The French battleship Orient burns, 1 August 1798, during the Battle of the Nile

A naval battle is a battle fought using ships or other waterborne vessels. Most naval battles have occurred at sea, but a few have taken place on lakes or rivers. The earliest recorded naval battle took place in 1210 BC near Cyprus. Most naval battles are undertaken in indirect support of land operations - either to obtain local command of the area so that a seaborne invasion or bombardment can take place, or to destroy or damage an enemy fleet so that he cannot do these things at some time in the future. Numbers of vessels involved range from 1 on each side to many hundreds; modern naval battles usually involve fewer, more powerful ships. There have been few large naval battles since World War II as few nations can afford large fleets or afford to risk their ships and most wars have not involved great powers fighting against each other, and b) aircraft operating from shore can destroy ships without the need for one's own. Download high resolution version (1000x624, 140 KB)Battle of the Nile, August 1st 1798 at 10pm -- a painting by Luny Thomas. ... Download high resolution version (1000x624, 140 KB)Battle of the Nile, August 1st 1798 at 10pm -- a painting by Luny Thomas. ... August 1 is the 213th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (214th in leap years), with 152 days remaining. ... 1798 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Combatants Britain France Commanders Horatio Nelson François-Paul Brueys DAigalliers† Strength 14 ships of the line: * 13 x 74-gun, * 1 x 50-gun, 1 sloop 13 ships of the line: * 1 x 120-gun, * 3 x 80-gun, * 9 x 74gun, 4 frigates, some smaller Casualties 218... Generally, a battle is an instance of combat in warfare between two or more parties wherein each group will seek to defeat the others. ... Italian Full rigged ship Amerigo Vespucci in New York Harbor, 1976 A ship is a large watercraft capable of deep water navigation. ... Sea as seen from jetty in Frankston, Australia Look up maritime in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A man-made lake in Keukenhof, Netherlands A lake is a body of water or other liquid of considerable size contained on a body of land. ... This bridge across the Danube River links Hungary with Slovakia. ... (Redirected from 1210 BC) Centuries: 14th century BC - 13th century BC - 12th century BC Decades: 1260s BC 1250s BC 1240s BC 1230s BC 1220s BC - 1210s BC - 1200s BC 1190s BC 1180s BC 1170s BC 1160s BC Events and Trends 1213 BC - Theseus, legendary King of Athens is deposed and... An invasion is a military action consisting of armed forces of one geopolitical entity entering territory controlled by another such entity, generally with the objective of conquering territory, or altering the established government. ... A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire directed against fortifications, troops or towns and buildings. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Look up aircraft in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Although the nature of the ships involved in battles has changed drastically, from triremes to sailing ships to battleships, submarines and aircraft carriers, many of the tactical principles remain the same, such as the importance of maneouvre before the engagement proper, and the desirability of breaking off combat rather than risking the complete loss of a fleet. A Greek trireme. ... Traditional wooden cutter under sail. ... The firepower of a battleship demonstrated by USS Iowa. ... Alvin in 1978, a year after first exploring hydrothermal vents. ... Four aircraft carriers, (front-to-back) Principe de Asturias, amphibious assault carrier USS Wasp, supercarrier USS Forrestal and light V/STOL carrier HMS Invincible, showing size differences. ... Naval tactics is the collective name for methods of engaging and defeating an enemyship or fleet in battle at sea, the naval equivalent of military tactics on land. ...

There are several contenders for the largest naval battle of all time. The question of the the largest naval battle in history is controversial, and depends on the definition of battle and the criteria used to assess the size, such as personnel, the number of ships, their tonnage, the area involved, and the duration. ...

See also

• List of naval battles
• List of single-ship actions
• Naval history
• Naval ship