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Naval Battles of the First World War (Pen and Sword, 2014) Halpern, Paul. A naval history of World War I (Naval Institute Press, 2012). Hough, Richard. The Great War at Sea, 1914–1918 (Oxford UP, 1987) Marder, Arthur Jacob. From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow (4 vol. 1961–70), covers Britain's Royal Navy 1904–1919
The cannon shot (c. 1680), by Willem van de Velde the Younger. The 16th century was an era of transition in naval warfare. Since ancient times, war at sea had been fought much like that on land: with melee weapons and bows and arrows, but on floating wooden platforms rather than battlefields.
From the earliest times of naval warfare boarding was the only means of deciding a naval engagement, but little to nothing is known about the tactics involved. In the first recorded naval battle in history, the battle of the Delta, the forces of Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses III won a decisive victory over a force made up of the enigmatic group known as the Sea Peoples.
The cannon shot (c. 1680), painted by Willem van de Velde the Younger Essential parts of a cannon: 1. the projectile or cannonball (shot) 2. gunpowder 3. touch hole (or vent) in which the fuse or other ignition device is inserted Firing of an 18-pounder aboard a French ship. Firing a naval cannon required a great amount of labour and manpower.
The parts of a cannon, described in John Roberts, The Compleat Cannoniere, London, 1652. While "coal and sulfur" had been recognised as the best weapon for naval warfare as early as 1260, [9] cannon saw their first real naval use in large numbers during the Renaissance.
Naval tactics throughout the 16th century and well into the 17th century were focused on countering the oar-powered galleys that were armed with forward-facing heavy guns in the bow, which were aimed by turning the entire ship against its target. Though far less seaworthy than sailing vessels and highly vulnerable to boarding by ships that rode ...
Cannons transformed naval warfare with its deadly firepower, allowing vessels to destroy each other from long range. As rifling became more commonplace, the accuracy of the cannon was significantly improved, and they became deadlier than ever, especially to infantry.
In 54 BC, heated clay balls were used by the Britons to attack Roman encampments, while in medieval siege warfare, catapults were used to hurl fire balls and other incendiaries into besieged castles and settlements. The first successful use of heated shot fired from cannon was by King Stephen Bathory of Poland in 1579 against the Russians at ...