History of maritime activity

Maritime history is the study of human interaction with and activity at. It covers a broad thematic element of that often uses a global approach, although national and regional histories remain predominant. As an academic subject, it often crosses the boundaries of standard s, focusing on understanding humankind's various relationships to the s, s, and major s of the globe. history records and interprets past events involving ships, shipping, navigation, and seafarers.

Maritime history is the broad overarching subject that includes, , international , , the history of s, ship design, , the history of , the history of the various maritime-related sciences (, , , etc.), sea exploration, maritime economics and trade, , , s, the history of s and aids to navigation, maritime themes in literature, maritime themes in art, the social history of s and passengers and sea-related communities. There are a number of approaches to the field, sometimes divided into two broad categories: Traditionalists, who seek to engage a small audience of other academics, and Utilitarians, who seek to influence policy makers and a wider audience.

Historiography
Historians from many lands have published monographs, popular and scholarly articles, and collections of archival resources. A leading journal is International Journal of Maritime History, a fully refereed scholarly journal published twice a year by the International Maritime Economic History Association. Based in Canada with an international editorial board, it explores the maritime dimensions of economic, social, cultural, and environmental history. For a broad overview, see the four-volume encyclopedia edited by,  (Oxford, 2007). It contains over 900 articles by 400 scholars and runs 2900 pages. Other major reference resources are Spencer Tucker, ed., Naval Warfare: An International Encyclopedia (3 vol. ABC-CLIO, 2002) with 1500 articles in 1231, pages, and I. C. B. Dear and Peter Kemp, eds., Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea (2nd ed. 2005) with 2600 articles in 688 pages.

Typically, studies of merchant shipping and of defensive navies are seen as separate fields. s are included within 'maritime history,' especially inland seas such as the, and major navigable rivers and canals worldwide.

One approach to maritime history writing has been nicknamed 'rivet counting' because of a focus on the minutiae of the vessel. But revisionist scholars are creating new turns in the study of maritime history. This includes a post-1980s turn towards the study of human users of ships (which involves sociology, cultural geography, gender studies and narrative studies); and post-2000 turn towards seeing sea travel as part of the wider history of transport and mobilities. This move is sometimes associated with and  studies, but most recently has emerged from the International Association for the History of Transport, Traffic and Mobilities (T2M)


 * See also: below

Ancient times
Throughout history sailing has been instrumental in the development of civilization, affording humanity greater mobility than travel over land, whether for trade, transport or warfare, and the capacity for fishing. The earliest representation of a ship under sail appears on a painted disc found in Kuwait dating to the late 5th millennium BC.

In the time before, the first boats are presumed to have been , developed independently by various stone age populations, and used for coastal fishing and travel. The of the  are very skilled at crafting wood. Best known for up to 80 ft tall, they also construct dugout canoes over 60 ft long for everyday use and ceremonial purposes.

were the first humans to invent oceangoing sailing technologies, namely the, the , and the. This allowed them to colonize a large part of the region from 3000 to 1500 BC during the. Prior to the, Austronesians were the most widespread ethnolinguistic group, spanning half the planet from  in the eastern  to  in the western. The s and s of the Austronesians from western Island Southeast Asia possibly influenced the development of the Arab. The s commonly associated with Chinese ships is also believed to be an Austronesian invention which the Chinese encountered and adopted by the 2nd century after contact with Austronesian traders.

The ians had knowledge of construction. This is governed by the of. According to the historian,  sent out an expedition of , which in three years sailed from the  around  to the mouth of the. Some current historians believe Herodotus on this point, even though Herodotus himself was in disbelief that the Phoenicians had accomplished the act.

Age of Navigation
By 1000 BC, Austronesians in Island Southeast Asia were already engaging in regular maritime trade with, , and the. Introducing sailing technologies to these regions. They also facilitated an exchange of cultivated crop plants, introducing Pacific coconuts, bananas, and sugarcane to the Indian subcontinent, some of which eventually reached Europe via overland Persian and Arab traders. A Chinese record in 200 AD, describes one of these ships, called (meaning "ships from K'un-lun" - Either  or ) as being capable of carrying 700 people and 260-1000 tons of cargo. Austronesians from Southeast Asia, also reached in the early 1st millennium AD and colonized it. By the 8th century, they already reached as far as.

Northern European also developed oceangoing vessels and depended heavily upon them for travel and population movements prior to 1000 AD, with the oldest known examples being s dated to around 190 AD from the  site. In early modern and  the -sail ship known as the  was used on the waters of the, Indian Ocean, and.

China developed its own maritime trading vessels as well as its navy in the 10th to 13th century, inspired heavily by their contacts with Southeast Asian Austronesian sailors, who dominated the maritime trade in the region. The earliest archeological example being the. They purpotedly reached massive sizes by the in the 14th century, and by the, they were used by  to send.

China's early trade exports included pepper, safflower, and fine spices. There were two main trade routes during this time; an Islamic merchant network from Arabia to ports of, and the Tamil network from the Chola kingdom to the coast of India. Water was the cheapest and usually the only way to transport goods in bulk over long distances. In addition, it was the safest way to transport commodities. The long trade routes created popular trading ports called s. there were three popular Entrepôts; the Malaka in southwestern Malaya, Hoi An in Vietnam, and Ayuthaya in. These super centers for trade were ethnically diverse, because ports served as a midpoint of voyages and trade instead of a destination. The Entrepôts helped link the coastal cities to the "hempispheric trade nexus". The increase in sea trade initiated a cultural exchange among traders. From 1400 to 1600 the Chinese population doubled from 75 million to 150 million as a result of imported goods, this was known as the "age of commerce.

Mechanical engineer (c. 200-265 AD) invented the, a wheeled device employing a  gear that allowed a fixed  to point always in the southern. The was the chief tool of  in early modern maritime history. This scaled down version of the used by astronomers served as a navigational aid to measure latitude at sea, and was employed by  sailors no later than 1481.

The precise date of the discovery of the magnetic needle compass is undetermined, but the earliest attestation of the device for was in the  by  (1088). Kuo was also the first to document the concept of to discern a compass' magnetic declination from the physical. The earliest iterations of the compass consisted of a floating, magnetized lodestone needle that spun around in a water filled bowl until it reached alignment with Earth's magnetic poles. Chinese sailors were using the "wet" compass to determine the southern cardinal direction no later than 1117. The first use of a magnetized needle for seafaring navigation in Europe was written of by, circa 1190 AD. Around 1300 AD, the pivot-needle dry-box compass was invented in Europe, its cardinal direction pointed north, similar to the modern-day mariners compass. There was also the addition of the compass-card in Europe, which was later adopted by the Chinese through contact with in the 16th century.

