
Every navy has a shore-based branch and a seagoing branch. The shore-based branch includes HEADQUARTERS, COMMUNICATION STATIONS, AIRFIELDS, SHIPYARDS, MAINTENANCE FACILITIES, SUPPLY STATIONS, NAVAL SCHOOLS, AND THEIR PERSONNEL. The seagoing branch, usually called the fleet, consist of a navy’s ships, submarines, ship-based aircraft and their crews. The organization of a fleet varies with the size, mission, and location of the navy. The US navy, for example, has separate fleets in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. France has Atlantic and Mediterranean fleets. India’s navy operates one fleet on India’s western coast and a second fleet on its eastern coast.
Because ships are flexible in their operation, they can be organized in many combination for different purposes. In most fleets, each ship is assigned to a permanent administrative unit called a group, squadron, or division. Large fleets may also organize their ships into task forces. These are temporary groupings of ships formed to carry out a particular task. A task force may consist of one or more than a dozen ships, depending on the task. In the U.S. Navy, task forces are called battle groups when they contain one or more aircraft carriers.
Ships and aircraft
The world’s navies operate many types of ships, ranging from huge aircraft carriers to small patrol boats. Navies also use many kinds of aircraft.
Aircraft carriers are the largest warships ever built. Carriers serve as mobile bases for many kinds of aircraft. Some carriers are designed for conventional aircraft, which would normally require a long runaway. Conventional aircraft are launched from a carrierdeck with the aid of a catapult. When the aircraft land, a device called a tail hook lowered from the rear of the plane catches of one of the steel cables stretched across the deck. Only the Brazilian, French, Russian and US navies had conventional aircraft carriers in the mid-1990’s.
Other carriers can serve as a base only for V/STOL aircraft which take off vertically or from a short runaway. V/STOL stands for vertical/short take-off and landing. Several navies have V/STOL carriers. Helicopters fly from both of carriers.
Most carriers are armed with guns and missiles for short-range defence, but they depend on their aircraft and other warships for protection. Russian carriers are more heavily armed carriers in other fleets.
Cruisers are the next largest warships. Navies use cruisers primarily to defend aircraft carriers against air and submarines attacks. Cruisers are armed with missiles, rockets and torpedoes. Some cruisers also carry powerful long-range missiles for attacking targets on land. Only France, Italy, Peru, Russia and the United States had cruisers in the mid-1990’s.
Destroyers are similar to cruisers, but they are smaller and less costly to build. They are armed with guns, rockets, torpedoes, and missiles. A destroyer’s main role is to escot and defend other ships, but destroyers also perform independent missions. Several of the world’s navies have destroyers.
Frigates are the most common large warship in the world’s navies. Navies use them chiefly to defend other warships and cargo ships against enemy submarines. Frigates are armed with torpedoes and other antisubmarine weapons. Most frigates also have guns and some have missiles for defence against air and surface attacks.
Amphibious ships – often called amphibs – carry marines to enermy shores for operation on land. Amphibs use helicopters and landing craft to carry troops and their equipment ashore.
Submarines are warships travel underwater. They can remain at sea, fully submerged, for long periods. They are extremely difficult for enemies to attack. Navies have two principal kinds of submarines: attack submarines and ballistic missile submarines. Attacked submarines carry torpedoes and missiles. They primarily attack enemy surface ships and submarines. More than 40 navies have attack submarines. Ballistic missile submarines carry long-range ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads for attacking targets on shore. Only the navies of China, France, Russia, the UK, and the United States have ballistic missile submarines.
Auxiliary ships are noncombatant ships, most of which support warships. Underway replenishment (UNREP) ships carry fuel, food, weapons, ammunition, and other supplies for warships at sea. Other auxiliary ships include supply and repair ships called tenders, hospital ships, tankers, salvage ships and tugs.
Small combatants include missile and torpedo boats, minesweepers, and patrol boats. Small combatants operate mostly in coastal waters. Missile and torpedo boats have limited seagoing ability, but they carry powerful weapons for attacking larger ships. Minesweepers locate and destroy enemy mines. Patrol boats guard coastal waters.
Aircraft play a major role in modern naval operations. Navies use many types of aircraft, including fighter, attack, antisubmarine, cargo and reconnaissance (observation) planes; and helicopters.
Major Navies of the world
A powerful navy is modern, well trained, and can fight effectively. The world’s largest navies belong to the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France and India. A navy’s size does not necessarily reflect its fighting strength, however. For example, one aircraft carrier can provide as much striking power as several cruisers or submarines. In addition, advanced weapons can give a small navy major striking power.
The United States had more than 185 surface warships in the early 1990’s, including 12 conventional aircraft carriers. The carriers, 7 of which wee nuclear powered, were the backbone of the US fleet. In addition to surface ships, the US Navy operated about 100 nuclear-powered submarines. Approximately 500,000 men and women served in the US Navy. Another 180,000 belonged to the Marine Corps, a separate branch of the Department of the Navy.
