An Encyclopedia of Naval History

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Interest will be charged to your account from the purchase date if the balance is not paid in full within 6 months. On this s es qui centenni al of the Civil War, The Civil War Naval Encyclopedia provides a summary of Civil War naval subject matter that appears to be the first encyclopedia to be published on this specific topic. Placing maritime affairs in their larger historical context, the Encyclopedia shows how seafaring has both reflected and influenced the major economic, cultural, military, and political developments in world history.

Since then, naval air power (including missiles) has been the preeminent weapon of the world’s fleets. Rising timber costs and reduced naval ambitions in several European states in the wake of a series of British naval victories during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars limited further growth. They were now primarily used for routine patrols and transfer of troops, and all major Mediterranean powers created sailing navies as their main force at sea during the seventeenth century.Both navies were gradually reduced as a result of the long period of peace in the eastern Mediterranean after 1718, and the Ottoman navy was unprepared for the new challenge from Russia in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea from 1768 on. Wars at sea were fought with infantry weapons and they could be used on merchantmen temporarily armed for war. Denmark usually had the largest battle fleet, but the other two navies also maintained large oared flotillas of galleys, oared frigates, and, by the 1780s, gunboats. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. In the Baltic, Denmark and Sweden remained the only major naval powers up to the early 1700s, when Russian conquests of Swedish-controlled territories made it possible for Russia to build a navy.

Bibliographic Information Publisher: Oxford University Press Print Publication Date: 2007 Print ISBN-13: 9780195130751 Published online: 2007 Current Online Version: 2007 DOI: 10. The English, Dutch, Danish, Spanish, and Swedish navies were reinforced by considerable numbers of armed merchantmen during major wars, and Venice fought the war with the Ottomans from 1644 to 1669 with hired English and Dutch merchantmen.The three great ships of Henry V were each over 550 tons; the Grace Dieu of 1420, whose timbers yet lie in the Hamble river, was of over 1,000, though she may never have put to sea. The entries in this sweeping text provide comprehensive treatment of overall strategies on each side, the role of diplomacy, leading naval officers and other personalities, battles and important engagements, ship types, well-known individual warships, naval ordnance and weapons systems, and new developments such as mines and submarines. Three of those ships began service in 1797: the USS United States, the USS Constellation, and the USS Constitution. The English and the Dutch fought several intense battles for control of the Channel and the North Sea.

The Venetian navy did not expand further but the Ottoman navy grew to one of the largest in Europe, with a strength of around 60,000 tonnes in the 1720s. The broadside arrangement of guns was not compatible with the use of oars, and the oars themselves were made unnecessary by developments in the art of sailing. In the first half of the eighteenth centuries galleys were abolished or cut down to insignificant numbers, and by the end of the century they had disappeared in the Mediterranean. There seems poetic justice that the first Victoria Cross was won by a non-commissioned seaman in the Crimean War.The Spanish ships were supposed to close with the enemy so that the soldiers with which they were crowded could board the enemy vessels. The articles in this thorough and comprehensive encyclopedia of the maritime history of the American Civil War offer reflections on the overall strategy of both sides in the conflict, the role of diplomacy, the most important naval officers and other personalities, naval battles and individual engagements, famous ships and significant ship types, naval artillery and weapon systems, or novel technical developments such as mines or submersibles.