ABSTRACT

War at sea is an integral part of war as a whole. It has never taken place alone but has been conducted in conjunction with war on land and, in the modern era, with war in the air. The objectives of naval warfare have been and continue to be an integral part of war’s objectives. These, in turn, are accomplished by the employment of all the services of a country’s armed forces. In contrast to war on land, the objectives in war at sea are usually physical in character. The principal strategic or operational objective for a stronger side is to obtain sea control in the whole theater or a major part of it, while the weaker side tries to obtain sea denial. Normally, a relatively strong but initially weaker side at sea aims to ultimately obtain sea control for itself. When operating in an enclosed sea theater, a blue-water navy would aim to obtain choke-point control, while the weaker side would conduct counter-choke-point control. Another operational objective for both the stronger and weaker sides at sea is to establish, maintain, and, if possible, expand control of their respective basing and deployment areas for their naval forces and aircraft, thereby creating prerequisites for planning, preparing, and executing major operations. Navies are also for accomplishing diverse objectives in low-intensity conflict and operations short of war. These objectives might range from sea control or sea denial in support of an insurgency or counterinsurgency, to the enforcement of a ceasefire and arms embargoes in peace operations.