Russia took control of most of the massive Soviet Navy after the Soviet Union broke apart in late 1991. Since then, Rusia has taken many ships and submarines out of service because they cost too much to operate. Despite these reductions, the Russian Navy is still large, and most of its ships are modern.
The submarine is the most important ship in the Russian fleet. The Russian Navy had about 250 submarines in the early 1990’s, far more than any other navy. About 150 were nuclear powered. Russia also had more than 190 surface warships. The Russian
Navy had about 320,000 men, including marines.
China has a large navy, but its ships are old and have spent little time training at sea. Thus, the effectiveness of the Chinese Navy has been limited. China’s fleet operates mostly in coastal waters. During the early 1990’s, China had about 50 surface warships, plus about 1,000 small combatants. China also operated about 45 submarines, only 6 of which were nuclear powered. Approximately 260,000 people, including marines, served in the Chinese Navy.
France has a small navy, but it is modern, well trained and effective. France had about 40 surface warships in the early 1990’s, including 2 conventional aircraft carriers. France also had 17 submarines, 9 of which were nuclear powered. About 65,000 people served in the French Navy, including marines.
The United Kingdom has a small but effective navy. The navy of the United Kingdom, called the Royal Navy, operated about 45 surface warships in the warships in the early 1990’s. The Royal Navy also had about 20 submarines, more than half of which were nuclear powered. About 62,000 people, including marines, were in the Royal navy.
India enlarged its navy during the 1980’s as part of a major arms build-up. By the early 1990’s, India had nearly 30 surface warships and 15 diesel-powered submarines. However, lack of funding forced India to cut back its naval building programme and to limit time spent training at sea. About 55,000 people, including marines, serves in the Indian Navy.
The History of Navies
Ancient Navies. By about 3000 BC, the Egyptians were using small seagoing ships for military purposes. Between 2000 and 1000 BC, the Greeks began building long, wooden ships called galleys. Galleys were propelled chiefly by oars, but most also had sails. Ancient Mediterranean civilization and trading ships. Ancient galleys had pointed bows to ram other ships. Later, crews used catapults (weapon that resembled giant slingshots) to throw stones, hot coals, and pitch onto enemy ships.
In 483 BC, the Greek city-state of Athens began to build a large fleet of galleys to defend itself against invaders from Persia. Athens soon became the dominant naval power in the Mediterranean Sea. Athens defeated the Persian fleet near the island of Salamis in 480 BC in the first naval battle for which an extensive record exists.
In 31 BC, the fleets of two rival Roman leaders, Mark Antony and Gaius Octavian, fought a battle off Actium in western Greece. Antony was allied with Cleopatra, the queen of Eqypt and commanded their joint fleets. Octavian’s fleet won the battle. He later became Emperor Agustus of Rome. Rome reigned as the supreme naval power in the Mediterranean for the next 250 years.
Navies in the Middle Ages. From the AD 700’s to about 1100, bold Scandinavian sailors, now known as Vikings, raided coastal and river settlements throughout western Europe. In the late 800’s, the English king Alfred the Great built a large fleet of galley warships to defend his country against Viking raiders.
During the 1200’s, Europeans began to build ships with large, deep hulls (main bodies). Deep-hulled ships were faster and could travel more easily on the high seas than long, low galleys. Sails rather than oars became the principal means of propulsion, though some ships still used oars when there was no wind.
Most navies of the Middle Ages followed a standard battle plan. Attacking warships sailed alongside enemy ships and hurled rocks and flaming chemicals at them. Attackers then tried to ram or board enemy ships. After boarding, the crews fought hand-to-hand using swords, hatches and later, guns. Some historians believe navies first used cannons during the 1300’s. But naval guns did not come into use until the 1500’s.
Between 1405 and 1433, a Chinese fleet, led by Admiral Cheng Ho, made a series of seven expeditions to the Indian Ocean, the Middle East and eastern coast of Africa. These vogayes established China as the unchallenges naval naval power in Asia for the first half of the 1400’s. China’s naval supremacy ended after leaders who disapproved of contact with foreigners took control.
The beginning of modern navies. The Italian city of Venice was the major sea power in the Mediterranean during the late Middle Ages. By 1400, Venice had a fleet of about 3,000 galleys. The Ottoman Empire, based in what is now Turkey, ranked as Venice’s chief naval rival. In 1571, Venice, Spain and their allies destroyed most of the Ottoman fleet in a battle off Lepanto in Greece. This was the last major battle between oar-driven galleys.
