A few thoughts on naval warfare this time: What is a warship? On one level it is an instrument of war, but on another it is a large investment of time, money, resources and effort. Even in ancient times this was true. and in recent times ships have become even more expensive. {Case in point, the Athenian nay would have never expanded to its 300 ship fleet during the Persian War, without the discover of the large silver vein at the mines of Laurium. Ed; The construction of the hundreds of Royal Navy line of battle ships denuded southern England of its forests. This \w as not only true in Britain, but on the continent as Spain. France. and Holland built their fleets. (Over 800 ships of the line were constructed during the 17-19th centuries.) But by the end of WWI the cost building and maintaining a battleline ship (Dreadnoughts) had risen so. that less than 100 were in service with all the major navies. England had 35. German\: 20, Austria-Hungary: 4. France: 11. United States: 17, Russia: 8, Japan: 5. Italy: 6. During the following period of peace. the major powers decided to save money and limit battleship construction. By WVWII 75 battleships took part in the conflict and many of these were refits from the earlier \war. Today the capital ship is the Fleet Aircraft Carrier. The construction cost and maintenance of these floating cities and their aircraft are such that the richest country in the world. the U.S.. can barely keep a dozen in service. So where is this all leading to? How many times have you seen a naval game where two sides were just lined up and then "bashed together'?" No victory conditions. fight till last ship drops etc. The same thing happens in miniature land battles, but to do this is even a larger mistake if a naval battle. Ships are deployed for a reason. Granted it may be a bad reason, but there still was a reason. Even the Yamato's death ride off Okinawa had a reason. It just had a microscopic chance of success. To Fight So let's look at some legitimate reasons to send ships out to fight: 1. Sea Control. By accomplishing this you ensure your ships freedom to travel the seas. keeping lines of communication open. By control hit- the sea. you also deny your enemy the same freedom. Either way you must eliminate or at least weaken the enemy fleet, so you are no longer threatened. This is 'why naval battles are sometimes indecisive. Nobody wishes to risk an expensive fleet for little or no gain. Once a fleet is wrecked, it takes time to refit and repair, no quick reforming like a land battle. Having responsibility for your country's fleet is no picnic. Admiral Jellicoe R.N. could have lost WWI at Jutland. if Scheer had led him into a trap and destroyed most of his fleet. It was no wonder he was scared of torpedoes and mines. and refused to chase the crippled High Seas Fleet.  2. Escort duties. The dirty job of the navy-, shepherding merchant ships with their ungrateful sailors. or from the other side, setting out to sink his merchant fleet. 3. Support. How long can you maintain an amphibious force in hostile territory in the face of enemy naval superiority? Answer: not long. The next time you set up a naval battle think of one of these reasons as background for the fight. Then place the ships with victory conditions that fit the background. Don't just bash the fleets together just to see what happens. Back to Table of Contents The Messenger December 1995 Back to The Messenger List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1995 by HMGS/PSW. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com