I.

Introduction

Navy, organized maritime military force of a nation. It includes not only ships and personnel but also air and missile forces, and shipyards and shore bases for the building and maintenance of fleets.

Unlike the merchant marine, or merchant navy, which is engaged in seaborne commerce, military navies are used primarily for defence and, in former eras, conquest. In peace, navies have diplomatic functions, such as showing the national flag, and they have often played valuable roles in exploration. In war, modern navies operate under and over the sea as well as on its surface. They protect a nation’s coast and merchant shipping; launch attacks against enemy coasts and commerce; reinforce allies; land amphibious forces on hostile shores; and, through the use of aircraft and missiles, project their power into the interior of an enemy nation.

II.

Historical Development

Sea power has helped shape history since ancient times. Organized naval forces first made an appearance in the Mediterranean, where over the course of many centuries Egypt, Phoenicia, Persia, Greece, and Carthage maintained navies. Although basically a land power, Rome built a fleet during the Punic Wars (264-146 bc), and Roman sea power helped bring about the ultimate destruction of Carthage. Their earliest warships were galleys, vessels propelled by banks of oars augmented by sail. The principal weapon with which they were equipped was a pointed beak, or ram, used to pierce the side of an enemy vessel. This was supplemented by archers and swordsmen who attempted to capture an enemy vessel by boarding it.

In the 7th century ad, the Byzantines developed Greek fire, an incendiary substance that was catapulted at enemy ships to set them ablaze. Although the galley was usually confined to protected waters, the Vikings used oared longships to swoop down on unwary targets along the Atlantic coast of Europe.

A.

Defence of Sea Routes

The age of exploration and nationalism that began in the 15th century coincided with the development of larger and handier sailing ships, as well as with the invention of gunpowder and instruments for navigation that enabled sailors to venture out of sight of land. The discovery of sea routes to India, China, and the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries led to a growing volume of trade, and national rivalries for control of these routes created the need for navies.

Until the end of the 18th century, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, France, and Britain were almost permanently engaged in maritime wars to win mastery of the seas and control of the vital trade routes that linked their overseas colonies to the parent country. Great Britain emerged victorious from this struggle and, following the defeat of the combined fleets of France and Spain off Cape Trafalgar in 1805 during the Napoleonic Wars, remained unchallenged for more than a century.

B.

From Sail to Steam

Throughout the great maritime wars, into the second half of the 19th century, wooden fighting ships became larger and more heavily armed, some carrying as many as 120 guns. An established ranking of professional naval officers from midshipman to admiral was created. Regular government agencies such as admiralties and navy departments were also organized to administer the increasingly complex affairs of these navies.

The Industrial Revolution of the 19th century completely changed the fighting ship. Steam replaced sail as the means of propulsion; iron and later steel replaced the wooden hull; and long-range, breech-loading rifled cannon replaced the muzzle-loading smoothbore gun. The invention of the mine, the torpedo, and the submarine also revolutionized warfare at sea.

III.

World Wars I and II

Germany’s decision to challenge Britain’s control of the sea was one of the major causes of World War I. Several naval battles were fought, and submarines were used extensively by the Germans to attack British trade. In World War II, the aircraft carrier, along with carrier-borne aircraft, and other military aircraft became the dominant weapons of sea warfare. Battles were fought without the opposing fleets coming in sight of each other, as bombers and torpedo planes inflicted heavy losses on surface ships.

As in World War I, German submarines (U-boats) were a threat to the Allied trade lifeline across the Atlantic, but aircraft proved effective in combating them. In the Pacific, the United States Navy’s submarines took a heavy toll on Japanese shipping, cutting Japan off from the source of raw materials. Radar and other advancements in electronic surveillance and communications, also introduced during the war, have since advanced the effectiveness of naval vessels.

IV.

Comparative Modern Naval Strengths

During World War II, the US Navy replaced the British Navy as the world’s strongest fleet. Until the 1960s the Soviet Union had relied on its vast army for defence. After the end of World War II, naval warfare underwent a technological revolution as sweeping as that of the 19th century. Nuclear propulsion, introduced in the first nuclear submarine in 1954, greatly enhances the speed and endurance of warships and submarines, which no longer have to surface to recharge their electric batteries. Guided missiles replaced guns as the warship’s primary weapon, and the nuclear-powered strategic submarine (SSBN), fitted with nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles that can be fired from beneath the sea, became a major component of the nuclear deterrent of the United States, Britain, and France.

In 1996 the US Navy had 8 SSBNs armed with 24 Trident C-4 missiles of range 7,400 km (4,600 mi), and 10 with 24 Trident D-5s, of range 12,000 km (7,452 mi). Britain’s first Trident SSBN, HMS Vanguard, armed with 16 Trident D-5 missiles, put to sea in December 1994; the second, HMS Victorious, entered Royal Navy service in December 1995. The third, HMS Vigilant, after its launch in October 1995, entered service in 1998; the fourth and final submarine, Vengeance, entered service in 2001. Each submarine carries 16 Trident D-5 missiles. While the submarines and (an estimated 240) warheads for British Trident are designed and made in Britain, the missiles are purchased from the United States.

France had 5 SSBNs with a total missile complement of 80. France, like Britain, has just finished modernizing its sea-based nuclear deterrent, and as of 2001 had 4 SSBNs. Its lead SSBN, Le Triomphant, was launched in 1993.

Accurate cruise missiles and torpedoes of increasingly long range and deadly potential have made large ships highly vulnerable. Modern navies can be increasingly expected to deploy their strike power under water, with the surface fleet concentrated on small but powerful and highly versatile vessels.