Command of the sea
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Command of the sea (also called control of the sea or sea control) is a naval military concept regarding the strength of a particular
With command of the sea, a country (or alliance) can ensure that its own military and merchant ships can move around at will, while its rivals are forced either to stay in port or to try to evade it. It also enables free use of amphibious operations that can expand ground-based strategic options. The British Royal Navy held command of the sea for most of the period between the 18th to the early 20th centuries, allowing Britain and its allies to trade and to move troops and supplies easily in wartime, while its enemies could not. In the post-World War II period, the United States Navy has had command of the sea.
Few navies can operate as blue-water navies, but "many States are converting
Historic command of the sea during the age of sail
National capabilities
Historically, many powers attempted to extend command of the sea into peacetime, imposing taxes or other restrictions on shipping using areas of open sea. For example, Venice claimed the Adriatic Sea, and exacted a heavy toll from vessels navigating its northern waters. Genoa and France each claimed portions of the western Mediterranean Sea. Denmark and Sweden claimed to share the Baltic Sea between them. Spain claimed dominion over the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, and Portugal over the Indian Ocean and all the Atlantic Ocean south of Morocco (Hall, 148-9).[2]
Asymmetric countermeasures
During the
Historic command of the sea in the era of steam
A more modern countermeasure, similar to privateering, was the use of submarine warfare by Germany during World War I and World War II to attack allied merchant shipping primarily in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Baltic Sea.
During World War II, aircraft also became an effective countermeasure to command of the sea, since ships could not defend themselves well against air attack. The Battle of Britain was largely an attempt by Germany to eliminate the Royal Air Force, so that it would not be able to defend the Royal Navy from air attack and even to allow a maritime invasion of Great Britain proper.[citation needed] The entire Japanese naval strategy during World War II in the Pacific was to acquire command of the sea by largescale destruction of Allied naval power, until their fleet was either destroyed or rendered irrelevant by the Battle of Leyte Gulf giving command of the sea to the Allies.
Modern command of the sea
Advanced navies, with access to
"
In modern warfare blue-water navy implies self-contained force protection from sub-surface, surface and airborne threats and a sustainable logistic reach, allowing a persistent presence at range. In some maritime environments such a defence is given by natural obstacles, such as the Arctic ice shelf.
The
Requirements for modern sea control
During the
An example for the difference between a blue-water navy and a green-water navy: "...The first should be a 'green-water active defense' that would enable the
As there is no clear definition of a blue-water navy, the status is disputed. Given the importance of naval aviation, the term may be considered to be strongly linked to the maintenance of aircraft carriers capable of operating in the oceans. "In the early 80s there was a bitter and very public battle fought over whether or not to replace Australia's last aircraft carrier, HMAS Melbourne. Senior Royal Australian Navy personnel warned without a carrier, Australia would be vulnerable to all types of threat. One ex-Chief of Navy went so far as to claim that we" (the Australians) "would no longer have a blue-water navy (one capable of operating away from friendly coasts)."[5] Yet although the Royal Thai Navy operates a sea-going carrier, the RTN is not absolutely a "blue-water navy."[citation needed]
Countermeasures to imposed command
While a blue-water navy can project sea control power into another nation's littoral, it remains susceptible to threats from less capable forces. Sustainment and logistics at range yield high costs and there may be a saturation advantage over a deployed force through the use of land-based air or
See also
- Battleplan (documentary TV series)
- Air supremacy
- Naval blockade
- Sea denial
- Alfred Thayer Mahan
- Maritime republics
- Maritime power
- Thalassocracy
References
Notes
- ^ Skaridov, Alexander S., Naval activity in the foreign EEZ—the role of terminology in law regime, St. Petersburg Association of the Law of the Sea, 7 Kazanskaya St., St. Petersburg 191186, Russia, Available online 11 November 2004, archived from the original on 17 October 2006
- ^ public domain: Bridge, Cyprian Arthur George (1911). "Sea, Command of the". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 529. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ a b Storey, You; Ji (Winter 2004), "China's aircraft carrier ambitions: seeking truth from rumors", Naval War College Review
- ^ "Q&A with Adm. Michael G. Mullen 2006 CNO's Guidance Release Media Roundtable Pentagon, Washington, DC 13 October 2005". Archived from the original on 15 October 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
- ^ Why buy Abrams Tanks? We need to look at more appropriate options By Gary Brown - posted Wednesday, 31 March 2004
- ^ EDP24 Frontline – the gateway to East Anglia's Armed Forces Archived 2007-11-30 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ TNO Presentation
- ^ "Protecting Naval Surface Ships from Fast Attack Boat Swarm Threats". Archived from the original on 2007-01-16. Retrieved 2008-02-04.
Sources
- WE Hall, Treatise on International Law, 4th ed., 1895.