ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief examination of a number of battles, campaigns and wars, focusing in particular on the period from 1815 to 1945. The history of naval warfare after the Napoleonic Wars provides a useful reminder that when judging the importance of naval battles, size does not matter. It is much more useful to examine the significance of the battle than it is to count the number of ships involved. Naval warfare is and always has been about much more than ships fighting other ships at sea. The war between Russia and Japan began with a Japanese torpedo attack on the Russian Pacific Squadron off Port Arthur on 8 February 1904 before any formal declaration of war. Julian Corbett was engaged by the Royal Navy to write a classified official history of the war and he used that and his public works to emphasise the importance of successful Japanese joint cooperation.