During the 1500’s, Spain and England competed for control of the Atlantic Ocean. Both countries built ships called galleons. Galleons were large, high sailing ships with three masts. In the late 1500’s, English galleons began harassing Spanish galleons carrying gold and silver from the Americas. In response, Spain built a fleet called the Armada. In 1588, this fleet tried to invade England. But England’s galleons were smaller and easier to manoeuvre than Spain’s, and English crews were better trained. The English crushed the Armada and England dominated the Atlantic for the next 300 years.
The Netherlands competed with England for control of the seas during the mid-1600’s. The two countries fought several naval battles that brought important changes in military tactics at sea. By this time, fleets had become large and difficult to command. Naval commanders began issuing instructions before a battle to coordinate the movements of their ships during the fighting. Large groups of ships were divided into squadrons. Large groups of ships were divided into squadrons. Commanders used flags to signal to other ships.
The largest warships were called battleships or ships of the line because they were positioned in the main line of battle. Opposing lines of battleships sailed on parallel courses and bombarded each other with cannon fire. In the Battle of Trafalgar, off the coast of Spain in 1805, British Admiral Horatio Nelson won a major victory by breaking through and disrupting the battle line of the opposing French and Spanish navies.
Engineering advances. In 1814, American inventor Robert Fulton built the first steam-powered warship. Steamships could cruise faster than sailing ships, and they could move against or without wind. But steamships faced a new problem. They needed fuel and had to depend on land bases to supply coal for refueling. Navies had to establish fuelling stations overseas.
Improvements in the range, reliability and accuracy of shipboard guns had a tremendous impact on naval warfare. During the 1820’s, inventors developed naval guns that fired explosive shells rather than solid balls. In 1853, Russian ships fired the first explosive shells used in naval battle, destroying the wooden ships of the opposing Ottoman fleet during the Crimean War. In this war, Russia fought the allied forces of Britain, France, Sardina and the Ottoman Empire.
In the mid-1800’s, shipbuilders began covering wooden hulls with heavy iron armour. Investors developed rotating turrets so that naval guns could be fired in almost any direction without turning the ship. As the range and accuracy of guns increased, ships fought at greater distances. Crews no boarder enemy ships and fought hand-to-hand, as in the sailing era.
In 1862, during the American Civil War, the Union’s Monitor fought the South’s Merrimack (then named the Virginia) in the channel of Hampton Roads in Chesapeake Bay. Neither ship was sunk. But this battle is famous because it was the first battle between two iron-armoured ships. It was also one of the first battles between ships powered entirely by steam.
In 1906, the UK completed the more large guns and was faster than any previous battleship. It made all other battleships out of date and it pushed Germany and the UK into a race of modern shipbuilding.
World War I began in 1914. In the war, the Allies, who included France, Italy, Russia, the UK and the United States, fought Germany, Austria-Hungary, and other Central Powers. The war featured two new weapons that revolutionized navalwar: submarines and aeroplanes. Submarines armed with torpedoes sank many enemy surface ships. Aeroplanes, flawn from airfields ashore, attacked ships, submarines and targets on land.
Most naval battles during World War I involved only small numbers of ships. The war’s largest naval battle occurred in 1916, when the UK and Germany fought the Battle of Jutland, off the coast of Denmark. Although the UK lost more ships, it forced the German fleet to with draw and remain in port for the rest of the war.
When World War I ended in 1918, the UK, Japan and the United States were engaged in costly shipbuilding programmes. After extensive negotiations, these and other nations agreed to limit warship construction. The Treaty of Versailles, which ended military action against Germany, barred Germany from building a large navy. But Germany, barred Germany from building a large navy. But Germany violated the treaty by secretly building submarines for other countries. When German dictator Adolf Hitler rose to power in the early 1930’s, he ordered the construction of a large navy. Japan and the Soviet Union also began building major fleets in the 1930’s.
World War II began in Europe in 1939. In that war, Germany, Italy, Japan and smaller Axis nations fought the Allies, who included Canada, China the Soviet Union, the UK and the United States. Naval combat broke out in the Atlantic in 1939, when German warships began attacking UK ships. Germany’s goal was to cut off the UK’s supply of food and war materials. The UK sank most of Germany’s surface ships, forcing Germany to resort to submarine warfare. The Allies fought German submarines with planes, antisubmarine ships, radar, sonar, and underwater bombs called depth charges. In addition, the Allies were able to intercept and decode Germany radio messages, which helped them predict the movement of enemy submarines.
Naval combat began in the Pacific Ocean on December 7, 1941. That day, Japanese bombers flying from six aircraft carriers made a surprise attack on the US Pacific Fleet at anchor in Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The Japanese sank or heavily damaged five US battleships. But all of the US Navy’s aircraft carriers survived because none were then in Pearl Harbor. After the attack, aircraft carriers became in Pearl Harbor. After the attack, aircraft carriers became the principal warship of the US Navy.