The oldest known map is dated back to 12,000 B.C. and was found in a Spanish cave, and was discovered by Pilar Utrilla. The early maps were oriented with east being at the top. This is believed to have begun in the region of the middle east. Religion played a role in the drawing of maps. Countries that were predominantly Christian during the Middle Ages placed east at the top of the maps in part due to Genesis,"the lord god planted a garden toward the east in Eden". This led to maps containing the image of Jesus Christ, and the garden of Eden at the top of maps. The latitude and longitude coordinate tables were made with the sole purpose of praying towards. The next progression of maps came with the Portolan chart. The portolan was the first map that labeled North at the top and was drawn proportionate to size. Landmarks were drawn with great detail.

Ships and vessels
Various ships were in use during the. , a type of large sailing ship from Nusantara, was built using wooden dowels without iron nails and multiple planks to endure heavy seas. The chuan (Chinese ship) design was both innovative and adaptable. Junk vessels employed that could be raised and lowered in segments, as well varying angles. The was a type of ship that was developed over a period of centuries and perfected by its most famous user, the, in approximately the 9th century. The ships were, utilizing overlapping wooden strakes. The, a relative of the longship, was a type of cargo vessel. It differed from the longship in that it was larger and relied solely on its sail for propulsion. The was a design which is believed to have evolved from (or at least been influenced by) the longship, and was in wide use by the 12th century. It too used the clinker method of construction. The was a ship invented in  and used in the Mediterranean from the 13th century. Unlike the and, it used a  method of construction. It could be either (Caravela Redonda) or  (Caravela Latina). The was another type of ship invented in the Mediterranean in the 15th century. It was a larger vessel than the caravel. Columbus's ship, the Santa María, was a famous example of a carrack.

Arab age of discovery
The maintained and expanded a wide trade network across parts of,  and. This helped establish the Arab Empire (including the, , and s) as the world's leading extensive economic power throughout the 7th-13th centuries. The Belitung is the oldest discovered Arabic ship to reach the Asian sea, dating back over 1000 years.

Apart from the, and , navigable rivers in the Islamic regions were uncommon, so transport by sea was very important. and navigational sciences were highly developed, making use of a magnetic  and a rudimentary instrument known as a, used for  and for measuring the s and s of the s. When combined with detailed maps of the period, sailors were able to sail across s rather than skirt along the coast. According to the political scientist Hobson, the origins of the  ship, used for long-distance travel by the Spanish and Portuguese since the 15th century, date back to the qarib used by  explorers by the 13th century.

Control of sea routes dictated the political and military power of the Islamic nation. The Islamic border spread from to. Maritime trade was used to link the vast territories that spanned the to the. The Arabs were among the first to sail the Indian Ocean. Long distance trade allowed the movement of "armies, craftsmen, scholars, and pilgrims". Sea trade was an important factor not just for the coastal ports and cities like, but also for and , which are further inland. Sea trade enabled the distribution of food and supplies to feed entire populations in the middle east. Long distance sea trade imported raw materials for building, luxury goods for the wealthy, and new inventions.

Hanseatic League
The was an alliance of trading guilds that established and maintained a trade monopoly over the Baltic Sea, to a certain extent the North Sea, and most of Northern Europe for a time in the Late Middle Ages and the early modern period, between the 13th and 17th centuries. Historians generally trace the origins of the League to the foundation of the Northern German town of, established in 1158/1159 after the capture of the area from the Count of Schauenburg and Holstein by , the. Exploratory trading adventures, s and had occurred earlier throughout the Baltic (see s) — the s of  sailed up rivers as far away as, for example — but the scale of international  in the Baltic area remained insignificant before the growth of the Hanseatic League. German cities achieved domination of trade in the Baltic with striking speed over the next century, and Lübeck became a central node in all the seaborne trade that linked the areas around the and the Baltic Sea.

The 15th century saw the climax of Lübeck's hegemony. (, one of the midwives of the Hanseatic league in 1358, declined to become a member. Visby dominated trade in the Baltic before the Hanseatic league, and with its monopolistic ideology, suppressed the ic free-trade competition.) By the late 16th century, the League imploded and could no longer deal with its own internal struggles, the social and political changes that accompanied the, the rise of Dutch and English merchants, and the incursion of the upon its trade routes and upon the Holy Roman Empire itself. Only nine members attended the last formal meeting in 1669 and only three (Lübeck, Hamburg and Bremen) remained as members until its final demise in 1862.

Somali maritime enterprise
During the, the Somali and  of , , ,  and their respective ports flourished. They had a lucrative foreign commerce with ships sailing to and coming from, , , , ,  and as far away as. In the 16th century, noted that many ships from the  in what is modern-day  sailed to Mogadishu with  and s, for which they in return received,  and. Barbosa also highlighted the abundance of, , , s, and on the coastal markets, which generated enormous wealth for the merchants.

In the period, successor states of the  and  s began to flourish in Somalia who continued the seaborne trade established by previous Somali empires. The rise of the 19th century in particular saw a rebirth in Somali maritime enterprise. During this period, the Somali agricultural output to n markets was so great that the coast of Somalia came to be known as the Grain Coast of and.

Age of Discovery
The  was a period from the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century, during which an ships traveled around the world to search for new trading routes and partners to feed burgeoning in Europe. Historians often refer to the 'Age of Discovery' as the pioneer Portuguese and later Spanish long-distance maritime travels in search of alternative s to "", moved by the trade of, and s. In the process, Europeans encountered peoples and mapped lands previously unknown to them.

was a and  who is one of several historical figures credited as the. It is generally believed that he was born in, although other theories and possibilities exist. Columbus' voyages across the began a an effort at  and  of the. While history places great significance on his first voyage of 1492, he did not actually reach the until his third voyage in 1498. Likewise, he was not the earliest European explorer to reach the Americas, as there are accounts of prior to 1492. Nevertheless, Columbus's voyage came at a critical time of growing and  between  seeking wealth from the establishment of s and. Therefore, the period before 1492 is known as.

was a  and  commonly credited as one of the first ans to land on the n mainland aboard the  Matthew in 1497. was an  and may have sailed with his father John Cabot in May 1497. John Cabot and perhaps Sebastian, sailing from, took their small fleet along the coasts of a. There is much controversy over where exactly Cabot landed, but two likely locations that are often suggested are and Newfoundland. Cabot and his crew (including perhaps Sebastian) mistook this place for China, without finding the passage to the east they were looking for. Some scholars maintain that the name America comes from, a Bristol merchant and customs officer, who is claimed on very slender evidence to have helped finance the Cabot voyages.

