Naval Vessels

I

Introduction

Naval Vessels, ships designed for the various operations involved in modern naval warfare. The modern navy is made up of a wide range of increasingly specialist vessels, recognizing the rapidly changing strategy and tactics of modern naval warfare. Although the world's superpower navies have grown from long traditions dating back to the days of sail and oak, the role of the modern navy is very different. Until the early years of this century, a country's navy was its primary means of projecting power around the globe—typified by Britain's largely unchallenged 150-year domination of the world's oceans. Since World War II, though, long-range aircraft have the capacity to strike at any point on the globe in a few hours; nuclear submarines carry missiles capable of devastating more than a hundred cities in a single strike; and the pre-eminence of the surface ship has been eroded. Today's navies perform other functions as a component of a country's military activity.

There are three major strategic uses of a surface navy: first, to seek and destroy the submarines carrying an enemy's nuclear deterrent; second, to carry an aircraft strike force to parts of the world where large land airbases are unavailable or inadequate; and third, to deliver and support ground troops through amphibious landings. These distinct functions have resulted in modern navies operating in task forces rather than a combined fleet, each task force equipped with vessels appropriate to its mission. (See Aircraft Carriers.)

The changing technology of modern war has had as great an effect on naval vessels as on tanks and aircraft. Until the end of World War I great fleets of armoured battleships, mounting guns of up to 40 cm calibre, steamed the oceans searching for one another. When battle was joined, the fleets would form up into lines and pound each other at relatively close range, much as Nelson's navy did at Trafalgar.

The technological advances in armaments in World War II paved the way for today's navy. Radar meant that captains no longer depended on a sharp-eyed look-out to spot smoke on the horizon and aimed guns more effectively; early computers also ensured that shellfire was more accurate and more deadly; and the German V-1 was the first step towards the cruise missile, which now dominates modern naval warfare.

Today, naval warfare is much more like aerial dog-fighting than the fleet actions of the past. Ships bristle with sensors to find their enemy and use precision guided missiles to deliver the killer blow. Ship's guns are virtually a thing of the past, and most ships, of whatever size, mount only small-calibre, rapid-fire weapons for anti-aircraft defence and as a last-ditch screen against missiles. Unlike a highly manoeuvrable fighter plane, a ship capable of only 72 km/hr (45 mph) has no chance of dodging an incoming 800 km/hr (500 mph) missile launched by a supersonic aircraft. Precision guidance and a warhead containing up to 200 kg (440 lb) of high explosive ensure that a hit from a missile will certainly render the target incapable of its mission, and quite possibly sink it. The ship's only chance is to avoid being targeted, or to destroy the missile in flight, which is no easy task. The basic tactic of modern naval warfare is to find the enemy, and then fire missiles effectively first.

Task force vessels are also vulnerable to attack from beneath the waves, with by far the majority of submarines being specialist hunter-killers, capable of tracking and destroying both surface vessels and the ballistic missile submarines that are the hunter-killers' primary target. For these reasons, naval vessels are often equipped specifically for air defence or antisubmarine warfare, and a task force will include vessels capable of each mission. Although vessels are classified in part by their mission, the traditional classification by size remains, although the names “cruiser”, “destroyer”, or “frigate” have very different meanings today from those that a 19th-century admiral would have recognised.

II

Battleships

Few battleships exist today. In the 1980s, the US Navy recommissioned four giant Iowa-class ships, displacing 54,000 tonnes each and carrying nine 41-cm (16-in) guns. The ships were also fitted with launchers for Tomahawk cruise missiles. Both the guns and the missiles are primarily used for shore bombardment, a role which they carried out during the Gulf War of 1991. Despite the recommissioning of the Iowa-class vessels, the reasons for the abandonment of the battleship remain (two of the four Iowa-class vessels were finally taken out of service in 1995). They are big (and hence easy to find); slow; and despite carrying steel armour up to 40 cm (15 in) thick, they are still vulnerable to hits from missiles which can pack a punch many times greater than the shells the armour was designed to withstand in the 1940s. Today, the Iowa class carries a crew of only 1,800, compared to their World War II complement of 6,000. The Iowa class was recommissioned to reflect the changing requirement of a world in which the Russian Navy threat was decreasing: the battleships were extremely vulnerable and of little tactical use in a possible task-force-versus-task-force naval action in the North Atlantic.

III

Cruisers

Cruisers are large warships, displacing over 10,000 tonnes of water. Some, such as Russia's Moskva class, carry fixed-wing aircraft; most support several helicopters for reconnaissance and submarine-hunting. The largest cruisers of all are the Russian Kirov class, which displace around 28,000 tonnes. The Kirov class vessels are armed both with missiles for surface warfare and an extensive suite of antisubmarine sensors and weapons. They are designed to add a powerful punch to a carrier group or lead an antisubmarine warfare (ASW) task force of their own. Smaller cruisers in the Russian Navy, such as the Slava or Kara class, are once again more specialized, usually taking on either a surface warfare or ASW role. In the US Navy, most cruisers are air defence vessels, protecting the giant nuclear-powered aircraft carriers that are the heart of a carrier battle group. Some, like the USS Virginia class, are also nuclear-powered, so that their speed and endurance match those of the carriers they escort. Others carry sophisticated air-to-air weapons systems. The Aegis class, for example, has a powerful phased-array radar providing 360° coverage and is able to track up to 200 targets simultaneously. Computers select the appropriate weapons to target from loaded missiles or Phalanx multibarrel close-defence guns and fire automatically after clearance from the weapons officers. The system can work wholly autonomously in a high-threat environment: Aegis gained notoriety when a vessel using the system accidentally shot down an Iranian civilian airliner in 1988. Cruisers have a top speed of about 30 knots, and a crew of roughly 600.

IV

Destroyers

The dividing line between destroyers and cruisers is blurred. Destroyers are usually vessels between 5,000-10,000 tonnes: however, the US Spruance-class destroyers share an identical hull design with the 9,600-tonne Ticonderoga-class cruisers. In NATO navies, destroyers are mainly air defence vessels, although most carry some antisubmarine capability. Russian destroyers, such as the 8,000 tonne-Sovremenny and Udaloy classes, are mainly used for surface and antisubmarine warfare. European destroyers tend to be smaller, with Britain's HMS Manchester displacing about 5,200 tonnes. Destroyers usually carry at least one gun turret for surface warfare and mount guns of up to 12.5-cm calibre, reflecting the occasional need to close with other vessels in potential combat situations. More typically, though, destroyers form a “screen” around a task force, deployed between the high-value carrier or amphibious assault ships and the most threatening air or submarine threats. Destroyers can manage up to 35 knots, and have crews of about 400.