The Battle of the Coral Sea, in May 1942, was the first naval battle fought entirely by carrier-based aircraft. Opposing Japanese and US warships did not fire a single shot at an enemy ship. The Battle of Midway in June 1942 was the turning point for naval war in the Pacific. In this battle, the US Navy sank four Japanese aircraft carriers and one cruiser. The Battle for Leyte Gulf in the Philippines, in October 1944, was one of the largest naval battles in history. This series of actions involved about 280 Japanese and US warships. The battle eliminated Japan as a major naval power.
By the time Japan surrendered in 1945 and World War II ended, only the United States and the UK still had major navies. The US fleet was much larger than the rest of the world’s seagoing forces combined.
Navies during the Gold War. The Cold War was a period of intense rivalry that developed after World War II between Communist and non-Communist countries. During this period, many countries carried out naval building programmes. Many small navies were modernized with the addition of submarines, missiles and other advances weapon. The Soviet Union began a driven to enlarge and modernize its fleet in the late 1940’s.
After World War II, aviation experts predicted that aircraft carrying nuclear bombs would be the principal weapon in future military conflicts. As a result, the US Navy concentrated on building aircraft that could fly from large carriers and carry nuclear bombs.
The Korea War (1950 – 1953) proved, however, that conventional naval forces were still vital to modern conflicts. In this war, the United States and other members of the United Nations aided South Korea against North Korea, which was backed by China and the Soviet Union. Airpower was not the deciding factor in ending the war, and neither side used nuclear weapons. During the war, the US Navy launched carrier-based air attacks, made amphibious landings and used shipboard guns to bombard enemy coastal targets.
In 1954, the US launched the world’s first nuclear-powered ship, the submarine Nautilus. The first Soviet nuclear submarine was completed about five years later. The first nuclear-powered surface warships were the US aircraft carrier Enterprise and the cruiser Long Beach, both completed in 1961. By the mid-1960’s, the Soviet Union and the States had submarines with ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads.
The world’s navies were involved in numerous conflicts during the Cold War period. Foe example, in 1962, the US Navy blockaded Cuba to force the Soviet to remove missiles and aircraft they had brought to the island. The US Navy saw extensive combat in the Vietnam War after the United States became heavily involved in the war in 1965. The US Navy also played a major role in the Persian Gulf War in 1991. In 1992, the UK’s Royal Navy battle Argentina for control of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. The Royal Navy was victorious, proving that it could fight against modern weapons at great distances from the United Kingdom.
Navies after the Cold War. The Cold War ended in the early 1990’s, after the Soviet Union broke apart and democratic reforms took place in Eastern Europe.
Many countries, including Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, began reducing their navies. Older ships were cut up for scrap metal, newer ships were placed in reserve, and fewer new ships were built. Both Russia and the United States began reducing their fleets of ballistic missile submarines. However, some smaller navies, including those of France, India and Israel, continued to build and modernize their fleets. Several of the former Soviet republics, especially Ukraine, began to build their own navies in the 1990’s.
Related articles: Famous battles: Battle of Actium, Battle of Jutland, Monitor and Merrimack, Salamis Spanish Armanda and Battle of Trafalgar.
Kind of Ships: Aircraft carrier, Amphibious ship, Battleship, Cruiser, Destroyer, Frigate, Galleon, Galley, Missile boat, Submarine and Warship.
Other related articles: Air force, Amphibious warfare, Armed service of Australia, Guided missile, Armed services of India, Armed services of Ireland, Marine, Mine warfare, Armed services of Philippines, Ship (History), Torpedo, Armed services of United Kingdom, Armed services of United States and V/STOL.
Most nations that have a coastline have a navy. But the world’s navies greatly in size, in fighting strength, and in the types of ships and aircraft that they have. Smaller navies consist mainly of warships called small combatants, such as patrol boats, missile boats, and minesweepers. The main task of a small navy is to defend its nation’s coastline. Larger navies also have major warships, such as aircraft carriers, submarines and frigates. These warships can operate far out at sea without returning to port for weeks or months. Nations use large navies to control the sea and, during times of war, to attack enemy shores.
The United States and Russia have the world’s largest navies. Other countries with large navies include China, France, India and the United Kingdom (UK). For centuries, the most powerful nations were often those with the strongest navies. The development of aircraft and missiles in the 1900’s reduced the importance of seagoing forces. Nevertheless, navies still have tremendous military and political value. Warships are flexible in operation and they can travel the seas freely. International law allows ships to sail within 22.2 kilometers of any country’s coast without permission. Thus, a group of warships can serve as a temporary military base. More importantly, ships can carry out their mission independent of foreign land bases.
The role of navies
Nations use their navies in many different roles. A navy’s role depends on its size and composition and whether the nation is at war or at peace.