was a  who first explored and described the Gulf of St-Lawrence and the shores of the, which he named. was a explorer and navigator. Probably between 1563 and 1574 he discovered the west of,. He also discovered the islands of  and  (1574). Among the other famous s of the period were, , , , , , , , , , , , , Captain , , and.

was an -born of  and of the discoveries of her representatives during the. He wrote the first accounts of explorations in and  in a series of letters and reports, grouped in the original  publications of 1511–1530 into sets of ten chapters called "decades." His Decades are thus of great value in the history of geography and discovery. His De Orbe Novo (published 1530; "On the New World") describes the first contacts of Europeans and and contains, for example, the first an reference to.

was an writer, and is principally remembered for his efforts in promoting and supporting the settlement of  by the  through his works, notably Divers Voyages Touching the Discoverie of America (1582) and The Principal Navigations, Voiages, Traffiques and Discoueries of the English Nation (1598–1600).

European expansion
Although Europe is the world's second-smallest in terms of area, it has a very long coastline, and has arguably been influenced more by its maritime history than any other continent. Europe is uniquely situated between several navigable s and intersected by navigable s running into them in a way which greatly facilitated the influence of maritime traffic and commerce.

When the and then the  were developed by the, European thoughts returned to the fabled East. These explorations have a number of causes. believe the main reason the Age of Exploration began was because of a severe shortage of in Europe. The European economy was dependent on gold and silver currency, but low domestic supplies had plunged much of Europe into a recession. Another factor was the centuries long conflict between the Iberians and the Muslims to the south. The were controlled by the  after the s took control of  in 1453, and they barred Europeans from those trade routes. The ability to outflank the Muslim states of North Africa was seen as crucial to their survival. At the same time, the Iberians learnt much from their Arab neighbours. The carrack and caravel both incorporated the Mediterranean that made ships far more manoeuvrable. It was also through the Arabs that was rediscovered, for the first time giving European sailors some idea of the shape of Africa and Asia.

European colonization
In 1492, reached the, after which European exploration and colonization rapidly expanding. The post-1492 era is known as the period. The first conquests were made by the, who quickly conquered most of and  and large parts of. The took. The, and  conquered islands in the , many of which had already been conquered by the Spanish or depopulated by disease. Early European colonies in North America included, the British settlements in and , French settlements in  and , and Dutch settlements in. revived its former colonies in Greenland from the 18th until the 20th century, and also colonised a few of the Virgin Islands.

From its very outset, Western colonialism was operated as a joint public-private venture. Columbus' voyages to the Americas were partially funded by Italian investors, but whereas the Spanish state maintained a tight rein on trade with its colonies (by law, the colonies could only trade with one designated port in the mother country and treasure was brought back in special ), the English, French and Dutch granted what were effectively trade to  such as the  and the.

In the, there was the proliferation of conflicting an claims to n territory. By the 15th century, ans explored the n coast in search of a water route to. These expeditions were mostly conducted by the, who had been given papal authority to exploit all non- lands of the. The Europeans set up coastal colonies to prosecute the, but the interior of the continent remained unexplored until the 19th century. This was a cumulative period that resulted in European colonial rule in Africa and altered the future of the African continent.

traces its roots back to the late 15th century with a series of voyages that sought a sea passage to India in the hope of establishing direct trade between Europe and Asia in spices. Before 1500 European economies were largely self-sufficient, only supplemented by minor trade with Asia and Africa. Within the next century, however, European and Asian economies were slowly becoming integrated through the rise of new global trade routes; and the early thrust of European political power, commerce, and culture in Asia gave rise to a growing trade in lucrative commodities—a key development in the rise of today's modern world capitalist economy. were set up by several European nations beginning at the beginning of the 16th century. Rivalry between reigning European powers saw the entry of the Dutch, British and French among others.

Zheng He voyages
In the 15th century, before the European Age of Discovery began the Chinese Ming Dynasty carried out a maritime operation that, like the European's late expeditions, was primarily carried out to expand power, increase trade, and in some instances forcibly subdue local populations.

In 1405 Zheng He, a Muslim eunuch, was ordered by the Ming dynasty to lead a fleet of over 27,000 sailors and anywhere between 62 to 300 ships, this was the beginning of an age of expedition which would last 33 years. During his seven voyages, Zheng He visited over 30 countries spread out across the Indian Ocean. Under Emperor Yongle this naval undertaking served primarily as a deliverer of letters demanding tribute and allegiance to the middle kingdom, gifts were the first approach to gaining a country's favor, but if circumstances required it Zheng He's fleet would resort to violence. The end result was a successful connection to 48 new tribute states and an influx of over 180 new trade goods; many were gifts. These expeditions expanded China's diplomatic supremacy of the region and strengthened their economic ties in the area. When these expeditions ended, China's maritime strength diminished and lacked a powerful navy for centuries after.

Other Ming Maritime Activity
The end of the imperially-sponsored voyages, however, in no way meant that Ming people no longer put to sea. Merchants, pirates, fishermen, and others depended on boats and ships for their livelihood, and immigration to Southeast Asia, both permanent and temporary, continued throughout Ming times. Because Chinese and Chinese immigrants to Southeast Asia were the main players in commerce in the South China Sea, Chinese merchants and ships were critical to the Spanish trade in Manila. Not only did Chinese merchants supply the goods the Spanish bought with their American silver, but Chinese shipbuilders built the famous galleons that carried those goods and that silver back and forth across the Pacific twice a year. ''

Clipper route
During this time, the was established by  between  and the,  and. The route ran from west to east through the, in order to make use of the strong westerly winds of the. Many ships and sailors were lost in the heavy conditions along the route, particularly at, which the clippers had to round on their return to Europe. In September 1578, Sir, in the course of his circumnavigation of the world, discovered Cape Horn. This discovery went unused for some time, as ships continued to use the known passage through the Strait of Magellan. By the early 17th century, the Dutch merchant, together with navigator , set off to investigate Drake's suggestion of a route to the south of Tierra del Fuego. At the time it was discovered, the Horn was believed to be the southernmost point of Tierra del Fuego; the unpredictable violence of weather and sea conditions in the Drake Passage made exploration difficult, and it was only in 1624 that the Horn was discovered to be an island. It is an interesting testament to the difficulty of conditions there that Antarctica, only 650 kilometres (400 mi) away across the Drake Passage, was discovered as recently as 1820, despite the passage having been used as a major shipping route for 200 years. The clipper route fell into commercial disuse with the introduction of, and the opening of the and s.

