The 4 Greatest Naval Battles

[FrederickII]

The narrator mentions that the Battle of Hansan is 1 of 4 of the greatest naval battles ever fought. I thought I'd clue everybody in on what those battles were...

- The Salamis Naval Battle of Greek Admiral Themistocles in B.C. 480

..This victory triggered a revolt in the Greek city-states of Asia Minor. With this the victorious Greeks saved their independence and were filled with a sense of superiority and thus set the stage for the ensuing Golden Age.

- The Calais Naval Battle of England's Admiral Howard in 1588 (aka the Spanish Armada)

This battle saved Britain from Spanish invasion and kept Britain Protestant.

- The Hansan battle of Admiral Yi Soon-shin in 1592

As expected I can not find any web site with any more than a paragraph on the battle. But, what it did was halt Japans ability to advance further into Korea and even to land an army in China.

- The Trafalgar Battle of England's Admiral Nelson in 1805

Following the battle, the Royal Navy was never again seriously challenged by the French fleet in a large-scale engagement. Napoleon had already abandoned his plans of invasion before the battle but they were never revived for fear of the Royal Navy.

[Shaughraun]

Interesting. Hope this doesn't spoil anything, but in his Memorials to the Court, YSS said the Pusan battle was greater than his previous victories.

[generaldu]

frederickii said:

The narrator mentions that the Battle of Hansan is 1 of 4 of the greatest naval battles ever fought. I thought I'd clue everybody in on what those battles were...

- The Salamis Naval Battle of Greek Admiral Themistocles in B.C. 480

..This victory triggered a revolt in the Greek city-states of Asia Minor. With this the victorious Greeks saved their independence and were filled with a sense of superiority and thus set the stage for the ensuing Golden Age.

As expected I can not find any web site with any more than a paragraph on the battle. But, what it did was halt Japans ability to advance further into Korea and even to land an army in China.

- The Trafalgar Battle of England's Admiral Nelson in 1805

Following the battle, the Royal Navy was never again seriously challenged by the French fleet in a large-scale engagement. Napoleon had already abandoned his plans of invasion before the battle but they were never revived for fear of the Royal Navy.

To be fair in terms of overall historical perpective, perhaps at least one of the "English" battles could be taken off the list and replaced with one from a number of critical WW II naval battles between the Japanese Navy and the Allied Forces.

Midway for the fact that it was the climactic turning point in the Pacific war or Leyte Gulf for its sheer scope and finality certainly rate in the "Top Four" naval battles in world history.

[MaaliiHT]

generaldu said:

To be fair in terms of overall historical perpective, perhaps at least one of the "English" battles could be taken off the list and replaced with one from a number of critical WW II naval battles between the Japanese Navy and the Allied Forces.

Midway for the fact that it was the climactic turning point in the Pacific war or Leyte Gulf for its sheer scope and finality certainly rate in the "Top Four" naval battles in world history.

To add a vote for another epic battle, I'd put in a vote for the Battle of Jutland in WWI. That battle was on an immense scale and although the losses were actually heavier on the British side (at least in capital ships), the battle swung the naval war in favor of the Allies in WWI. Never again was there to be a battle of capital ships of this magnitude, for by WWII the carrier had surpassed the battleship as the most valuable warship as demonstrated dramatically in the opening battles of the Pacific War. In addition, Jutland clearly stood out above all other naval battles in WWI in scale and importance, whereas there are several major and critical battles in the Pacific War, including Midway (probably the most critical of them), Guadalcanal, and Leyte Gulf. I think Jutland also marks both the zenith and end of an era in naval combat, for it is both the peak and end, really, of the age of the battleship. Sure, battleship design continued to evolve--the very last ones built such as the Missouri class and the Bismarck/Tirpitz types were no doubt the best battleships ever made--and battleships did play key roles in many WWII battles, but by the time they took to the water, aircraft carriers had surpassed themas the fleet's most powerful weapons (well, at least for the US, Britain and Japan; the Germans didn't have aircraft carriers).

[BungalowDweller]

generaldu said:

Midway for the fact that it was the climactic turning point in the Pacific war or Leyte Gulf for its sheer scope and finality certainly rate in the "Top Four" naval battles in world history.

Thanks for including Midway, Generaldu. Both my father and uncle fought at Midway--my uncle's carrier, the USS Lexington was lost in the May 7-8 battle in the Coral Sea. (My uncle survived!)

My dad flew a Marine Corp Grumman F4F "Wildcat" fighter. The Corp suffered disasterous loss--17 of 26 planes aloft that day. (June 4th) But the Japs were prevented from causing much damage to Midway that day.

My dad died when I was a kid--to me he was, and will always be a great warrior and hero.

[generaldu]

It is quite an honor for your family to have two participants in such an epic and important battle.

The odds in men and equipment were heavily in favor of the Japanese going in to the battle. The American victory was due to crafty use of military intelligence (clearly a lost art in the U.S.) raw courage and of course, as always, a great bit of luck.

The landbased pilots who sortied from Midway Island during the engagement were very roughly handled by the numerically and qualitatively superior Japanese air forces so your father's deeds were truly heroic on that occasion.

The Wildcat was a sturdy and reliable aircraft but special tactics had to be developed for it to deal with the prime Japanese Navy fighter, the "Zero", whose speed and superior maneuverability in a dog fight made it a very lethal adversary until America could produce more advanced fighter planes.

My father (China/Burma/India) and uncle (Pacific "Island Hopping" Campaign) were also in the war and their generation's typical stoicism with respect to their experiences has in part led to an underappreciation of the true extent of their service and sacrifice. They both died when I was in my early teens and I regret never speaking with them about this period in their lives.

[BungalowDweller]

generaldu said:

The odds in men and equipment were heavily in favor of the Japanese going in to the battle. The American victory was due to crafty use of military intelligence (clearly a lost art in the U.S.) raw courage and of course, as always, a great bit of luck.

The landbased pilots who sortied from Midway Island during the engagement were very roughly handled by the numerically and qualitatively superior Japanese air forces so your father's deeds were truly heroic on that occasion.

The Wildcat was a sturdy and reliable aircraft but special tactics had to be developed for it to deal with the prime Japanese Navy fighter, the "Zero", whose speed and superior maneuverability in a dog fight made it a very lethal adversary until America could produce more advanced fighter planes.

My father (China/Burma/India) and uncle (Pacific "Island Hopping" Campaign) were also in the war and their generation's typical stoicism with respect to their experiences has in part led to an underappreciation of the true extent of their service and sacrifice. They both died when I was in my early teens and I regret never speaking with them about this period in their lives.

It is unfortunate that the men of our dads' generation didn't speak of their experiences. I also had an uncle who was captured in North Africa by Rommel's men and spent the rest of the war years in a concentration camp. The stories that have been missed!!!

You are so right about Japanese superiority. I read a few letters that my father had written during the war--he flew a variety of craft and referred to all of them as "crates".