Peacetime roles. When a nation is at peace, it may show political support by sending its ships to an ally’s port or by training with an ally’s navy. Navies may also help deliver FOOD, MEDICINE AND OTHER HUMANITARIAN AID to war-torn countries or to areas struck by a natural disaster. In addition, nations may use their navies to collect intelligence (information about potential enemies).
Sometimes, navies perform limited military operations during peacetime. For example, in the 1980’s in the Persian Gulf, the UK’s Royal Navy cleared mines and US warships escorted oil tankers to protect them from attack during the war between Iran and Iraq. This was a military action, even though the UK and the United States were not directly involved in the war.
Wartime roles. During a war, the primary role of a small navy is to defend its nation’s coastline against enemies. Large navies have two principal wartime roles: (1) controlling the sea and (2) providing a base from which to lunch attacks against the shore.
Controlling the sea means that a navy takes over specific areas of the ocean to ensure the safe passage of its own ships and to deny passage to enemy ships. Control of the sea involves defending ships against attack. It also may involve blockading enemy land bases so that enemy ships and aircraft cannot use them. A navy may control some areas of the sea by laying naval mines (explosive devices in the water). Naval mines can damage or destroy ships that try to pass over them.
A nation with a large navy also has the power to attack targets on land from the sea. Modern warships can launch attacks from positions far out at sea using missiles and aircraft. Navies may also launch amphibious assaults – invasions of enemy coastal coastal areas by the combined action of land, sea, and air forces.
The organization of navies
Every navy has a shore-based branch and a seagoing branch. The shore-based branch includes HEADQUARTERS, COMMUNICATION STATIONS, AIRFIELDS, SHIPYARDS, MAINTENANCE FACILITIES, SUPPLY STATIONS, NAVAL SCHOOLS, AND THEIR PERSONNEL. The seagoing branch, usually called the fleet, consist of a navy’s ships, submarines, ship-based aircraft and their crews. The organization of a fleet varies with the size, mission, and location of the navy. The US navy, for example, has separate fleets in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. France has Atlantic and Mediterranean fleets. India’s navy operates one fleet on India’s western coast and a second fleet on its eastern coast.
Because ships are flexible in their operation, they can be organized in many combination for different purposes. In most fleets, each ship is assigned to a permanent administrative unit called a group, squadron, or division. Large fleets may also organize their ships into task forces. These are temporary groupings of ships formed to carry out a particular task. A task force may consist of one or more than a dozen ships, depending on the task. In the U.S. Navy, task forces are called battle groups when they contain one or more aircraft carriers.
Ships and aircraft
The world’s navies operate many types of ships, ranging from huge aircraft carriers to small patrol boats. Navies also use many kinds of aircraft.
Aircraft carriers are the largest warships ever built. Carriers serve as mobile bases for many kinds of aircraft. Some carriers are designed for conventional aircraft, which would normally require a long runaway. Conventional aircraft are launched from a carrierdeck with the aid of a catapult. When the aircraft land, a device called a tail hook lowered from the rear of the plane catches of one of the steel cables stretched across the deck. Only the Brazilian, French, Russian and US navies had conventional aircraft carriers in the mid-1990’s.
Other carriers can serve as a base only for V/STOL aircraft which take off vertically or from a short runaway. V/STOL stands for vertical/short take-off and landing. Several navies have V/STOL carriers. Helicopters fly from both of carriers.
Most carriers are armed with guns and missiles for short-range defence, but they depend on their aircraft and other warships for protection. Russian carriers are more heavily armed carriers in other fleets.
Cruisers are the next largest warships. Navies use cruisers primarily to defend aircraft carriers against air and submarines attacks. Cruisers are armed with missiles, rockets and torpedoes. Some cruisers also carry powerful long-range missiles for attacking targets on land. Only France, Italy, Peru, Russia and the United States had cruisers in the mid-1990’s.
Destroyers are similar to cruisers, but they are smaller and less costly to build. They are armed with guns, rockets, torpedoes, and missiles. A destroyer’s main role is to escot and defend other ships, but destroyers also perform independent missions. Several of the world’s navies have destroyers.
Frigates are the most common large warship in the world’s navies. Navies use them chiefly to defend other warships and cargo ships against enemy submarines. Frigates are armed with torpedoes and other antisubmarine weapons. Most frigates also have guns and some have missiles for defence against air and surface attacks.
Amphibious ships – often called amphibs – carry marines to enermy shores for operation on land. Amphibs use helicopters and landing craft to carry troops and their equipment ashore.
Submarines are warships travel underwater. They can remain at sea, fully submerged, for long periods. They are extremely difficult for enemies to attack. Navies have two principal kinds of submarines: attack submarines and ballistic missile submarines. Attacked submarines carry torpedoes and missiles. They primarily attack enemy surface ships and submarines. More than 40 navies have attack submarines. Ballistic missile submarines carry long-range ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads for attacking targets on shore. Only the navies of China, France, Russia, the UK, and the United States have ballistic missile submarines.
