Understanding Naval Warfare

✍ Scribed by Ian Speller

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2023
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 273
• Edition: 3
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This updated new edition of Understanding Naval Warfare offers the reader an accessible introduction to the study of modern naval warfare, providing a thorough grounding in the vocabulary, concepts, issues and debates, set within the context of relevant history.

The third edition explains traditional concepts and explores current and emerging ideas concerning the theory and practice of naval warfare, relating these to recent events including Sino-American naval competition and the Russian-Ukraine War. Navies operate in an environment that most people do not understand and that many avoid. They are equipped with a bewildering range of ships, craft and other vessels and types of equipment, the purpose of which is often unclear. Writings on naval warfare are usually replete with references to esoteric concepts explained in specialist language that can serve as a barrier to understanding. This book cuts through the obscure and the arcane to offer a clear, coherent and accessible guide to the key features of naval warfare which will equip the reader with the knowledge and understanding necessary for a sophisticated engagement with the subject. The new edition is divided into two key parts. The first focuses on concepts of naval warfare and introduces readers to the ideas associated with the theory and practice of naval operations and includes a chapter where the history of the last century of naval warfare is explored in order to illustrate the key concepts. The second part focuses on the conduct of war at sea and on peacetime roles for contemporary navies and now includes new material on hybrid warfare and grey zone operations and on joint warfare, multi-domain operations and integrated deterrence within the context of evolving great power rivalry at sea.

This textbook will be essential reading for students of naval warfare, sea power and maritime security and is highly recommended for those studying military history, strategic studies and security studies in general.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover
Endorsements
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
Illustrations
Preface
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
History and Strategy
Sea Power and Maritime Power
Sea Power
Maritime Power
Naval Power
Maritime Strategy
Naval Forces
The Role of Navies
Key Points
Further Reading
Notes
Part I: Concepts of Naval Warfare and Maritime Power
1. The Nature of the Maritime Operating Environment
The Physical Environment
Size and Connectivity
Featureless
Inhospitable
Economic Dimesions
Political Dimensions
Legal Dimensions
The Law of the Sea
The Law of Armed Conflict at Sea
The Military Dimension
Connected
Opaque
Distance
Numbers
Terrain
Platforms and Personnel
Command and Leadership
Technology and Infrastructure
Attributes of Naval Forces
Limitations
Conclusion
Further Reading
Notes
2. Maritime Strategy and Naval Warfare I
What Is Maritime Strategy and What Is It for?
Laws, Principles or Fertiliser?
Traditional Maritime Strategy
Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840-1914)
A 'Blue Water' School of Thought
Sir Julian Corbett (1854-1922)
Key Concepts Summarised
Command of the Sea
Lines of Communication
Decisive Battle
Offensive Action
Corbett, Decisive Battle and the Offensive
Concentration of Forces
Fleet-in-Being
Blockade
Expoliting Command of the Sea
Major-General Sir Charles Callwell (1859-1928)
Conclusion
Key Points
Further Reading
Notes
3. Maritime Strategy and Naval Warfare II
Commerce Raiding
The Jeune École
Risk Fleet or Luxury Fleet?
The Test of War (1914-1918)
Strategy and Policy from 1918 to 1945
German Thinking between the Wars
The Soviet New School / Young School
Admiral Raoul Castex (1878-1968)
Theory Tested Once Again (1939-1945)
Maritime Strategy in the Nuclear Age
Admiral of the Fleet Sergei Gorshkov (1910-1988)
The People's Liberation Army Navy
Non-naval Warfare
Conclusions
Key Points
Further Reading
Notes
4. Naval Diplomacy
War and Diplomacy
Limited Naval Force and Gunboat Diplomacy
Naval Presence
Strengths and Limitations
Limitations
Navies and Naval Diplomacy Today
Key Points
Further Reading
Notes
5. Putting Theory into Practice
Part 1: From Trafalgar (1805) to Tsushima (1905)
Part 2: From the Dreadnought to Tokyo Bay (1906-1945)
Conclusion
Further Reading
Notes
Part II: Contemporary Practice
6. Combat Operations at Sea: Sea Control and Sea Denial
Sea Control
Sea Denial
Methods and Means
Technology, Tactics and Command & Control
Tactics
Conclusion
Key Points
Further Reading
Other Sources
Notes
7. Combat Operations at Sea: Exploiting Sea Control
Military Sea Lift
Blockade, Embargo and Quarantine
Embargo and Quarantine
Maritime Interdiction Operations
Protection of Shipping
Direct Defence or Distant Cover?
The Problem with 'Sea Lanes' and 'Sea Lines'
The Value of Convoy?
Conclusion
Key Points
Further Reading
Useful Websites
Notes
8. Combat Operations from the Sea
Maritime Power Projection
Naval Strikes
Naval Gunfire
Carrier Aviation
Missiles
Drones
Marines and Naval Special Forces
Electronic Warfare and Cyber Attack
Amphibious Operations
Amphibious Assaults
Amphibious Raids
Amphibious Withdrawals
Amphibious Demonstration
Amphibious Support to Crisis Response and Other Operations
Enduring Characteristics
Expeditionary Operations
Projecting Power in the Twenty-First Century
Conclusion
Key Points
Further Reading
Useful Websites
Notes
9. Maritime Security
What are Constabulary Operations
New Approaches to Security
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea
Blue Economy
Globalisation
Institutional Need
Maritime Security
Coast Guards and Constabulary Navies
Key Challenges
Maritime Jurisdiction
Terrorism at and from the Sea
Trafficking: Arms; People; Narcotics
Piracy
Environment Degradation
Fishing
Navies and Maritime Security Operations
Maritime Domain Awareness
Conclusion
Key Points
Further Reading
Useful Websites
Notes
10. Contemporary Challenges and Naval Policy
The Contemporary Security Environment
Complex Challenges, Hybrid Warfare and Grey Zone Activity
The Future Maritime Battlespace
Technology and Techniques
Uncrewed Systems/Drones
Weapons of Mass Destruction
Ballistic Missile Defence
Anti-Access and Area-Denial/Counter-Intervention
Great Power Rivalry and Peer-to-Peer Conflict
The Eagle and the Dragon
In Defence of Naval Supremacy
Red Flag over the Pacific?
Beyond the Shadow of the Great Powers
Conclusion
Key Points
Further Reading
Useful Reference Sources:
Other Sources
Notes
Conclusion
Notes
Appendix I. Maritime Warfare Areas
Naval Warfare Areas
Note
Appendix II. Abbreviations for Types of Ship and Submarine
Appendix III. A Sample of World Navies in 2022
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index