Navy
Before the introduction of the cannon and ships with enough capacity to carry them, navy warfare primarily involved ramming and boarding actions.
However, China's first official standing navy was not established until the Southern Song dynasty in the 12th century, a time when gunpowder was a revolutionary new application to warfare.
[11] The Chola Dynasty in Southern India had a navy composed of trade ships transporting armies overseas.
[12] The Chola Navy reached its peak under Rajendra I, and was most notably used in invasions of Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.
This enabled the seafaring local people (either Malays of Srivijaya or Javanese of Mataram) to attack as far as the coast of Tanzania and Mozambique with 1000 boats and attempted to take the citadel of Qanbaloh, about 7,000 km to their West, in 945–946 AD.
[15]: 110 [16]: 39 In 1350 AD Majapahit launched its largest military expedition, the invasion of Pasai, with 400 large jong and innumerable smaller vessels.
[17] The second largest military expedition, invasion of Singapura in 1398, Majapahit deployed 300 jong with no less than 200,000 men.
[20]: 60–62 The mass and deck space required to carry a large number of cannon made oar-based propulsion impossible, and ships came to rely primarily on sails.
From the beginning of the 17th century the Dutch cannibalized the Portuguese Empire in the East and, with the immense wealth gained, challenged Spanish hegemony at sea.
The next stage in the evolution of naval warfare was the introduction of metal plating along the hull sides.
The increased mass required steam-powered engines, resulting in an arms race between armor and weapon thickness and firepower.
Another significant improvement came with the invention of the rotating turrets, which allowed the guns to be aimed independently of ship movement.
The battle between CSS Virginia and USS Monitor during the American Civil War (1861–1865) is often cited as the beginning of this age of maritime conflict.
The first practical military submarines were developed in the late 19th century and by the end of World War I had proven to be a powerful arm of naval warfare.
During World War II, Nazi Germany's submarine fleet of U-boats almost starved the United Kingdom into submission and inflicted tremendous losses on U.S. coastal shipping.
The German battleship Tirpitz, a sister ship of Bismarck, was almost put out of action by miniature submarines known as X-Craft.
A major paradigm shift in naval warfare occurred with the introduction of the aircraft carrier.
During the Cold War, the Soviet Navy became a significant armed force, with large numbers of large, heavily armed ballistic missile submarines and extensive use of heavy, long-ranged antisurface missiles to counter the numerous United States carrier battle groups.
The base is a port that is specialized in naval operations, and often includes housing, a munitions depot, docks for the vessels, and various repair facilities.
By contrast a "brown water navy" operates in the coastal periphery and along inland waterways, where larger ocean-going naval vessels can not readily enter.
Blue water fleets may require specialized vessels, such as minesweepers, when operating in the littoral regions along the coast.
This was historically used to mark the passage of time, as warning devices in heavy fog, and for alarms and ceremonies.
Naval ship names are typically prefixed by an abbreviation indicating the national navy in which they serve.
Today, naval strike groups on longer missions are always followed by a range of support and replenishment ships supplying them with anything from fuel and munitions, to medical treatment and postal services.
The term "boat" refers to small craft limited in their use by size and usually not capable of making lengthy independent voyages at sea.
[22] The major reasons historically cited by the U.S. Navy were the extended duty tours and close conditions which afford almost no privacy.
During the era of the Roman empire, naval forces included marine legionaries for maritime boarding actions.
Much later during the age of sail, a component of marines served a similar role, being ship-borne soldiers who were used either during boarding actions, as sharp-shooters, or in raids along shorelines.
Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases.
Since World War II helicopters have been embarked on smaller ships in roles such as anti-submarine warfare and transport.