Auxiliary ships are noncombatant ships, most of which support warships. Underway replenishment (UNREP) ships carry fuel, food, weapons, ammunition, and other supplies for warships at sea. Other auxiliary ships include supply and repair ships called tenders, hospital ships, tankers, salvage ships and tugs.
Small combatants include missile and torpedo boats, minesweepers, and patrol boats. Small combatants operate mostly in coastal waters. Missile and torpedo boats have limited seagoing ability, but they carry powerful weapons for attacking larger ships. Minesweepers locate and destroy enemy mines. Patrol boats guard coastal waters.
Aircraft play a major role in modern naval operations. Navies use many types of aircraft, including fighter, attack, antisubmarine, cargo and reconnaissance (observation) planes; and helicopters.
Major Navies of the world
A powerful navy is modern, well trained, and can fight effectively. The world’s largest navies belong to the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France and India. A navy’s size does not necessarily reflect its fighting strength, however. For example, one aircraft carrier can provide as much striking power as several cruisers or submarines. In addition, advanced weapons can give a small navy major striking power.
The United States had more than 185 surface warships in the early 1990’s, including 12 conventional aircraft carriers. The carriers, 7 of which wee nuclear powered, were the backbone of the US fleet. In addition to surface ships, the US Navy operated about 100 nuclear-powered submarines. Approximately 500,000 men and women served in the US Navy. Another 180,000 belonged to the Marine Corps, a separate branch of the Department of the Navy.
Russia took control of most of the massive Soviet Navy after the Soviet Union broke apart in late 1991. Since then, Rusia has taken many ships and submarines out of service because they cost too much to operate. Despite these reductions, the Russian Navy is still large, and most of its ships are modern.
The submarine is the most important ship in the Russian fleet. The Russian Navy had about 250 submarines in the early 1990’s, far more than any other navy. About 150 were nuclear powered. Russia also had more than 190 surface warships. The Russian
Navy had about 320,000 men, including marines.
China has a large navy, but its ships are old and have spent little time training at sea. Thus, the effectiveness of the Chinese Navy has been limited. China’s fleet operates mostly in coastal waters. During the early 1990’s, China had about 50 surface warships, plus about 1,000 small combatants. China also operated about 45 submarines, only 6 of which were nuclear powered. Approximately 260,000 people, including marines, served in the Chinese Navy.
France has a small navy, but it is modern, well trained and effective. France had about 40 surface warships in the early 1990’s, including 2 conventional aircraft carriers. France also had 17 submarines, 9 of which were nuclear powered. About 65,000 people served in the French Navy, including marines.
The United Kingdom has a small but effective navy. The navy of the United Kingdom, called the Royal Navy, operated about 45 surface warships in the warships in the early 1990’s. The Royal Navy also had about 20 submarines, more than half of which were nuclear powered. About 62,000 people, including marines, were in the Royal navy.
India enlarged its navy during the 1980’s as part of a major arms build-up. By the early 1990’s, India had nearly 30 surface warships and 15 diesel-powered submarines. However, lack of funding forced India to cut back its naval building programme and to limit time spent training at sea. About 55,000 people, including marines, serves in the Indian Navy.
The History of Navies
Ancient Navies. By about 3000 BC, the Egyptians were using small seagoing ships for military purposes. Between 2000 and 1000 BC, the Greeks began building long, wooden ships called galleys. Galleys were propelled chiefly by oars, but most also had sails. Ancient Mediterranean civilization and trading ships. Ancient galleys had pointed bows to ram other ships. Later, crews used catapults (weapon that resembled giant slingshots) to throw stones, hot coals, and pitch onto enemy ships.
In 483 BC, the Greek city-state of Athens began to build a large fleet of galleys to defend itself against invaders from Persia. Athens soon became the dominant naval power in the Mediterranean Sea. Athens defeated the Persian fleet near the island of Salamis in 480 BC in the first naval battle for which an extensive record exists.
In 31 BC, the fleets of two rival Roman leaders, Mark Antony and Gaius Octavian, fought a battle off Actium in western Greece. Antony was allied with Cleopatra, the queen of Eqypt and commanded their joint fleets. Octavian’s fleet won the battle. He later became Emperor Agustus of Rome. Rome reigned as the supreme naval power in the Mediterranean for the next 250 years.
Navies in the Middle Ages. From the AD 700’s to about 1100, bold Scandinavian sailors, now known as Vikings, raided coastal and river settlements throughout western Europe. In the late 800’s, the English king Alfred the Great built a large fleet of galley warships to defend his country against Viking raiders.
During the 1200’s, Europeans began to build ships with large, deep hulls (main bodies). Deep-hulled ships were faster and could travel more easily on the high seas than long, low galleys. Sails rather than oars became the principal means of propulsion, though some ships still used oars when there was no wind.
