Navy
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The navy is the part of a country's military that fights on water using boats. People in the navy are called sailors. The navy is mostly made up of warships. It may also have its own air force and soldiers. It may have special boats that can go underwater, called submarines, or another kind of special boat that is meant to carry airplanes, called aircraft carriers.
History
Originally, Naval war was fought by ramming other ships and then jumping onto them to fight the crew. In Ancient Greece and Rome, the ships were usually powered by oars. During the Middle Ages, the cannon was invented. These could be shot at other ships from a great distance. Warships around this time also began to use sails instead of oars for power. In the middle 19th century, ships began to be plated in armor for protection. Steam engines allowed them move while carrying the armor, and better ones soon made them much faster. These early warships, called ironclads, are thought to have begun the type of Naval warfare used today. Ships and guns soon became much larger.
The Portuguese Navy is the oldest continuously serving navy in the world, with origins in the 12th century.
British and Danish navies in the line of battle at the Battle of Copenhagen (1801)
Fourth Style wall painting with naumachia (triremes), a detail from a panel from the portico of the Temple of Isis in Pompeii, Naples National Archaeological Museum
Two Javanese jongs, one is a 6-masted ship viewed from aft, the other is a 7-masted ship
HMS Victory, the oldest warship still in commission in the world
U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Nimitz
HMS Invincible sails towards the Falkland Islands during the Falklands War of 1982. The Falklands War was the largest naval conflict since World War II.
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Related pages
Other websites
- Navy -Citizendium