Naval Ship: Strategies and Technologies of Modern Sea Warfare

By Fouad Sabry

What is Naval Ship

A naval ship is a military ship used by a navy. Naval ships are differentiated from civilian ships by construction and purpose. Generally, naval ships are damage resilient and armed with weapon systems, though armament on troop transports is light or non-existent.

How you will benefit

(I) Insights, and validations about the following topics:

Chapter 1: Naval ship

Chapter 2: Cruiser

Chapter 3: Carrier battle group

Chapter 4: Hull classification symbol

Chapter 5: Warship

Chapter 6: Ship's tender

Chapter 7: List of U.S. Navy acronyms

Chapter 8: Surface warfare

Chapter 9: United States Navy ships

Chapter 10: Surface combatant

(II) Answering the public top questions about naval ship.

Who this book is for

Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of Naval Ship.

• Language: English
• Publisher: One Billion Knowledgeable
• Release date: Jun 19, 2024

Book preview

Chapter 1: Naval ship

A naval ship (or naval vessel) is a military ship (or, depending on classification, a boat) employed by a navy. The construction and function of naval vessels differentiate them from civilian vessels. In general, naval vessels are resistant to damage and armed with weapon systems, whereas troop transports are lightly armed or unarmed.

As opposed to support (auxiliary ships) or shipyard activities, warships refer to naval vessels designed primarily for naval warfare.

The classification of naval ships has evolved over time and is not a subject on which there is widespread international consensus; therefore, this article follows the system as it is now used by the United States Navy.

Aircraft carrier - ships that serve as mobile seaborne airfields, designed primarily for performing combat operations by Carrier-based aircraft that strike aerial, surface, subsurface, and shore targets.

Surface combatant — huge, heavily armed surface ships designed primarily to confront enemy troops on the high seas, such as battleships, battlecruisers, cruisers, destroyers, frigates, and corvettes.

Submarine - self-propelled submersible types deployed as combatant, auxiliary, or research and development vehicles with a minimum residual combat capability.

Patrol combatant - combatants whose purpose may extend beyond coastal responsibilities and whose qualities include sufficient endurance and seakeeping to enable operations lasting longer than 48 hours at sea without support.

Amphibious warfare entails ships with an inherent capacity for amphibious assault and qualities that permit long-term operations at sea.

Combat logistics - ships able to resupply fleet units while in transit.

Mine warfare — ships whose major role at sea is mine warfare.

Coastal defense ships are those whose primary job is patrol and interdiction along the coast.

Sealift — ships that can give direct material support to other deployed forces operating far from home port.

Support - Ships, such as oilers and auxiliary ships, built to operate on the open ocean in a variety of sea conditions in order to offer general support to either combatant forces or shore-based establishments. (Includes smaller auxiliary whose responsibilities require them to depart inland waters).

Service-type vessels are navy-subordinated vessels (including non-self-propelled vessels) meant to offer general assistance to either combatant troops or shore-based institutions.

Modern surface naval vessels are typically categorized into the following classes, roughly in order of tonnage (from largest to smallest). The list's heavier vessels can also be classified as capital ships.

Aircraft carrier

Helicopter carrier

Amphibious assault ship

Stealth ship

Battleship

Battlecruiser

Heavy cruiser

Light cruiser

Destroyer

Frigate

Corvette

Patrol boat

Fast attack craft

Some of the aforementioned classes may now be regarded obsolete because no ships of that class are currently in service. There is also considerable overlap and ambiguity between the classes, depending on their intended function, history, and interpretation by other navies.

Additionally, auxiliaries are used for transport and other non-combat reasons. They are categorized by different names based on their functions:

During the Age of Steam, colliers were employed to carry and replenish coal for warships.

Replenishment oilers are vessels used to transfer oil and refill ships at sea.

Combat stores ships are vessels used to transfer supplies and resupply ships at sea.

Depot ships serve as mobile or stationary bases for destroyers, quick attack craft, minesweepers, submarines, patrol vessels, and landing craft.

These vessels supply and replenish ammunition for warships and naval aviation.

A ship's tender is a vessel that serves other boats, submarines, ships, and seaplanes.

Destroyer tender

Submarine tender

Torpedo boat tender

Motorized motorboat tender

Seaplane tender

Troopships are ships, typically converted from passenger vessels, that transport marines and soldiers.

Training ships are vessels used to instruct aspiring sailors. The employment of sail training ships is a novel and successful method of acquiring numerous on- and off-water abilities.

Torpedo trials craft are vessels utilized by navies for the testing and development of new naval torpedoes, as well as for practice firings. These vessels are meant to track and monitor used torpedoes, locate them, and remove them for study and refurbishing.

Repair ships are vessels used to maintain and repair warships.

Aircraft repair ships are warships designed to maintain and repair naval aircraft.

Tracking ships are equipped with antennas and electronics to facilitate the launch and tracking of rockets and missiles.

The command ship is the flagship of a fleet's commander.

Rescue and salvage vessels are vessels that assist distressed vessels.

Submarine rescue ships are employed for submarine rescue and deep sea salvage missions.

Barracks ships are ships or barges designed to temporarily house sailors and troops.

Research vessels are vessels used to investigate military issues, such as sonar or weapon trails.

Spy ships are vessels specialized to gathering intelligence.

A survey ship is any ship or boat used to conduct underwater surveys.

Hospital ships are ships that serve as floating hospitals and are used to administer medical care at sea.

{End Chapter 1}

Chapter 2: Cruiser

Cruisers are a class of warship. Modern cruisers are often the third-largest ships in a fleet, following aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and are typically capable of performing many functions.