Most navies of the Middle Ages followed a standard battle plan. Attacking warships sailed alongside enemy ships and hurled rocks and flaming chemicals at them. Attackers then tried to ram or board enemy ships. After boarding, the crews fought hand-to-hand using swords, hatches and later, guns. Some historians believe navies first used cannons during the 1300’s. But naval guns did not come into use until the 1500’s.
Between 1405 and 1433, a Chinese fleet, led by Admiral Cheng Ho, made a series of seven expeditions to the Indian Ocean, the Middle East and eastern coast of Africa. These vogayes established China as the unchallenges naval naval power in Asia for the first half of the 1400’s. China’s naval supremacy ended after leaders who disapproved of contact with foreigners took control.
The beginning of modern navies. The Italian city of Venice was the major sea power in the Mediterranean during the late Middle Ages. By 1400, Venice had a fleet of about 3,000 galleys. The Ottoman Empire, based in what is now Turkey, ranked as Venice’s chief naval rival. In 1571, Venice, Spain and their allies destroyed most of the Ottoman fleet in a battle off Lepanto in Greece. This was the last major battle between oar-driven galleys.
During the 1500’s, Spain and England competed for control of the Atlantic Ocean. Both countries built ships called galleons. Galleons were large, high sailing ships with three masts. In the late 1500’s, English galleons began harassing Spanish galleons carrying gold and silver from the Americas. In response, Spain built a fleet called the Armada. In 1588, this fleet tried to invade England. But England’s galleons were smaller and easier to manoeuvre than Spain’s, and English crews were better trained. The English crushed the Armada and England dominated the Atlantic for the next 300 years.
The Netherlands competed with England for control of the seas during the mid-1600’s. The two countries fought several naval battles that brought important changes in military tactics at sea. By this time, fleets had become large and difficult to command. Naval commanders began issuing instructions before a battle to coordinate the movements of their ships during the fighting. Large groups of ships were divided into squadrons. Large groups of ships were divided into squadrons. Commanders used flags to signal to other ships.
The largest warships were called battleships or ships of the line because they were positioned in the main line of battle. Opposing lines of battleships sailed on parallel courses and bombarded each other with cannon fire. In the Battle of Trafalgar, off the coast of Spain in 1805, British Admiral Horatio Nelson won a major victory by breaking through and disrupting the battle line of the opposing French and Spanish navies.
Engineering advances. In 1814, American inventor Robert Fulton built the first steam-powered warship. Steamships could cruise faster than sailing ships, and they could move against or without wind. But steamships faced a new problem. They needed fuel and had to depend on land bases to supply coal for refueling. Navies had to establish fuelling stations overseas.
Improvements in the range, reliability and accuracy of shipboard guns had a tremendous impact on naval warfare. During the 1820’s, inventors developed naval guns that fired explosive shells rather than solid balls. In 1853, Russian ships fired the first explosive shells used in naval battle, destroying the wooden ships of the opposing Ottoman fleet during the Crimean War. In this war, Russia fought the allied forces of Britain, France, Sardina and the Ottoman Empire.
In the mid-1800’s, shipbuilders began covering wooden hulls with heavy iron armour. Investors developed rotating turrets so that naval guns could be fired in almost any direction without turning the ship. As the range and accuracy of guns increased, ships fought at greater distances. Crews no boarder enemy ships and fought hand-to-hand, as in the sailing era.
In 1862, during the American Civil War, the Union’s Monitor fought the South’s Merrimack (then named the Virginia) in the channel of Hampton Roads in Chesapeake Bay. Neither ship was sunk. But this battle is famous because it was the first battle between two iron-armoured ships. It was also one of the first battles between ships powered entirely by steam.
In 1906, the UK completed the more large guns and was faster than any previous battleship. It made all other battleships out of date and it pushed Germany and the UK into a race of modern shipbuilding.
World War I began in 1914. In the war, the Allies, who included France, Italy, Russia, the UK and the United States, fought Germany, Austria-Hungary, and other Central Powers. The war featured two new weapons that revolutionized navalwar: submarines and aeroplanes. Submarines armed with torpedoes sank many enemy surface ships. Aeroplanes, flawn from airfields ashore, attacked ships, submarines and targets on land.
Most naval battles during World War I involved only small numbers of ships. The war’s largest naval battle occurred in 1916, when the UK and Germany fought the Battle of Jutland, off the coast of Denmark. Although the UK lost more ships, it forced the German fleet to with draw and remain in port for the rest of the war.
When World War I ended in 1918, the UK, Japan and the United States were engaged in costly shipbuilding programmes. After extensive negotiations, these and other nations agreed to limit warship construction. The Treaty of Versailles, which ended military action against Germany, barred Germany from building a large navy. But Germany, barred Germany from building a large navy. But Germany violated the treaty by secretly building submarines for other countries. When German dictator Adolf Hitler rose to power in the early 1930’s, he ordered the construction of a large navy. Japan and the Soviet Union also began building major fleets in the 1930’s.
