Ship & Naval

Ship bell of ORP Iskra II - Polish Navy school tall ship

A basic tradition is that all ships commissioned in a navy are referred to as
ships rather than vessels. The prefix on a ship"s name indicates that it is a
commissioned ship. For example, USS is an acronym which expands to United States
Ship; in the Royal Navy, HMS expands to Her Majesty"s Ship (or when a King
reigns, His Majesty"s Ship), and so forth.

An important tradition on board British naval vessels (and later those of the
U.S. and other nations) has been the ship"s bell. This was historically used to mark
the passage of time on board a vessel, including the duration of four-hour
watches. They were also employed as warning devices in heavy fog, and for alarms
and ceremonies. The bell was originally kept polished first by the ship"s cook,
then later by a person belonging to that division of the ship"s personnel.

Another important tradition is that of Piping someone aboard the ship. This
was originally used to give orders on warships when shouted orders could not
have been heard. The piping was done by the ship"s boatswain and therefore the
instrument is known as the boatswain"s Pipe. The two tones it gives and the
number of blasts given off, signify the order given. It is also used in a
ceremonial way, i.e., to "pipe" someone aboard the ship - usually captains,
including the ship"s captain, and more senior officers.

In the United States, in a tradition that dates back to the Revolutionary War, the First Navy Jack is a
flag that has the words, "Don"t Tread on Me" on the flag.

By European tradition, ships have been referred to as a "she". However, it
was long considered bad luck to permit women to sail on board naval vessels. To
do so would invite a terrible storm that would wreck the ship. The only women
that were welcomed on board were figureheads mounted on the prow of the ship. In
spite of these views, some women did serve on board naval vessels, usually as
wives of crewmembers.

Even today, despite their acceptance in many areas of naval service, women
are still not permitted to serve on board U.S. submarines. The major reasons cited by the U.S. Navy
are the extended duty tours and close conditions which afford almost no privacy. [1] The UK Royal Navy has similar restrictions. Australia,
Canada, Spain and Norway have opened submarine service to women sailors,
however. [2]

By ancient tradition, corpses on board naval vessels were buried at sea. In the past
this involved sewing the body up in a shroud that had a weight at one end, often
a cannonball. (During the age
of sail, the final stitch was placed through the nose of the victim, just to
make sure they were really dead.) The body was then placed on a pivoting table
attached to the outer hull, and shrouded by a national ensign. After a solemn
ceremony, the board was tilted and the body dropped into the deep. Later
ceremonies employed the casket or crematory urn.

The custom of firing cannon salutes
originated in the British Royal
Navy. When a cannon is fired, it partially disarms the ship, so firing a
cannon for no combat reason showed respect and trust. The British, as the
dominant naval power, compelled the ships of weaker nations to make the first
salute. As the tradition evolved, the number of cannon fired became an
indication of the rank of the official being saluted.

Reza & Sintha

Riverboat of the U.S. brownwater navy firing napalm at an onshore target during the Vietnam War.

Historically a national navy operates from one or more bases that are
maintained by the country or an ally. The base is a port that is specialized in naval operations, and often
includes housing for off-shore crew, an arsenal depot for munitions, docks for the vessels, and
various repair facilities. During times of war temporary bases may be
constructed in closer proximity to strategic locations, as it is advantageous in
terms of patrols and station-keeping. Nations with historically strong naval
forces have found it advantageous to obtain basing rights in areas of strategic
interest.

Navy ships normally operate with a group, which may be a small squadron of comparable ships, or a
larger naval fleet of
various specialized ships. The commander of a fleet travels in the flag ship, which
is usually the most powerful vessel in the group. Prior to the invention of
radio, commands from the flag ship were communicated by means of flags. At night
signal lamps could be used for a similar purpose. Later these were replaced by
the radio transmitter, or the flashing light when radio silence was needed.

A "blue water navy" is designed to operate far
from the coastal waters of its home nation. These are ships capable of
maintaining station for long periods of time in deep ocean, and will have a long
logistical tail for their support. Many are also nuclear powered to save having
to refuel. 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. Regional powers may maintain a "green water navy" as
a means of localized force projection. Blue water fleets may require specialized
vessels, such as mine sweepers, when operating in the littoral regions
along the coast.

Reza & Sintha

Main article: Naval
warfare

HMS Victory, the oldest
warship still in commission in the world.

Naval warfare developed when humans first fought from water-borne vessels.
Prior to the introduction of the cannon
and ships with sufficient capacity to carry the large guns, navy warfare
primarily involved ramming and boarding actions. In the time of ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, naval warfare
centered on long, narrow vessels powered by banks of oarsmen (such as triremes and quinqueremes) designed to ram and sink enemy
vessels or come alongside the enemy vessel so its occupants could be attacked
hand-to-hand. Naval warfare continued in this vein through the Middle Ages until cannon became
commonplace and capable of being reloaded quickly enough to be reused in the
same battle. The Chola
Dynasty of medieval India was known as
a one of the greatest naval powers of its time in the Indian Ocean. In ancient China, large naval
battles were known since the Qin
Dynasty (also see Battle of Red Cliffs, 208), employing the war junk during the Han Dynasty. 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.

