List of naval battles

This list of naval battles is a chronological list delineating important naval fleet battles.

Note
If a battle's name isn't known it's just referred to as "Action of (date)".

Ancient

Year Battle
1210 BC Hittites defeat Cypriots near Cyprus
c.1190 BC Battle of the Delta Ramses III defeats the "Sea Peoples" in the Nile delta
664 BC Corinth battles Corfu
c.535 BC
to 540 BC 		Alalia Carthaginians and Etruscans defeat Greeks near Alalia (now Aléria), Corsica
497 BC Ionians defeat Phoenicians near Cyprus
494 BC Lade Persians defeat Ionians
480 BC Artemisium Persians defeat Greeks
Salamis The Athenian navy defeats Persians
474 BC Cumae Syracuse and Cumae defeat Etruscans
460s BC Eurymedon Delian League defeats Persians
450s BC Salamis (in Cyprus) Delian League defeats Phoenicians and Cilicians
433 BC Sybota Corcyra and Athens defeat Corinthians
429 BC Battles of Naupactus Athenians defeat Spartans and Corinthians
425 BC Pylos Athenians defeat Spartans
413 BC Syracuse Syracusans defeat Athenians
411 BC Cynossema Athenians defeat Spartans
Eretria Spartans defeat Athenians during September
410 BC Cyzicus Athenians defeat Spartans and Peloponnesians
406 BC Arginusae Athenians defeat Peloponnesians
405 BC Aegospotami Spartans destroy the Athenian navy
394 BC Cnidus Persians defeat Spartans
383/4 BC Pharos Syracusans defeat Liburnians
376 BC Naxos Athenians defeat Spartans
357 BC Chios defeats an Athenian fleet during the Social War
306 BC Salamis (in Cyprus) Demetrius I Poliorcetes defeats the fleet of Menelaeus, brother of Ptolemy I of Egypt
276 BC Battle of the Strait of Messina Carthaginians defeat the fleet of Pyrrhus of Epirus
260 BC Lipara Islands Carthaginians defeat Romans
Battle of Mylae Romans under Duilius defeat Carthaginians near Sicily
258 BC Cos Antigonus II Gonatas defeats Ptolemy II
Sulci Romans under Gaius Sulpicius Paterculus defeat Carthaginians under Hannibal Gisco
257 BC Tyndaris Romans under Gaius Atilius Regulus defeat Carthaginians under Hamilcar
256 BC Cape Ecnomus Romans defeat Carthaginians
249 BC Drepana Carthaginians defeat Romans
229 BC Paxos Illyrians conquer island of Corcyra
245/246 BC Ancient Macedonians defeat Egyptians at Andros
10 March 241 BC Aegates Islands Roman victory over the Carthaginians, ending the First Punic War
218 BC Lilybaeum Romans under Amellius defeat Carthaginians near Lilybaeum, Sicily
217 BC Ebro River Romans under Cornelius Scipio defeat Carthaginians near the mouth of the Ebro River (Spain)
206 BC Carteia Romans under Gaius Laelius defeat Carthaginians under Adherbal
201 BC Chios Philip V of Macedon defeated by the Egyptians, Rhodians, and Pergamese
2nd Battle of Lade Philip V of Macedon defeats Rhodians under Cleonaeus
190 BC Eurymedon Roman forces under Lucius Aemilius Regillus defeat a Seleucid fleet commanded by Hannibal
Myonessus Romans under Regillus and Rhodians under Eudoras defeat Seleucids under Polyxenidas
147 BC Port of Carthage Carthaginians under Hasdrubal defeat the Roman fleet of Lucius Hostilius Mancinus
74 BC Chalcedon Pontians under Mithridates VI defeat the Roman fleet of Marcus Aurelius Cotta
73 BC Tenedos Romans under Lucius Licinius Lucullus defeat a Pontian fleet
67 BC Korakesion Romans under Pompey defeat pirates from Cilicia
56 BC Morbihan Romans under Decius Brutus defeat Veneti near Armorica
49 BC Ile du Levant Romans under Decius Brutus defeat [ ]
Romans under Decius Brutus defeat [ ] at Tauroentum
42 BC The Republican fleet intercepts and destroys reinforcements of the triumvirs led by Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus
3 September 36 BC Naulochus Agrippa defeats Sextus Pompeius
2 September 31 BC Actium Octavian decisively defeats Antony and Cleopatra
70 Rome vs Batavi in the Maas
199 Shaxian Wu forces under Sun Ce defeat Liu Biao and Huang Zu
208 Red Cliffs Combined forces of Liu Bei and Sun Quan defeat fleet under Cao Cao
221 Yiling Sun Quan defeats the fleet under Liu Bei and successfully defends Jingzhou
222 Dongkou Eastern Wu general Lü Fan manages to defeat Cao Xiu
272 Xiling Lu Kang defeats Jin general Bu Chan and retakes Xiling