World War II began in Europe in 1939. In that war, Germany, Italy, Japan and smaller Axis nations fought the Allies, who included Canada, China the Soviet Union, the UK and the United States. Naval combat broke out in the Atlantic in 1939, when German warships began attacking UK ships. Germany’s goal was to cut off the UK’s supply of food and war materials. The UK sank most of Germany’s surface ships, forcing Germany to resort to submarine warfare. The Allies fought German submarines with planes, antisubmarine ships, radar, sonar, and underwater bombs called depth charges. In addition, the Allies were able to intercept and decode Germany radio messages, which helped them predict the movement of enemy submarines.
Naval combat began in the Pacific Ocean on December 7, 1941. That day, Japanese bombers flying from six aircraft carriers made a surprise attack on the US Pacific Fleet at anchor in Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The Japanese sank or heavily damaged five US battleships. But all of the US Navy’s aircraft carriers survived because none were then in Pearl Harbor. After the attack, aircraft carriers became in Pearl Harbor. After the attack, aircraft carriers became the principal warship of the US Navy.
The Battle of the Coral Sea, in May 1942, was the first naval battle fought entirely by carrier-based aircraft. Opposing Japanese and US warships did not fire a single shot at an enemy ship. The Battle of Midway in June 1942 was the turning point for naval war in the Pacific. In this battle, the US Navy sank four Japanese aircraft carriers and one cruiser. The Battle for Leyte Gulf in the Philippines, in October 1944, was one of the largest naval battles in history. This series of actions involved about 280 Japanese and US warships. The battle eliminated Japan as a major naval power.
By the time Japan surrendered in 1945 and World War II ended, only the United States and the UK still had major navies. The US fleet was much larger than the rest of the world’s seagoing forces combined.
Navies during the Gold War. The Cold War was a period of intense rivalry that developed after World War II between Communist and non-Communist countries. During this period, many countries carried out naval building programmes. Many small navies were modernized with the addition of submarines, missiles and other advances weapon. The Soviet Union began a driven to enlarge and modernize its fleet in the late 1940’s.
After World War II, aviation experts predicted that aircraft carrying nuclear bombs would be the principal weapon in future military conflicts. As a result, the US Navy concentrated on building aircraft that could fly from large carriers and carry nuclear bombs.
The Korea War (1950 – 1953) proved, however, that conventional naval forces were still vital to modern conflicts. In this war, the United States and other members of the United Nations aided South Korea against North Korea, which was backed by China and the Soviet Union. Airpower was not the deciding factor in ending the war, and neither side used nuclear weapons. During the war, the US Navy launched carrier-based air attacks, made amphibious landings and used shipboard guns to bombard enemy coastal targets.
In 1954, the US launched the world’s first nuclear-powered ship, the submarine Nautilus. The first Soviet nuclear submarine was completed about five years later. The first nuclear-powered surface warships were the US aircraft carrier Enterprise and the cruiser Long Beach, both completed in 1961. By the mid-1960’s, the Soviet Union and the States had submarines with ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads.
The world’s navies were involved in numerous conflicts during the Cold War period. Foe example, in 1962, the US Navy blockaded Cuba to force the Soviet to remove missiles and aircraft they had brought to the island. The US Navy saw extensive combat in the Vietnam War after the United States became heavily involved in the war in 1965. The US Navy also played a major role in the Persian Gulf War in 1991. In 1992, the UK’s Royal Navy battle Argentina for control of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. The Royal Navy was victorious, proving that it could fight against modern weapons at great distances from the United Kingdom.
Navies after the Cold War. The Cold War ended in the early 1990’s, after the Soviet Union broke apart and democratic reforms took place in Eastern Europe.
Many countries, including Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, began reducing their navies. Older ships were cut up for scrap metal, newer ships were placed in reserve, and fewer new ships were built. Both Russia and the United States began reducing their fleets of ballistic missile submarines. However, some smaller navies, including those of France, India and Israel, continued to build and modernize their fleets. Several of the former Soviet republics, especially Ukraine, began to build their own navies in the 1990’s.
Related articles: Famous battles: Battle of Actium, Battle of Jutland, Monitor and Merrimack, Salamis Spanish Armanda and Battle of Trafalgar.
Kind of Ships: Aircraft carrier, Amphibious ship, Battleship, Cruiser, Destroyer, Frigate, Galleon, Galley, Missile boat, Submarine and Warship.
Other related articles: Air force, Amphibious warfare, Armed service of Australia, Guided missile, Armed services of India, Armed services of Ireland, Marine, Mine warfare, Armed services of Philippines, Ship (History), Torpedo, Armed services of United Kingdom, Armed services of United States and V/STOL.
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