Posted on Sep 7, 2015
What was the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare.
2.48K
15
8
2
2
0
Posted in these groups: 
Military History
Military History
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 6
6
6
0
@SGT Scot Bell
In ancient history, the Battle of Salamis when the Greek states defeated the Persian Navy in antiquity.
1588 -The defeat of the Spanish Armada by the British Navy under Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake.
1805- In the Napoleonic Wars, the Battle of Trafalgar when the British Navy under Lord Horatio Nelson defeated the French and Spanish Navies.
WWII
In the Pacific the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor ranks near the top.
On our side the Battle of Coral Sea between the US, Australian's against Japan stopped the expansion of the Japanese in the southern Pacific
The Battle of Midway was significant defeat of the Japanese carrier force.
The sinking of the Bismark was a big blow to the German Navy in the North Atlantic
However, for biggest overall impact:
I think the Battle for the Atlantic which the u-boats and their tenders attempted to sink as much cargo traffic as they could. The US and British response plus sonar and the new radar helped turn the tide. If this naval "battle" most of Europe would be speaking German.
What are your thoughts?COL Ted Mc, COL Mikel J. Burroughs, COL Jon Thompson, LTC Stephen C., LTC Bink Romanick, Capt Mark Strobl, GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad, SGM Steve Wettstein. PO1 (Join to see), PO3 Steven Sherrill, SGT Randal Groover, SGT Forrest Stewart
In ancient history, the Battle of Salamis when the Greek states defeated the Persian Navy in antiquity.
1588 -The defeat of the Spanish Armada by the British Navy under Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake.
1805- In the Napoleonic Wars, the Battle of Trafalgar when the British Navy under Lord Horatio Nelson defeated the French and Spanish Navies.
WWII
In the Pacific the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor ranks near the top.
On our side the Battle of Coral Sea between the US, Australian's against Japan stopped the expansion of the Japanese in the southern Pacific
The Battle of Midway was significant defeat of the Japanese carrier force.
The sinking of the Bismark was a big blow to the German Navy in the North Atlantic
However, for biggest overall impact:
I think the Battle for the Atlantic which the u-boats and their tenders attempted to sink as much cargo traffic as they could. The US and British response plus sonar and the new radar helped turn the tide. If this naval "battle" most of Europe would be speaking German.
What are your thoughts?COL Ted Mc, COL Mikel J. Burroughs, COL Jon Thompson, LTC Stephen C., LTC Bink Romanick, Capt Mark Strobl, GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad, SGM Steve Wettstein. PO1 (Join to see), PO3 Steven Sherrill, SGT Randal Groover, SGT Forrest Stewart
(6)
(0)
COL Ted Mc
LTC Stephen F. - Colonel; I concur with Salamis, the Armada, and Trafalgar.
Pearl Harbor was incredibly well planned and executed (up to the point where the IJN did not send in the follow up attacks) but it was "decisive" only in the sense that it got the US directly involved in WWII.
I agree with the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway, although I'm not so sure that Midway was actually "decisive" since the US was, by then, vastly outproducing the Japanese and the Japanese had absolutely no way to catch up or match American production.
Sinking the Bismark might have been a blow to German naval morale, but it was hardly decisive since the Bismark was (essentially) a useless showboat as far as the naval wars were concerned.
The Battle of the Atlantic was, I will agree, a decisive naval battle during WWII, but it was also one that was lost before it started since the Germans simply didn't have the resources to win it. However, IF the Germans could have won it, that would not necessarily have meant that they would have had free access to the supplies and materials that they needed to deal with the Russians and that "Atlantic Convoys" that were bringing Lend Lease materials to Russia could have easily been rerouted through the Pacific Coast and/or Alaska where the Germans couldn't get at them.
PS - The Canadian Navy had something to do with the Battle of the Atlantic, didn't it?
PPS - One thing to consider is the possibility that the time required to produce a "fully trained seaman" or "fully trained naval officer" is now much shorter than it used to be so that the decisive "recovery factor" is now the time required to produce the ships whereas it used to be the time required to produce the crews. During WWII crews could be trained almost at the same speed as the ships could be built and now it seems that they can be trained faster.
Pearl Harbor was incredibly well planned and executed (up to the point where the IJN did not send in the follow up attacks) but it was "decisive" only in the sense that it got the US directly involved in WWII.
I agree with the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway, although I'm not so sure that Midway was actually "decisive" since the US was, by then, vastly outproducing the Japanese and the Japanese had absolutely no way to catch up or match American production.
Sinking the Bismark might have been a blow to German naval morale, but it was hardly decisive since the Bismark was (essentially) a useless showboat as far as the naval wars were concerned.
The Battle of the Atlantic was, I will agree, a decisive naval battle during WWII, but it was also one that was lost before it started since the Germans simply didn't have the resources to win it. However, IF the Germans could have won it, that would not necessarily have meant that they would have had free access to the supplies and materials that they needed to deal with the Russians and that "Atlantic Convoys" that were bringing Lend Lease materials to Russia could have easily been rerouted through the Pacific Coast and/or Alaska where the Germans couldn't get at them.
PS - The Canadian Navy had something to do with the Battle of the Atlantic, didn't it?
PPS - One thing to consider is the possibility that the time required to produce a "fully trained seaman" or "fully trained naval officer" is now much shorter than it used to be so that the decisive "recovery factor" is now the time required to produce the ships whereas it used to be the time required to produce the crews. During WWII crews could be trained almost at the same speed as the ships could be built and now it seems that they can be trained faster.
(2)
(0)
LTC Stephen F.
COL Ted Mc - Thank you providing your usual insightful and well-thought through responses. I hope you are enjoying Labor Day.
(0)
(0)
1
1
0
LTC Stephen F. I am not a big naval historian but in modern history, I think the attack on Pearl Harbor has to be one of the most decisive blows. Not because of what it did to the Pacific Fleet but because it brought the U.S. into the war and the world today still feels the effects of that. While that probably would have happened regardless, I am not sure how much public support would have been behind our war efforts. Pearl Harbor made sure that Americans were behind the war effort and without the U.S. involvement, who knows what the world would like today. What we know is that WWII led to the U.S. becoming a super power involved in the world to a much greater extent than ever before. Pretty much everything we have been and are came from 1941.
(1)
(0)
Battle of Tafalgar in 1805. The British defeated the combined naval forces of France and Spain, ending Napoleon's ideas of conquering England, and setting the British up for naval domination which lasted through WWII and beyond. The battle is still deeply celebrated in the UK.
(1)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google