End of exploration
The age of exploration is generally said to have ended in the early 17th century. By this time European vessels were well enough built and their navigators competent enough to travel to virtually anywhere on the planet. Exploration, of course, continued. The Arctic and Antarctic seas were not explored until the 19th century.

Age of Sail
The Age of Sail originates from ancient seafaring exploration, during the rise of ancient civilizations. Including, the and the , the  has been an important   since the era of the coastal sailing vessels from possibly as early as the 3rd millennium BC, certainly the late 2nd millennium BC up to and including the later days of. By the time of, several well-established combined land-sea trade routes depended upon through the Sea around the rough inland s to its north. These routes usually began in the with  via historic  (Bharakuccha), traversed past the inhospitable coast of today's  then split around  into two streams north into the  and thence into the, or south into  via  ports such as. Each major route involved transhipping to pack animal caravans, travel through desert country and risk of bandits and extortionate tolls by local potentiates. Southern coastal route past the rough country in the southern ( and  today) was significant, and the ian s built several shallow canals to service the trade, one more or less along the route of today's, and another from the  to the , both shallow works that were swallowed up by huge s in antiquity.

In the modern western countries, the European "Age of Sail" is the period in which and  were both dominated by s. The age of  mostly coincided with the, from the 15th to the 18th century. After the 17th century, English naval maps stopped using the term of for the. From 15th to the 18th centuries, the period saw ged sailing ships carry settlers to many parts of the world in one of the most important s in recorded history. This period was marked by extensive exploration and colonization efforts on the part of European kingdoms. The, developed in the 18th century, made more accurate charting of nautical position possible.

Notable individuals
was a military leader whose most famous victory was in the naval in 1571. Philip had appointed Juan to command the of the  which was pitted against the. Juan, by dint of leadership ability and charisma, was able to unite this disparate coalition and inflict a historic defeat upon the Ottomans and their allies in the. His role in the battle is commemorated in the poem "" by.

was an officer and later in the. In 1639, during the, Tromp defeated a large fleet bound for  at the , marking the end of Spanish naval power. In a preliminary battle, the, Tromp was the first fleet commander known to deliberately use tactics. His flagship in this period was Aemilia. In the of 1652–1653 Tromp commanded the Dutch fleet in the battles of, ,  and. In the last of these, he was killed by a sharpshooter in the rigging of 's ship. His acting flag captain,, on DUTCH SHIP Brederode kept up fleet morale by not lowering Tromp's standard, pretending Tromp was still alive.

was a Commander in Chief of the and Danish navy. In 1656 he participated in the relief of. In 1658 it was discovered he had used his ships to trade in luxury goods; as a result he was fined and not allowed to have an active command until 1662. Just before the he was promoted to  on 29 January 1665; at the  he prevented total catastrophe by taking over fleet command to allow the escape of the larger part of the fleet. In 1676 he became Admiral-General of the Danish navy and Knight in the. He defeated the Swedish navy in the, his only victory as a fleet commander.

was a   and. He was appointed governor and commander-in-chief of the of  in 1744. In 1758, he and attacked French posts around the mouth of the  and destroyed all of the French fishing stations along the northern shores of what is now  and along the.

was a admiral who held sea commands during the  and the. During the final years of the latter conflict he served as. During the Seven Years' War he saw constant service. He was in North America in 1755, on the coast of France in 1756, was detached on a cruise to reduce the French settlements on the west coast of Africa in 1758, and his ship Torbay (74) was the first to get into action in the in 1759. In 1757 he had formed part of the court martial which had condemned Admiral, but was active among those who endeavoured to secure a pardon for him; but neither he nor those who had acted with him could produce any serious reason why the sentence should not be carried out. When joined  in 1762 he was sent as second in command with Sir  in the expedition which took. His health suffered from the fever which carried off an immense proportion of the soldiers and sailors, but the £25,000 of prize money which he received freed him from the unpleasant position of younger son of a family ruined by the extravagance of his father.

was a naval officer of the. During the he was promoted to. In the, Hawke replaced Admiral as commander in the  in 1756.

was a British admiral. During the rebellion in North America, Howe was known to be sympathetic to the colonists – he had in prior years sought the acquaintance of, who was a friend of Howe's sister, a popular lady in London society. During his career, Howe displayed a tactical uncommon originality. His performance was unexcelled even by, who, like Howe's other successors, was served by more highly trained squadrons and benefitted from Howe's example.

was a  famous for his participation in the, most notably in the , a decisive British victory in the war, where he lost his life. Nelson was noted for his considerable ability to inspire and bring out the best in his men, to the point that it gained a name: "The Nelson Touch". His actions during these wars meant that before and after his death he was revered like few military figures have been throughout British history. was a contemporary and close friend of Horatio Nelson. Davison is responsible for several acts that glorified Nelson's public image. These included the creation of a medal commemorating the victory at the and the creation of the  at his estate at, Northumberland. As a close friend of the Admiral he acted as an intermediary when Nelson's marriage to his wife, fell apart due in large part to his affair with.

in 1778 was engaged in the, and in the following year his ship was wrecked on the hostile n coast. His men, however, entrenched themselves, and were in the end brought off safely. Parker was with his father at the Dogger Bank, and with in the two actions in the. In 1793, having just become rear admiral, he served under at  and in, and two years later, now a , he took part, under , in the indecisive fleet actions on 13 March 1795 and the 13 July 1795. From 1796 to 1800 he was in command at and ably conducted the operations in the.

was a British naval officer who fought during the, the , and the Napoleonic Wars. Pellew is remembered as an officer and a gentleman of great courage and leadership, earning his land and titles through courage, leadership and skill – serving as a paradigm of the versatility and determination of Naval Officers during the Napoleonic Wars.