The meaning of the term cruiser, which has been in use for several centuries, has evolved over time. During the Age of Sail, cruising referred to particular types of missions—independent reconnaissance, trade protection, or raiding—performed by frigates or sloops-of-war, which served as a fleet's cruising warships.

Midway through the 19th century, cruiser became a classification for ships designed for long-distance voyaging, commerce raiding, and reconnaissance for the battle fleet. Cruisers were in a variety of sizes, from medium-sized protected cruisers to enormous armored cruisers that were nearly as large as a pre-dreadnought battleship (albeit not as powerful or as well-armored). With the introduction of the dreadnought battleship before to World War I, the armored cruiser evolved into the battlecruiser, a vessel of comparable size. The enormously massive battlecruisers that succeeded armored cruisers during World War I were now categorized alongside dreadnought battleships as capital ships.

After World War I, the direct successors to protected cruisers could be placed on a consistent scale of warship size, less than a battleship but larger than a destroyer, by the turn of the 20th century. The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 defined cruisers as warships with a maximum displacement of 10,000 tons and a maximum caliber of 8 inches for their guns. The London Naval Treaty of 1930 established a distinction between heavy and light cruisers, with heavy cruisers having 6.1-to-8-inch guns and light cruisers having 6.1-inch guns or less. Each type was limited in total and individual tonnage, which influenced the construction of cruisers until the treaty system collapsed shortly prior to the outbreak of World War II. The German Deutschland-class pocket battleships, which possessed stronger weaponry at the expense of speed compared to conventional heavy cruisers, and the American Alaska class, which was a scaled-up heavy cruiser design labeled as a cruiser-killer, were variations on the Treaty cruiser concept.

In the latter part of the 20th century, the battleship's obsolescence made the cruiser the largest and most powerful surface combatant ship (aircraft carriers not being considered surface combatants, as their attack capability comes from their air wings rather than on-board weapons). The cruiser's function varied per ship and navy, but typically included air defense and shore bombardment. During the Cold War, Soviet cruisers were equipped with anti-ship missiles designed to sink NATO carrier task forces by saturation attacks. The U.S. Navy constructed guided-missile cruisers with destroyer-style hulls (some were referred to as destroyer leaders or frigates prior to the 1975 reclassification) that were primarily intended to provide air defense while frequently incorporating anti-submarine capabilities, being larger and equipped with longer-range surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) than early Charles F. Adams guided-missile destroyers tasked with short-range air defense. By the end of the Cold War, the distinction between cruisers and destroyers had blurred, with the Ticonderoga-class cruiser adopting the hull of the Spruance-class destroyer but being designated as a cruiser because of its improved mission and combat systems.

As of 2023, only the United States, Russia, and Italy operate active service vessels formally classified as cruisers. With the exception of the aircraft cruisers Admiral Kuznetsov and Giuseppe Garibaldi, these cruisers are mostly equipped with guided missiles. Until 2017, the BAP Almirante Grau was the last gun cruiser in service with the Peruvian Navy.

However, additional classes besides those listed above may also be termed cruisers due to varying categorization schemes. The US/NATO system includes the Chinese Type 055

The terms cruiser and cruizer are synonymous. During the 18th century, the frigate emerged as the preeminent cruiser class. A frigate was a small, quick, long-range, lightly armed (one gun-deck) ship used for scouting, transporting dispatches, and interfering with enemy trade. The sloop was the other primary form of cruiser, though numerous other ship types were also in use.

In the 19th century, naval fleets began to be powered by steam. In the 1840s, experimental steam-powered frigates and sloops were constructed. By the middle of the 1850s, both the British and American navies were constructing steam frigates with extremely long hulls and massive gun armament, such as the USS Merrimack and the Mersey.

Beginning with the Belliqueuse, which was commissioned in 1865, the French produced a number of smaller ironclads for overseas cruise. These station ironclads paved the way for the construction of armored cruisers, a sort of ironclad designed for the conventional cruiser objectives of swift, autonomous raiding and patrolling.

The Russian General-Admiral, constructed in 1874, was the first fully armored cruiser, followed by the British Shannon a few years later.

Prior to the 1890s, armored cruisers were constructed with masts for a complete sailing rig, allowing them to operate far from friendly coaling ports.

Unarmored cruise warfare vessels, constructed with wood, iron, or a combination of steel and other materials, remained popular until the late nineteenth century.

Ironclads' armor frequently limited their steam range to a short distance, Moreover, numerous ironclads were unsuitable for long-distance missions or service in remote colonies.

Typically a screw sloop or screw frigate, the unarmored cruiser might remain in this duty.

Even though warships of the mid- to late-19th century often mounted modern weapons shooting explosive shells, They were unable of combating ironclads.

This was seen during the conflict between HMS Shah, A cutting-edge British cruiser, and the Peruvian monitor Huáscar.

Despite the fact that the Peruvian ship was obsolete at the time of the encounter, It withstood around 50 hits from British shells with flying colors.

In the 1880s, naval engineers began using steel as a building and armament material. A cruiser made from steel could be lighter and faster than one made from iron or wood. According to the Jeune Ecole school of naval theory, a fleet of swift, unprotected steel cruisers is excellent for commerce raiding, while a torpedo boat may destroy an enemy battleship fleet.

Steel also provided the cruiser with the necessary defense to survive in combat. Steel armor was far stronger per unit of weight than iron armor. By installing a relatively thin coating of steel armor over the ship's key components and positioning the coal bunkers where they could deflect shellfire, a useful level of protection could be accomplished without significantly slowing the ship down. Protected cruisers