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. Warships were designed to carry increasing numbers
of cannon and naval tactics evolved to bring
a ship"s firepower to bear in a broadside, with ships-of-the-line arranged in a line of battle.

The development of large capacity, sail-powered ships carrying cannon led to
a rapid expansion of European navies,
especially the Spanish and Portuguese navies which dominated in
the 16th and early 17th centuries, and
ultimately helped propel the age of exploration and colonialism.The repulsion of the Spanish Armada (1588) by the Anglo-Dutch fleets revolutionized naval
warfare by the success of a guns-only strategy and caused a major overhaul of
the Spanish
navy, partly along English lines,
which resulted in even greater dominance by the Spanish. 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. From the 1620s, Dutch raiders seriously troubled Spanish shipping
and, after a number of battles which went both ways, the Dutch Navy finally broke the long
dominance of the Spanish Navy in the Battle of the Downs (1639).

England emerged as a major naval
power in the mid-17th century in the first Anglo-Dutch war with a technical victory but
successive decisive Dutch victories in the second and third Anglo-Dutch Wars
confirmed the Dutch mastery of the seas during the Dutch Golden Age, financed by the expansion of
the Dutch Empire. The French Navy won some important
victories near the end of the 17th century but a focus upon land forces led to
the French Navy"s relative neglect, which allowed the Royal Navy to emerge with an ever-growing advantage
in size and quality, especially in tactics and experience, from 1695. Throughout the 18th century the Royal Navy gradually gained
ascendancy over the French Navy, with victories in the War of
Spanish Succession (1701-1714), inconclusive battles in the War
of Austrian Succession (1740-1748), victories in the Seven Years" War
(1754-1763), a partial reversal during the American War of Independence (1775-1783),
and consolidation into uncontested supremacy during the 19th century from the Battle of
Trafalgar in 1805. These conflicts saw
the development and refinement of tactics which came to be
called the line of
battle.

U.S. Navy supercarrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68)

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. The first armored vessels, the French FS Gloire and British HMS Warrior, made wooden vessels obsolete. 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 the CSS Virginia and the USS Monitor during
the American Civil
War is often cited as the beginning of this age of maritime conflict. A
further step change in naval firepower occurred when the United Kingdom launched HMS Dreadnought, but naval tactics still
emphasized the line of battle.

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 the German Navy"s submarine fleet
of U-boats almost starved the United
Kingdom into submission and inflicted tremendous losses on US
coastal shipping. The German battleship Tirpitz, a
sister ship of the Bismarck, was almost put out
of action by miniature submarines known as X-Craft. The X-Craft severely damaged her and
kept her in port for some months.

A major paradigm shift in naval warfare occurred with the introduction of the aircraft carrier.
First at Taranto
in 1940 and then in Pearl Harbor in 1941, the carrier demonstrated its ability to strike
decisively at enemy ships out of sight and range of surface vessels. The Battle of Leyte
Gulf (1944) was arguably the largest naval battle in
history; it was also the last battle in which battleships played a
significant role. By the end of World War II, the carrier had become the dominant
force of naval warfare.

World War II also saw the United States become by far the largest Naval
power in the world with over 70% of the world"s total numbers and total tonnage
of naval vessels of 1000 tons or greater.^[1]
Throughout the rest of the 20th century The United States Navy would maintain a tonnage
greater than that of the next 17 largest navies combined.

The
multinational Combined Task Force One Five Zero (CTF-150)

The British Grand Fleet, the supreme
naval force of World War
I

A rare
occurrence of a 5-country multinational fleet, during Operation Enduring Freedom in
the Oman Sea. In four descending columns, from left to right: MM Maestrale (F 570), De Grasse (D 612); USS John C.
Stennis (CVN 74), Charles De Gaulle (R 91), Surcouf (F
711); USS Port Royal (CG-73), HMS Ocean (L
12), USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67), HNLMS Van Amstel (F 831); and ITS Luigi Durand de la
Penne (D 560).

A navy is the branch of a country"s military forces principally designated for naval warfare and
amphibious warfare namely lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It includes
operations conducted by surface ships, amphibious ships, submarines, and seaborne aviation, as well as ancillary support,
communications, training, and other fields; recent developments have included space related operations. The
strategic offensive role of a Navy is projection of force into areas beyond a
country"s shores (for example, to protect sea-lanes, ferry troops, or attack
other navies, ports, or shore installations). The strategic defensive purpose of
a Navy is to frustrate sea-borne projection-of-force by enemies. The strategic
task of the navy also may incorporate nuclear deterrence by use of nuclear
missiles.

Reza & Sintha