, a French statesman, was the under King. Sartine inherited a strong, resurrected by after the disasters of the  when France lost , , and , and which would later defeat the  in the.

was an admiral of the British Royal Navy, notable for his victory at the. In 1801 he was raised to the rank of, was created a baronet, and received the command of a small squadron which was destined to watch the movements of the Spanish fleet at. Between 6 and 12 July he performed a brilliant piece of service, in which after a first repulse at Algeciras he routed a much superior combined force of French and Spanish ships at the Battle of Algeciras. For his services Saumarez received the and the.

during the (1801–07) was 1st lieutenant of USS Enterprise (1799), USS New York (1800) and USS Philadelphia (1799) and was taken prisoner when Philadelphia ran aground in  harbor 31 October 1803. After his release 3 June 1805 he remained in the as acting captain of USS Constitution and later captain of Enterprise. He was in charge of the naval forces at 1808–1810. As commander of USS Essex (1799) in the, Captain Porter achieved fame by capturing the first British warship of the conflict, HMS Alert (1804), 13 August 1812 as well as several merchantmen. In 1813 he sailed Essex around and cruised in the  warring on British whalers. On 28 March 1814 Porter was forced to surrender off after an unequal contest with the frigates HMS Phoebe (1795) and HMS Cherub (1806) and only when his ship was too disabled to offer any resistance.

Spanish and English Armadas
The was the  fleet that sailed against  under the command of the  in 1588. The Spanish Armada was sent by King, who had been king consort of England until the death of his wife thirty years earlier. The purpose of the expedition was to escort the army of s from the  across the  for a landing in south-east England. Once the army had suppressed English support for the &mdash; part of the  &mdash; it was intended to cut off attacks against  in the  and the Atlantic s. It was also hoped to reverse the Protestant revolution in England, and to this end the expedition was supported by, with the promise of a subsidy should it make land. The command of the fleet was originally entrusted to Alvaro de Bazan, a highly experienced naval commander who died a few months before the fleet sailed from Lisbon in May 1588.

The Spanish Armada consisted of about 130 warships and converted merchant ships. After forcing its way up the, it was attacked by a fleet of 200 , assisted by the Dutch navy, in the North Sea at off the coastal border between  and the. A attack drove the Armada ships from their safe anchorage, and in the ensuing battle the Spanish abandoned their rendezvous with Parma's army.

The Spanish Armada was blown north up the east coast of England and in a hasty strategic move, attempted a return to Spain by sailing around Scotland and out into the Atlantic, past Ireland. But very severe weather destroyed a portion of the fleet, and more than 24 vessels were wrecked on the north and western coasts of Ireland, with the survivors having to seek refuge in Scotland. Of the Spanish Armada's initial complement of vessels, about 50 did not return to Spain. However, the loss to Philip's Royal Navy was comparatively small: only seven ships failed to return, and of these only three were lost to enemy action.

The was a fleet of warships sent to the Iberian coast by Queen  in 1589, during the  (1585–1604). It was led by Sir as admiral and Sir  as general, and failed in its attempt to drive home the advantage England had won upon the defeat and dispersal of the  in the previous year. With the opportunity to strike a decisive blow against the weakened Spanish lost, the failure of the expedition further depleted the crown treasury that had been so carefully restored during the long reign of. The was very costly to both sides, and Spain itself, also fighting  and the, had to default on its debt repayments in 1596, following another raid on Cadiz. But the failure of the English Armada was a turning point, and the fortunes of the various parties to this complicated conflict fluctuated until the in 1604, when a peace was agreed.

Spain's rebuilt navy had quickly recovered and exceeded its pre-Armada dominance of the sea, until defeats by the fifty years later marked the beginning of its decline. With the peace, the English were able to consolidate their hold on Ireland and make a concerted effort to establish colonies in North America.

North American maritime
The  starts in the modern sense with the first successful English colony established in 1607, on the at. It languished for decades until a new wave of settlers arrived in the late 17th century and set up commercial agriculture based on tobacco. The connection between the American colonies and Europe, with shipping as its cornerstone, would continue to grow unhindered for almost two hundred years.

The  was formed during the in 1774–1775. Through the efforts of the Continental Navy's apparent patron, and vigorous congressional support in the face of stiff opposition, the fleet cumulatively became relatively substantial when considering the limitations imposed upon the Patriot supply poole. The "" were the first s of the, first authorized by the  with the  on March 27, 1794 at a cost of $688,888.82.

was 's first well-known hero in the. John Paul adopted the alias John Jones when he fled to his brother's home in in 1773 in order to avoid the hangman's noose in  after an incident when he was accused of murdering a sailor under his command. He began using the name John Paul Jones as his brother suggested during the start of the. Though his naval career never rose above the rank of captain in the after his victory over HMS Serapis (1779) with the  USS Bonhomme Richard (1765), John Paul Jones remains the first genuine American naval hero, and a highly regarded battle commander.

was a during the, being the  of the   Tyrannicide, fourteen guns. On board for two years, he captured many prizes, becoming her commander in 1777.

was an  and, notable for his history of the  and for taking the first photograph of the  flag that inspired . George entered the as a  on 10 December 1835, serving on USS United States (1797) until 1838.

was a naval officer. Following his Revolutionary War service, he was appointed in the U.S. Navy. In January 1799, he assumed command of the 14-gun brig USS Pickering (1798) and took her to the to protect American commerce during the  with. Commissioned 7 June 1799, he took command of USS Essex (1799) in December and sailed in January 1800 for the Pacific to provide similar protective services for Americans engaged in the  trade. Given command of the 3rd Squadron, with USS Constitution as his, in 1803, he sailed for the and by October had promoted a treaty with  and established a blockade off  in the.

Triangular trade
In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries a network of maritime trade formed in the Atlantic, connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas through a triangular trade of African slaves, sugar/molasses, and rum. This maritime trade route would enrich the English and Americas while also pulling both deeper into the slave trade.

Europeans would buy slaves from the Africans, send these slaves to their sugar plantations in the Caribbeans, the sugar/molasses they produced would be shipped to the British American Colonies and distilled into rum where it would be consumed in the colonies and sent to Europe. In some models of triangular trade, the Colonies take Europe's place, and the model of trade shifts to Slaves from Africa to the Caribbean, sugar and molasses go to New England, and the rum/other finished goods would be sold in Africa to get more slaves. Both of these models are not restricted to sugar trade; tobacco, cotton, and other plantation based raw materials take the place of sugar, and its derivatives.

Piracy in the Atlantic Ocean
During the Age of Discovery, key trade routes to the new world formed in the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean. With this concentrated area of trade, piracy was a significant maritime hazard in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Some nations would use pirates to sabotage their rivals, going as far as supplying and recognizing them as legitimate. Eventually, powers like the English and Dutch implemented strong anti-piracy tactics to strengthen their trade empires in the 18th century.

In the 16th and 17th century Caribbean, the trading of slaves, precious metals, and raw materials all fell prey to piracy. Pirates would raid forts, and attack ships at sea to get possession of merchants material wealth. In some cases, pirates would tie themselves to a maritime power like the British and aid them by raiding rival nations like the Spanish and leaving British trade unmolested. In areas like Jamaica, some pirates were friendly with the British and would remain on the fringes of the colony. Some of these pirates were accepted by British colonial governors.

