Adventure, historical, documentaryfilms that show sea battles are always breathtaking. It doesn't matter if it is frigates with snow-white sails near Haiti or huge aircraft carriers abeam Pearl Harbor.
The spirit of wandering does not give rest to human fantasy. Read on, and you will briefly get acquainted with the most ambitious and grandiose naval battles in the new history of the world.
The history of the Russian fleet begins from the time of Peter I.
The tactics of naval combat varied depending on the design of ships and guns. From galleys and frigates to dreadnoughts and further to modern powerful and computerized aircraft carriers.
States often defend their interests in wars. Battles are both land and sea. We will talk about the latter in this article.
Major naval battles are known in the history of Russia, beginning with the era of Peter the Great. The emperor played a crucial role in the creation of the Navy.
One of the biggest battles of the eighteenth century occurred during the Russian-Turkish war. Victory in this battle was so impressive that since 1770, July 7 is celebrated as a day of military glory.
Let's take a closer look at what happened in the Chesme Bay from the fifth to the seventh of July 1770.
Two squadrons were dispatched to the Black Sea from the Baltic, which united on one site. The command of the new fleet was entrusted to Count Alexei, the brother of Grigory Orlov, a favorite of Catherine II.
The squadron consisted of thirteen large ships.(nine battleships, one scorer and three frigates), as well as nineteen small support vessels. In total, they were about six and a half thousand people crew.
During the transition was found standing onraid part of the Turkish fleet. Among the ships were fairly large ships. For example, the Burj Zafer had eighty-four guns on board, and the Rhodes sixty. In total, there were seventy-three ships (of which sixteen battleships and six frigates) and more than fifteen thousand sailors.
With the help of skillful actions of Russian sailors squadronAlexei Orlov managed to win. Among the trophies was the Turkish "Rhodes". The Turks lost killed more than eleven thousand people, and the Russian - about seven hundred sailors.
Sea battles in the eighteenth century were not always victorious. This is due to the poor state of the fleet. After all, after the death of Emperor Peter I, nobody was baked about him properly.
Twenty years after the stunning victory over the Turks, the Russian fleet suffered a deafening defeat from the Swedes.
In 1790, near the Finnish town of Kotka (previouslycalled Rochensalm) met the Swedish and Russian fleets. King Gustav III personally commanded the first, and the Frenchman Nissau-Singen was the admiral in the latter.
In the Gulf of Finland, 176 Swedish ships met with 12,500 crews and 145 Russian ships with 18,500 sailors.
Hasty actions by a young Frenchman led to a crushing defeat. The Russians lost more than 7,500 people, in contrast to 300 Swedish sailors.
Scientists say that this is the second battle for the number of ships in the new and recent history. We will talk about the most grandiose battle at the end of the article.
The cause of the defeats was often served by variousflaws and excessive zeal. For example, if we talk about the Tsushima battle, it occurred precisely when the Japanese fleet had an advantage in all characteristics.
Russian sailors were extremely tired after many months of transition from the Baltic to the Pacific Ocean. And the ships were inferior to the Japanese in the power of fire, armor and speed.
As a result of admiral's rash actThe Russian Empire has lost its fleet and any significance in this region. In exchange for a hundred wounded Japanese and three drowned destroyers, the Russians lost more than five thousand people killed, and more than six thousand were captured. In addition, out of thirty-eight ships, nineteen were sunk.
Ютландское морское сражение считается крупнейшей battleship at sea during the First World War. During the battle 149 British and 99 German ships met. In addition, several airships were used.
But the beauty of the events was nota huge displacement of machinery or the number of wounded and dead. Not even in the aftermath of the battle. The main feature that only the Jutland naval battle can boast was a surprise.
Оба флота случайно столкнулись в Скагерракском Strait, near the Jutland Peninsula. Owing to the mistake of the intelligence, the British went very far and slowly towards Norway. The Germans were moving in the opposite direction.
The meeting was completely unexpected.When the English cruiser Galatea decided to inspect the Danish ship, which happened to be in these waters, the German ship departed from the Fjord, which had already checked it.
The British opened fire on the enemy. After tightened the rest of the court. The battle of Jutland was crowned with a tactical German victory, but a strategic defeat for Germany.
Listing the naval battles of the Second World War, one should particularly dwell on the battle near the Pearl Harbor. The Americans called it “Attack on Pearl Harbor”, and the Japanese called it the Hawaiian operation.
The goal of this campaign, the Japanese set proactivegaining excellence in the Pacific. The United States expected to enter the war with the Empire of the Rising Sun, so military bases were established in the Philippines.
The mistake of the American government turned out to be that they did not seriously consider Pearl Harbor as a target for the Japanese. They expected attacks on Manila and the troops based there.
The Japanese wanted to destroy the enemy’s fleet and at the same time conquer the airspace over the Pacific Ocean.
Americans saved only the case. New aircraft carriers at the time of the attack were in a different place. About three hundred aircraft and only eight old battleships suffered.
Thus, a successful Japanese operation played a cruel joke in the future for this country. On her crushing defeat, we will talk further.
As you have already seen, many great sea battles are characterized by the sudden start of a battle. Usually one or both sides do not expect any trick in the near future.
If we talk about Midway Atoll, the Japanese wantedrepeat in half a year Pearl Harbor again. But set their sights on the second powerful American base. Everything could have happened according to plan, and the empire would have been the only force in the Pacific region, but US intelligence officers intercepted the message.
The Japanese attack failed.They were able to sink one aircraft carrier and destroy about a hundred and fifty aircraft. They themselves lost more than two hundred and fifty aircraft, two and a half thousand people and five large ships.
The planned superiority overnight turned into a crushing defeat.
Now let's talk about the biggest naval battle of the war. If you do not count the ancient battles near the island of Salamanca, this is the grandest battle at sea in the history of mankind.
It lasted four days.Here again the Americans and the Japanese collided. Expected in 1941, an attack on the Philippines (instead of Pearl Harbor), still happened after three years. In the course of this battle, the Japanese first used the kamikaze tactics.
The loss of the world's largest battleship Musashi and the damage of Yamato put an end to the empire's ability to dominate the region.
So, during the battle, the Americans lost about three and a half thousand people and six ships. The Japanese lost twenty-seven ships and more than ten thousand crews.
Thus, we are in this article briefly acquainted with the most ambitious naval battles in Russian and world history.
