Whats the most decisive naval battle or incident in history?

:lol: I reckon the battle of Midway. The Japanese were at their peak and the Americans were really under the pump. A great triumph by the Yanks which turned the Pacific War dramatically in the Allies favour.
 
I agree with johnmckeogh. The battle of midway was a huge success for America as well as Wake island <-[not really a success but still]. It gave America the confidence of a superpower.
 
Damien435 said:
I still don't know why the French had a large, heavy Iron chain tying their ships together at Trafalgar, can anyone explain to me why they did that? All it really did was allow the English to our maneuver them and use it to bog down the French Fleet. And when you think about it, that was the only battle Napoleon lost before he invaded Russia, but it was the most important one, it made the Continential system impossible to enforce.
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Hello Damien,actually you've got the wrong battle...you're thinking of the battle of the Nile(aboukir)at Trafalgar the French and Spanish fleets formed a long battle line under sail...Nelson(outnumbered by 9 ships) broke the line in two places...by doing so the front of the Franco/Spanish line had to tack back(this took over 2 hours)the remaining French and Spanish ships were annihilated...basically Nelson defeated his enemy without firing a shot..pure genius :lol:



http://www.voodoo.cz/victory/trafalgar.html

http://www.nelsonsnavy.co.uk/broadside1.html
 
I too would say the Battle of Midway. This battle actually delivered a blow to the most powerful Navy in the world – the Japanese - and a blow from which they would never fully recover.
 
I'd have to say Trafalgar. That defeat kept opposition to Napoleon alive. But "never firing a shot" is also wrong. A basic understanding of naval tactics of the time is essential to understanding Trafalgar. Crossing the T is the desired result to win in 1 to 1 ship combat. More on this later.
 
Hey thunder
I just meant that Nelson broke the line without firing a shot,and in so doing won the battle.
He Basically took out 1/3 of the Franco/Spanish line without firing a shot.
 
Right, well you statement was sorta open to interpretation. He did a brilliant maneuver and crossed the T on the French/Spanish ships by running at them full speed. See, here's where I wish I could draw a picture cuz its hard to explain in words. Brilliant move though!
 
Trafalgar, Jutland, Midway, all insignificant in comparison to Taranto. One could class this as a naval air strike, but as obsolete Fairy Swordfish with one torpedo each destroyed the Italian Capital ships and ended Mussolini's dream of control of the Med, a Jap military attache was watching from a hill overlooking the port. He reported what he had seen back to Tokyo, then Pearl Harbour and the fate of the Battleship was sealed. Naval warfare would never be the same again.
 
That last post was good one, I kind of agree with it.

The Battle of the Atlantic, I have to say is a significant one also.

It refined the concept of submarine/anti-submarine warfare includng the use of sonar.

I mean we couldn't have had liberated Europe from Hitler if we hadn't won that one.
 
Quite true that the Battle of the Atlantic was extremely important. Of course, it ultimately constitutes hundreds of smaller battles throughout the Atlantic Ocean, and spanning a 6 year period, all being grouped under a single name. The Battle of the Atlantic kinda cheats the rules of what a "battle" is.
 
You could be right there, I agree.

The thing is if you look alot of history books they'll have alot of battles such as Stalingrad, Normandy, ect, but then on that list you'll most always have the Battle of the Atlantic. The same goes for the History channel when they show battles. So I don't know if technically it can be consider a battle, most historians seem to think so, or maybe its more convienient to lump it as a whole. Maybe they consider it sort of like a running battle.

I'm sure there was an incident in there somewhere where all those years of going back and forth came to a head although its not pronounced or well know. But I do think you're somewhat right, in this context maybe it does cheat the concept of what a battle is.
 
Pearl Harbor

I know i'm going to take a lot of flak from this, but I think Pearl harbor was the most important.
First of all it put America 100% behind the war.

Second, and most importantly, by damaging or destroying virtually all of our battleships in the Pacific, it forced us to change our entire strategy and idea of naval warfare. We were forced to rely on carriers and their planes. I believe that if we had fought the Japanese with the pre-war mindset of battleships being the center of naval warfare, we would have been defeated by the Japanese predominantly carrier-based fleets.
 
Re: Pearl Harbor

Six said:
I know i'm going to take a lot of flak from this, but I think Pearl harbor was the most important.
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Why would your opinion need to be criticized? I think you have a valid reason for choosing Pearl Harbor. My pick would be something different, but I can also understand your choice.
 
gladius said:
The thing is if you look alot of history books they'll have alot of battles such as Stalingrad, Normandy, ect, but then on that list you'll most always have the Battle of the Atlantic. .
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If we look past the fact that "Battle of the Atlantic" breaks the normal rules for the term "Battle", then OF COURSE its easily one of the most important naval battles in history. Quite likely, THE most important.

I know exactly what you mean about History Books and programs. Its generally an accepted term.
 
If we include the "Battle of the Atlantic" then we must include the "Battle of the Pacific", which IMHO is more important.

Seems to me that the "Battle of the Atlantic" was more like a campaign.
 
Six said:
If we include the "Battle of the Atlantic" then we must include the "Battle of the Pacific", which IMHO is more important.
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I'd disagree with you on that particular point simply because Germany was far more dangerous than Japan. But I'd have to say that my disagreeing is irrelevant since neither "Battle of the Atlantic" nor "Battle of the Pacific" ought to qualify.
 
I think the war in the Pacific was more important than that of the Atlantic because the "Battle of the Atlantic was only half of the war against Germany. The war against japan was in itself, Marines included, a Naval war.
 
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