The English and Dutch had created extensive trade empires during the 17th and 18th century and saw pirates as a barrier to their continued growth. English began building a codification for piracy, which started a war against pirates that lasted from the 1670s ending in the 1720s. During this time the English would develop a ship called the Jamaica Sloops which were better at fending off piracy. In the late 1600s, the British began building up their navy and were able to put an end to most piracy by the 1720s violently, only isolated individual instances persisted.

Life at sea
Shipping, whether of cargo or passengers, is a business and the duties of a ship's captain reflect that. A captain's first duty was to the ship's owner and often the captain was encouraged to buy into the business with at least a one eighth share of the ship. A captain's second duty was to the cargo itself followed thirdly by the crew.

Crew were broken into two shifts that served four hour alternating watches often with all hands jointly serving the noon to 4:00 watch. American ships would commonly alternate watches with the addition of a two-hour dog watch. Work for sailors during their shift consisted primarily of general ship maintenance, washing, sanding, painting and repairs from general wear and tear or damage from storms. General ship operations like raising and lowering the anchor or furling and unfurling sails were done as needed. During the off shift hours, sailors could take care of their personal chores, washing and repairing clothes, sleeping and eating. Leisure time could was often spent reading, writing in journals, playing an instrument, wood carving or fancy rope work. The American Seaman's Friend Society in New York City would loan boxes of books to ships for sailor's use.

Life aboard ship for immigrant travelers was much harsher and sometimes deadly. Ship owners would pack as many people as they could on board to maximize profits and little government oversight existed to ensure they received proper care during the voyage. British immigrant ships would often show less care to the passengers than criminals on prison ships to Australia. In 1803 the Passenger Vessel Act in Britain limited occupancy to one person per two tons of the ship's register. America issue stricter laws in 1819 limiting ships to a 1 to 5 ratio with fine levied should an overcrowded ship arrive at port. The Act of Feb. 1847 further increased the amount of space granted to passengers with the confiscation of a ship as the penalty for overcrowding.

War of 1812
was an officer notable for his heroism in the  and the  and in the. He was the youngest man to reach the rank of captain in the history of the, and the first American celebrated as a national military hero who had not played a role in the.

was an  hero. During the War of 1812, he commanded USS Chesapeake (1799) in a against HMS Shannon (1806) (commanded by ). He is probably best known today for his "Don't give up the ship!", which is still a popular naval.

was an officer in the whose service extended from the  to the end of the. During the War of 1812, he served in USS Enterprise (1799) and took part in her battle with HMS Boxer (1812) on 4 September 1813. After that engagement ended in an American victory, Aulick served as of the prize.

was an early 19th-century American naval officer, most notably as commander of American naval forces on during the War of 1812. One of the leading members of "Preble's Boys", a small group of naval officers who served during the, Macdonough's actions during the decisive are often cited as a model of tactical preparation and execution.

Challenger Expedition
HMS Challenger (1858), built in 1858, undertook the first global marine research expedition called the in 1872. To enable her to probe the depths, all but two of Challenger's guns had been removed and her spars reduced to make more space available. Laboratories, extra cabins and a special dredging platform were installed. She was loaded with specimen jars, alcohol for preservation of samples, microscopes and chemical apparatus, trawls and dredges, thermometers and water sampling bottles, sounding leads and devices to collect sediment from the sea bed and great lengths of rope with which to suspend the equipment into the ocean depths. In all she was supplied with 181 mi of Italian hemp for sounding, trawling and dredging. As the first true oceanographic cruise, the Challenger expedition laid the groundwork for an entire academic and research discipline.

End of the sail
Like most the definition is inexact and close enough to serve as a general description. The age of sail runs roughly from the in 1571, the last significant engagement in which -propelled s played a major role, to the  in 1862, in which the steam-powered CSS Virginia destroyed the sailing ships USS Cumberland (1842) and USS Congress (1841), finally culminating with the advance of, rendering sail power obsolete.

Submarines
The ' covers the  and facts related to ', the ships and boats which operate underwater. The modern underwater boat proposal was made by the Englishman who designed a prototype submarine in 1578. Unfortunately for him these ideas never got beyond the planning stage. The first submersible proper to be actually built in modern times was built in 1620 by, a Dutchman in the service of : it was based on Bourne's design. It was propelled by means of oars. The precise nature of the submarine type is a matter of some controversy; some claim that it was merely a bell towed by a boat. Two improved types were tested in the between 1620 and 1624.In 1900,the U.S. navy was sold their first submarine by an Irish man named John Holland. From 1945 to 1955, tremendous changes were made for a great time when the first submarine was sent out to sail for the first time. The United States heavily depended on the submarines as a weapon of war when they were going to war with the Japanese.

Age of Steam
Steam was first applied to boats in the 1770s. With the advent of economical s, efficient s that makes use of the heat  that exists in  and converting it to, the  was steam for ships. The technology only became relevant to trans-oceanic travel after 1815, the year Pierre Andriel crossed the aboard the steamship Élise.

Rise of the steam vessels
A, sometimes called a steamer, became the primary method of propulsion is the age of steam power, typically driving a propeller or. Small and large steamboats and riverboats worked on lakes and rivers. Steamships gradually replaced sailing ships for commercial shipping through the 19th century. From 1815 on, steamships increased significantly in speed and size.

s are s of the later 19th century, protected by  or  armor plates. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary. The first ironclad battleship, FRENCH IRONCLAD Gloire, was launched by the in 1859; she prompted the British  to start building ironclads. After the took place during the, it became clear that the ironclad had replaced the  as the most powerful warship afloat.

In 1880, the American passenger steamer became the first ship to utilize the  and. Furthermore, Columbia was the first structure besides 's laboratory in to use the incandescent light bulb.

Greek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence was a successful war waged by the Greeks to win independence for Greece from the Ottoman Empire. Success at sea was vital for the Greeks. If they failed to counter the Ottoman Navy, it would be able to resupply the isolated Ottoman garrisons and land reinforcements from the 's Asian provinces at will, crushing the rebellion. The Greeks decided to use and found an effective weapon against the Ottoman vessels. Conventional naval actions were also fought, at which naval commanders like, , and  distinguished themselves. The early successes of the Greek fleet in direct confrontations with the Ottomans at and  gave the crews confidence, and contributed greatly to the survival and success of the uprising in the Peloponnese. Despite victories at and, the Revolution was threatened with collapse until the intervention of the Great Powers in the  in 1827. The Ottoman fleet was decisively defeated by the combined fleets of the, and the , effectively securing the independence of Greece.

