Navy (Naval Forces)
A navy is a nation's maritime military service responsible for operations at sea, using warships, submarines, naval aviation and specialized forces to protect maritime interests and enable power projection.
The navy is the branch of a country's armed forces that conducts military operations at sea and along littoral zones. Navies protect shipping lanes, deter aggression, support ground forces, and provide humanitarian assistance after disasters. Service members in a navy are commonly called sailors and serve on a range of vessels as well as in aviation and specialized maritime units. For a general definition, see military branch.
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Organization and common components
Modern navies are complex organizations combining ships, aircraft, submarines, and shore establishments. Many navies include a naval infantry or marine force that conducts amphibious operations and a naval aviation element for reconnaissance and strike missions. For the role of naval aviation, see naval aviation, and for marine units, see marine forces. Traditions, training and crests form part of naval culture; for cultural elements, see naval traditions.
Typical ship types
- Surface combatants: destroyers, frigates and corvettes that provide air defence, anti-submarine warfare and surface attack.
- Submarines: vessels designed for concealed operations under water for surveillance, deterrence and attack. See submarines.
- Aircraft carriers: large vessels that carry, launch and recover fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters to extend a navy's reach. See aircraft carriers.
- Support and auxiliary ships: replenishment, hospital, transport and mine countermeasure vessels that sustain operations at sea.
- Smaller craft: patrol boats, landing craft and specialized units for coastal security and special operations.
Roles, missions and importance
Navies perform a variety of peacetime and wartime missions. Common objectives include sea control and denial, protection of maritime trade, power projection ashore, nuclear deterrence (in the case of ballistic missile submarines), counter-piracy, disaster relief and maritime law enforcement. They also support diplomatic presence through port visits and multinational exercises. Operational priorities often reflect a state's strategic geography, economic dependencies and alliances.
History and development
The concept of a dedicated naval force dates back millennia, evolving from oared galleys and sailing fleets to steam-powered steel warships and, in the twentieth century, to aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines. Innovations in propulsion, weapons, sensors and communications continually reshape naval practice. The rise of naval aviation and submarine warfare in the early 1900s was followed by cold-war developments in anti-submarine tactics and the emergence of guided missiles and carrier strike groups.
Distinctions and notable facts
Navies are distinct from coast guards and merchant navies: coast guards focus on law enforcement and safety closer to shore, while merchant ships are civilian vessels engaged in commerce. Many modern navies operate in cooperation with allies and within multinational coalitions. For more on naval vessels in general, consult naval ships.
Military
History
Originally, the navy was merely the land army embarked for overseas warfare operations. Increasing maritime trade necessitated the protection of merchant ships, initially by armed ship's crews, and later by warships (convoy ships). In addition, already in antiquity some states maintained permanent navies in order to be able to exercise their power both at sea and in foreign countries. The first organized navies were found among the Carthaginians, Greeks and Romans.
General
The naval forces of a state are also called the fleet in common parlance. They consist of the actual fleet, the associated supporting units and facilities on land, as well as their organization and administration.
The Navy may be equipped with warships, support ships, and other assigned assets such as naval aviators, marines, support and training assets.
Within military navies, a distinction is usually made organizationally between one or more fleets and supporting elements such as bases, schools, etc. The forces at sea, on land and in the air are subordinate to the fleet command. Large navies have several fleets, such as the U.S. Navy with its 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th fleets, or the Russian Navy with its Pacific, Black Sea, North Sea, Baltic, and Caspian flotillas.
According to a 2014 listing by The National Interest, the U.S. Navy is the most powerful navy in the world, followed by the navies of the People's Republic of China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and Japan.
Tasks and functions
Mastering the sea is the main task of navies in war. Strong navies are designed to ensure that their country can use the sea lanes as transportation routes for goods and military forces. Inferior navies usually focus on denying the enemy this use, even if they cannot use the sea themselves for their own purposes. Typical of this type of naval conflict were the two World Wars, in which the Allies, superior at sea, needed the North Atlantic as a supply route, while the inferior Germans wanted to prevent this use with their submarines and auxiliary cruisers, without ever having the chance themselves to carry their own sea transports across the Atlantic. In this respect, naval wars are often wars of attrition; the naval battle is the exception, even if it has shaped the image of naval warfare in the general consciousness.
Navies develop naval power as a military effect not only in war, but already in peace and in crises or regional conflicts. For example, the protection of sea routes and maritime trade against piracy is a permanent task for most navies, even in peacetime. This also includes the elimination of dangers in the waters, such as those posed by sea mines. Many navies also have national policing responsibilities, for example in monitoring and enforcing marine environmental protection. In crises and regional conflicts, naval forces, unlike land forces, can move on the high seas without obstacles under international law. Their presence in a region underlines the claim to power of the respective nation.
Germany
→ Main article: German Navy
In Germany, the term navy refers to the part of the Bundeswehr that specializes in military tasks on or from the sea, as distinct from the army and the air force.
The ranks in the Navy usually have different designations than those of the Army or the Air Force. The military designations are partly based on those of the merchant navy.
Civil
→ Main article: Merchant Marine
In addition to the word merchant fleet in common use today, the term merchant navy is also used for the totality of all merchant ships of a country and the associated administration. In Germany, Art. 27 of the Basic Law stipulates: "All German merchant ships form a uniform merchant fleet."
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AlegsaOnline.com Navy (Naval Forces) Leandro Alegsa
URL: https://en.alegsaonline.com/art/68859