Middle Ages

12th century

13th century

14th century

15th century

16th century

Northern Seven Years War (1563-70)

Year Date Battle
1563 Action of 30 May Swedes capture three Danes before war is declared.
Action of 11 September Inconclusive [skirmish?] between Danes/Lübeckers and Swedes.
1564 Action of 30 May Swedes under Bagge [clash with?] Danes/Lübeckers under Trolle.
Action of 12 July A Swedish captain blows up his ship after a Danish attack.
Action of 12 August Swedes under Klas Horn defeat Danes under Herluf Trolle, southeast of Öland.
1565 Action of 4 June An indecisive battle between Danes/Lübeckers and Swedes near Buchow.
Action of 7 July Swedes defeat Danes/Lübeckers between Bornholm and Rügen.
1566 Action of 26 July Swedes defeat Danes/Lübeckers between Öland and Gotland.
1568 Swedish fleet captures several Polish corsairs and drives off remainder.[2]

Later 16th century

Early 17th century

Danish-Swedish War (1643-45)

Cretan War (1645-69)

Anglo-Dutch Wars (1652-74)

Later 17th century

Great Northern War (1700-21)

Early 18th century

War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48)

Seven Years War (1756-63)

Russo-Turkish War (1768-74)

American War of Independence (1776-83)

Russo-Turkish War (1787-92)

Russo-Swedish War (1788-90)

The Russian calendar was eleven days behind the Swedish during the 18th century, so Russian dates are eleven days earlier.

French Revolutionary War (1793-1802)

Napoleonic Wars (1803-15)

Independence wars

War of 1812

Greek War of Independence

Cisplatine War

Later 19th century

Early 20th century

World War I (1914-18)

Year Date Battle Notes
1914–1918 First Battle of the Atlantic
1914 August 28 Battle of Heligoland Bight
November 1 Battle of Coronel German cruisers under von Spee defeat a British cruiser force off the coast of Chile; German victory
November 9 Battle of Cocos HMAS Sydney intercepts and forces the beaching of SMS Emden; Australian victory
December 8 Battle of the Falkland Islands British battlecruiser force virtually wipes out von Spee's squadron.
1915 January 24 Battle of Dogger Bank Blucher sunk by British battlecruisers in the North Sea.
February 19 Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign Mainly carried out by the Royal Navy with substantial support from the French and minor contributions from Russia and Australia against Ottoman Empire and ended with Turkish victory
July 2 Russian raid on Gotland Russian cruiser squadron intercepts German cruiser force laying mines off the Åland Islands. German mine-laying cruiser Albatross sunk and cruisers Roon and Prince Adalbert damaged.
1916 May 31 – June 1 Battle of Jutland A two-day engagement between the main British and German fleets, the only such engagement during World War I.
1917 April 21 Battle of Dover Strait Destroyer battle.
15 May Raid on the Otranto Barrage
17 October Battle of Moon Sound German and Russian forces clash in the Baltic Sea.
November 17 Second Battle of Heligoland Bight
1918 January 20 Battle of Imbros Ottomans and British fight off Imbros in the Aegean.

Between the World Wars (1919-1939)

World War II (1939–1945)

Later 20th century

21st century

See also

References

  1. ↑ Jean-Claude Castex, Dictionnaire des batailles navales franco-anglaises, Presses de l'Université Laval, 2004, p.21
  2. ↑ Unconfirmed.
  3. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20091026141054/http://geocities.com/Athens/Agora/8088/BrazilCivilWar93.html
  4. ↑ Operation Dwarka
  5. ↑ Assault on the Liberty: The True Story of the Israeli Attack on an American Intelligence Ship], by James M. Ennes, Jr. (ISBN 0-9723116-0-2) page 67

External links