1850 to the end of the century
Most warships used steam propulsion until the advent of the gas turbine. Steamships were superseded by diesel-driven ships in the second half of the 20th century.

The  (CSN) was the of the   established by an act of the  on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the. The two major tasks of the Confederate Navy during the whole of its existence were the protection of harbors and coastlines from outside invasion, and making the war costly for the  by attacking merchant ships and breaking the.

was the first senior officer of the during the. He was the first, , and full of the Navy. He is remembered in popular culture for his possibly apocryphal order at the, usually paraphrased: "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!".

was an officer in the United States Navy who became an in the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War. He was the captain of the CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack (1855)) during the  in Virginia. He climbed to the top deck of Virginia and began furiously firing toward shore with a as USS Congress (1841) was shelled. He soon was brought down by a 's to the thigh. He would eventually recover from his leg wound. He never did get to command Virginia against USS Monitor. That honor went to. But Buchanan had handed the US Navy the worst defeat it would take until.

was an officer in the United States Navy from 1826 to 1860 and the Confederate States Navy from 1860 to 1865. During the American Civil War he was captain of the famous commerce raider CSS Alabama, taking a record fifty-five s. Late in the war he was promoted to admiral and also served briefly as a in the.

In Italy, was an  admiral and commander of the  fleet at the. He commanded the fleet from 1860 to 1861, and saw action in the struggle for. After unification he was elected to the legislature; he became Minister of Marine in 1862 and in 1865 he was nominated a Senator. However, his career was marred during the when he commanded the Italian fleet at Lissa. After the defeat, he was condemned for incapacity, and discharged.

Again in America, was an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War and the. He commanded the USS Oregon (BB-3) at the, , and when war with  was deemed inevitable, he received orders to proceed to , with all haste. After a most remarkable voyage of over 14000 mi, around, he joined the American fleet in n waters on May 26, and on July 3 commanded his ship at the destruction of 's squadron.

was an admiral of the United States Navy, best known for his victory (without the loss of a single life of his own forces due to combat; one man died of a heart attack) at the during the Spanish–American War. He was also the only person in the history of the United States to have attained the rank of, the most senior rank in the United States Navy.

was an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He commanded USS Boston (1825) during the in 1846. In 1856, he commissioned USS Merrimack (1855), the ship that would later become CSS Virginia.

was a shipbuilding executive,, and political activist. Nixon graduated first in his class from the Naval Academy in 1882 and was sent to study naval architecture at the Royal Naval College where, again, he graduated first in the class in 1885. In 1890, with help from assistant naval constructor, he designed the Indiana-class battleships which included USS Indiana (BB-1), USS Massachusetts (BB-2) and USS Oregon.

was the  at the Battle of Manila Bay (May 1, 1898), a decisive battle of the. At the outbreak of the Spanish–American War, Montojo was in command of the Spanish Squadron that was destroyed by the U.S. Asiatic Squadron in the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1, 1898. Montojo was wounded during this battle, as was also one of his two sons who were participating in this battle. under George Dewey decisively defeated Spain's Pacific fleet, at anchor in Manila Bay, the Philippines. Most of the seven Spanish vessels sank or surrendered.

20th century
In the 20th century, the and  came to replace the steam engine in most ship applications. Trans-oceanic travel, and, was a particularly important application, with steam powered s  replacing sailing ships, then culminating in the massive  which included the RMS Titanic. The event with the Titanic lead to the.

Maritime events of World War I
At the start of the war, the German Empire had s scattered across the globe. Some of them were subsequently used to attack Allied merchant shipping. The British systematically hunted them down, though not without some embarrassment from its inability to protect allied shipping. For example, the detached light cruiser SMS Emden (1908), part of the East-Asia squadron stationed at Tsingtao, seized or destroyed 15 merchantmen, as well as sinking a Russian cruiser and a French destroyer. However, the bulk of the German East-Asia squadron – consisting of the armoured cruisers SMS Scharnhorst and SMS Gneisenau, light cruisers SMS Nürnberg (1906) and SMS Leipzig (1905) and two transport ships – did not have orders to raid shipping and was instead underway to Germany when it was lost at the in December 1914.

Soon after the outbreak of hostilities, Britain initiated a naval of Germany, preventing supplies from reaching its ports. The strategy proved effective, cutting off vital military and civilian supplies, although this blockade violated generally accepted international law codified by international agreements. A blockade of stationed ships within a three-mile (5 km) radius was considered legitimate, however Britain mined international waters to prevent any ships from entering entire sections of ocean, causing danger to even neutral ships. Though there was limited response to this tactic, some expected a better response for German's aim with its unrestricted submarine warfare.

German s attempted to cut the supply lines between North America and Britain. The nature of submarine warfare meant that attacks often came without warning, giving the crews of the merchant ships little hope of survival. After the infamous sinking of the passenger ship RMS Lusitania in 1915, Germany promised not to target passenger liners. In 1916 the United States launched a protest over a cross-channel passenger ferry sinking,. Finally, in early 1917 Germany adopted a policy of, realizing the Americans would eventually enter the war. Germany sought to strangle Allied sea lanes before the U.S. could transport a large army overseas.

The U-boat threat lessened in 1917, when merchant ships entered s escorted by destroyers. This tactic made it difficult for U-boats to find targets. The accompanying destroyers might sink a submerged submarine with. The losses to submarine attacks were reduced significantly. But the convoy system slowed the flow of supplies. The solution to the delays was a massive program to build new freighters. Various troop ships were too fast for the submarines and did not have to travel the North Atlantic in convoys.

The First World War also saw the first use of in combat, with HMS Furious (47) launching  in a successful raid against the  hangars at  in July 1918.

Battle of the Atlantic
In the, German s attempted to cut supply lines to the United Kingdom by sinking merchant ships. In the first four months of the war they sank more than 110 vessels. In addition to supply ships, the U-boats occasionally attacked British and Canadian warships. One U-boat sank the British HMS Courageous (50), while another managed to sink the  HMS Royal Oak (08) in her home anchorage of.

In the summer of 1941, the Soviet Union entered the war on the side of the Allies. Although the Soviets had tremendous reserves in manpower, they had lost much of their equipment and manufacturing base in the first few weeks following the German invasion. The Western Allies attempted to remedy this by sending, which travelled from the United Kingdom and the United States to the northern ports of the Soviet Union - and. The treacherous route around the of Norway was the site of many battles as the Germans continually tried to disrupt the convoys using U-boats, bombers, and surface ships.

