War at sea

In the ancient world, the fleet consisted of rowing ships . He acted in the coastal areas and played a supporting role in wars ( Army Fleet ). The methods of warfare were ramming and boarding , and the main tactical form of battle was the frontal collision of fleets, which ended in the martial arts of individual ships among themselves.

In the Middle Ages, the tactics of the war at sea did not change significantly. In Byzantium , a new weapon was invented - Greek fire .

In the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries (XV - XVI centuries), the rivalry between European states ( Spain , Portugal , later England , France , the Netherlands ) for supremacy at sea in connection with the colonial conquests began . At the same time, the fleets began to act independently, fulfilling the tasks of disrupting enemy communications and defending their sea lanes. However, the tactics of the first sailing fleets of the XV-XVI centuries still differed little from the methods of combat of the rowing fleet.

In the 17th century, permanent fleets were created. The further development of ship artillery , and its use as the main weapon in naval battles of the 17th century Anglo-Dutch wars led to the fact that the classification of warships was established and their tasks were defined. The basis of the fleets were battleships . The frigates , artillery rowing ships and firefighters were assigned a supporting role. Ships began to unite in squadrons under the command of the flagship . The main tactical form of naval combat was linear tactics , which provided for the maneuvering of ships in the “battle line” ( wake column ). This ensured the most effective use of artillery mounted on ships along the sides in several rows. The ram began to be used less and less, but boarding continued to be used.

In the 18th century, Russian admirals G. Spiridov and F. Ushakov abandoned the tactics of linear tactics for the first time in the practice of naval combat, switching to maneuverable tactics that ensured the victory of the Russian fleet over the Ottoman one in the battles of Chios Strait (1770), at Cape Tendra (1790) and at Cape Kaliakria (1791).

The first attempts at theoretical substantiation of the maneuverable form of naval combat were reflected in the work of Briton J. Clerk "Experience of naval tactics" (part 1-4, 1790-97). The naval victories of British admiral G. Nelson at Abukir (1798) and Trafalgar (1805) and the Russian admiral D. Senyavin in the battle of Athos (1807), which used the principles of maneuvering combat, contributed to the establishment of these principles, which along with the squadron maneuver for fuller use of artillery and violations of control of the enemy’s fleet also provided for greater autonomy in the conduct of maneuver of individual ships.

The experience of the Crimean War of 1853–56 revealed the advantages of steam ships over sailing ships when conducting a maneuverable sea battle. In the 2nd half of the 19th century, steam ships with armor protection were created in Great Britain, the USA , and France. Thus, battleships became the basis of fleets. There were also cruisers , minelayers , destroyers .

During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05, large sea battles took place with the participation of significant forces of armored ships (the Tsushima battle , the battle in the Yellow Sea , and others). The first attempts to use torpedoes and mines showed that artillery ceased to be the only means of combat action against the enemy. However, the military doctrines of the maritime powers did not undergo significant changes after the Russo-Japanese war, and it was still believed that the conquest of supremacy at sea should be achieved through a general battle of the main forces of the fleets.

In the course of the First World War , squadron destroyers became universal-purpose ships, and submarines began to be widely used. This led to the creation of patrol ships and hunters for submarines . Battleships ( dreadnoughts ) appeared instead of armadillos. Other new classes of ships also appeared - aircraft carriers , torpedo boats . Appeared naval aviation . Achieving strategic goals by conducting one general battle, as the Battle of Jutland showed (1916), became impossible.

Before the beginning of World War II, fleets were replenished with aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, torpedo boats, and naval aviation, and radar and sonar appeared .

During World War II, fleets played a special role in the Pacific theater of operations . The main content of military operations on it were amphibious and antiamphibious operations, strikes against the forces of the enemy’s fleet at sea, in bases and the struggle for communications. The main striking force of both the Japanese imperial fleet and the US Navy became aircraft carriers. The use of aircraft carrier allowed to conduct a sea battle in conditions when the opposing groups of ships were located hundreds of miles from each other. Grouping of surface forces, covered by fighter aircraft carrier aircraft, were able to operate off the coast of the enemy.

During World War II, more than 600 large amphibious landings were landed, 6 of them on a strategic scale. The largest was the Normandy landing operation (1944). During these operations, surface ships conducted shelling of ground targets.

Submarines were active on the sea lanes. Large artillery ships (battleships, cruisers) due to the great vulnerability of submarines and especially aviation lost the role of the main striking force in military operations at sea. Their actions boiled down mainly to assisting land forces .

Since the 1960s, nuclear submarines with ballistic missiles have become the main striking force of the fleets of the leading powers. Atomic aircraft carriers also appeared.

During the wars that took place after 1945, there were no major sea battles. However, during the Korean War of 1950-53, the Vietnam War of 1965-73, the Gulf War of 1991, operations in Yugoslavia in 1999, invasion of Iraq in 2003, operations against Libya in 2011, naval aviation from the US Navy aircraft carriers was widely used to attack ground targets. During the war in the Persian Gulf, operations against Yugoslavia, the invasion of Iraq in 2003, operations against Libya surface ships and US submarines also attacked ground targets with Tomahawk cruise missiles. During the Korean War, the Vietnamese War, the Persian Gulf War, ground targets also fired on the battleships of the Second World War , New Jersey , Missouri , and Wisconsin .

According to the laws and customs of naval warfare, naval operations can be carried out only by the naval forces of the belligerent states and only within the maritime war theater , which includes:

• Open sea
• The territorial and internal waters of the warring states,
• The air space above them.

A special preferential regime during the war at sea is established for merchant and passenger ships of belligerent states. Thus, merchant and passenger ships sailing on the high seas without protection are protected by relevant international law from unlawful flooding or attack without warning; merchant ships have the right to visit neutral ports and carry out cargo operations in them with non-military goods, and their tenure in such ports, in contrast to warships, is not limited. The laws and customs of the maritime war prohibit the bombing of unprotected ports , cities, villages, dwellings and buildings by naval forces. The rules of the naval blockade are especially regulated.

During the sea war, not only enemy merchant ships, but also merchant ships from neutral states may be seized if they violate the blockade, transport military smuggling or provide services to a belligerent country. International law regulates in detail issues related to the legal regime of a merchant ship during a war at sea.

• History of Naval Art // Military Encyclopedia : [in 18 t.] / Ed. VF Novitsky [et al.]. - SPb. ; [ M. ]: Type. t-islands I. D. Sytin , 1911-1915.
• Naval art / N. I. Smirnov, V. P. Kaptsev // Veshin - Gazli. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1971. - ( Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 30 t.] / Ch. Ed. AM Prokhorov ; 1969-1978, v. 5).
• Sea War // Mozia - Morshansk. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1974. - ( Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 30 t.] / Ch. Ed. AM Prokhorov ; 1969-1978, t. 16).