Following the entry of the United States into the war in December 1941, U-boats sank shipping along the and, the waters around , the , and the. They were initially so successful that this became known among U-boat crews as the. Eventually, the institution of shore and an interlocking convoy system resulted in a drop in attacks and U-boats shifted their operations back to the mid-Atlantic.

The turning point of the took place in early 1943 as the Allies refined their, effectively making use of new technology to counter the U-Boats. The Allies produced ships faster than they were sunk, and lost fewer ships by adopting the system. Improved meant that the  of a typical U-boat crew would be measured in months. The vastly improved appeared as the war was ending, but too late to affect the outcome. In December 1943, the last major sea battle between the and Nazi Germany's  took place. At the, the German battleship GERMAN BATTLESHIP Scharnhorst, was sunk by HMS Duke of York (17), HMS Belfast (C35), and several destroyers.

Pacific War
The was the part of, especially following the successful Japanese  to 1945. The main American naval theaters were as and. The British fought chiefly in the Indian Ocean. It was a war of logistics, with American home bases in California and Hawaii sending supplies to Australia. The U.S. used its submarines to sink Japanese transports and oil tankers, thereby cutting off Japan's supplies to its outposts and causing a severe shortage of gasoline.

was the key strategy to bypass heavily fortified positions and instead concentrate the limited Allied resources on strategically important islands that were not well defended but capable of supporting the drive to the main islands of Japan. This strategy was possible in part because the Allies used submarine and air attacks to blockade and isolate Japanese bases, weakening their garrisons and reducing the Japanese ability to resupply and reinforce. Most Japanese soldiers killed in the Pacific died of starvation, and Japan used its submarine fleet to try to resupply them.

Hard-fought battles on the of, , and others resulted in horrific casualties on both sides, but finally produced a Japanese retreat. Faced with the loss of most of their experienced pilots, the Japanese increased their use of tactics in an attempt to create unacceptably high casualties for the. After the turning point of the Pacific where a third of the fleet was hit in the, the  recommended various positions for and against an  in 1945. Some staff proposed to force a Japanese surrender through a total naval blockade or air raids.

Latter half of the 20th century
In the latter half of the 20th century, various vessels, notably s, s, and s, made use of. and augmented existing navigational technology.

Various s were set up in international action. The ian set up blockades of the prior to the 1956  and the 1967. The set up a blockade of  during the  in 1962. The is set up a sea blockade of the since the outbreak of the  (2000) and up to the present. The i blockades of some or all the shores of at various times during the  (1975–1990), the, and the —resumed during the.

Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban missile crisis was seen as an event that brought the U.S. closest to nuclear war and nearly the end of human existence. The event was on October the 22, 1962 during the presidency of John F. Kennedy. It also happened over a 13-day period. The nuclear power of the United States had a hand in why this event occurred. From this situation, the country learned that nuclear power does  not have a lot of influence in politics. The soviet leader, Klrushchv, was the first to have his missiles fall back. At the time, it did not look like the United States was going to do the same. The U.S. did not back down because an American plane had been shot down in Cuba during the event. The blockade ended when the two powers resolved the issue peacefully.

Gulf of Tonkin Incident
The was an alleged pair of attacks by the  against two American warships in 1964.One night a U.S. ship was sailing in North Vietnam when they thought they were being attacked. The president at this time decided that he needed to make a statement and asked congress for permission to act on this. Congress gave him permission by approving the Gulf of Tonkin resolution on August 7, 1964. With this resolution, president Johnson was able to release missiles on North Vietnamese torpedo boats and oil storage facilities. The Resolution was repealed in January 1971.

Falklands War
In 1982, the Falklands War was a war over the Falkland Islands with Argentina. This was said to be a very desperate war between Britain and Argentina. Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands where they were going in and out of the island. Britain was initially taken by surprise when the Argentine attack on the South Atlantic islands happened, but launched a naval to engage the  and, and retake the islands by. Argentina ended up losing the war.

Panama canal handover
Though controversial within the United States, a process of handing the lead to nian control of the  by the. It was effective at noon on December 31, 1999. Before this handover, the government of Panama held an international bid to negotiate a 25-year contract for operation of the Canal's (chiefly two facilities at the Atlantic and Pacific outlets), which was won by the  firm, a -based shipping concern whose owner  is the wealthiest man in Asia. One of the conditions on the handover to the Panama Canal Authority by the United States was the permanent neutrality of the Canal and the explicit statements that allowed the United States to come back at any time.

21st century
Since the turn of the millennium, the construction of s have occurred. These are ships which employs construction techniques in an effort to ensure that it is harder to detect by one or more of, visual, , and infrared methods. These techniques borrow from technology, although some aspects such as wake reduction are unique to stealth ships' design.

Some of the major social changes of this period include women becoming admirals in defensive navies, being allowed to work on submarines, and being appointed captains of cruise ships.

Piracy
Seaborne piracy against transport vessels remains a significant issue (with estimated worldwide losses of US$13 to $16 billion per year), particularly in the waters between the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, off the Somali coast, and also in the and Singapore, which are used by over 50,000 commercial ships a year.

Modern pirates favor small boats and taking advantage of the small number of crew members on modern cargo vessels. They also use large vessels to supply the smaller attack/boarding vessels. Modern pirates can be successful because a large amount of international commerce occurs via shipping. Major shipping routes take cargo ships through narrow bodies of water (such as the and the ) making them vulnerable to be overtaken and boarded by small s. Other active areas include the  and the. As usage increases, many of these ships have to lower cruising speeds to allow for navigation and traffic control, making them prime targets for piracy.

The (IMB) maintains statistics regarding pirate attacks dating back to 1995. Their records indicate hostage-taking overwhelmingly dominates the types of violence against seafarers. For example, in 2006, there were 239 attacks, 77 crew members were kidnapped and 188 taken hostage but only 15 of the pirate attacks resulted in murder. In 2007 the attacks rose by 10% to 263 attacks. There was a 35% increase on reported attacks involving guns. Crew members that were injured numbered 64 compared to just 17 in 2006. That number does not include hostages/kidnapping where they were not injured.

Modern definitions of piracy include the following acts:
 * of people for
 * resulting in the ship subsequently sinking
 * of items or the ship
 * ing done intentionally to a ship
 * resulting in the ship subsequently sinking
 * of items or the ship
 * ing done intentionally to a ship
 * of items or the ship
 * ing done intentionally to a ship