TABLE OF CONTENT

TITLE

PAGE

Introduction

2-4

Main Content (Naval Vessel

Classification)
i)
Aircraft Carrier

ii)

Cruiser

iii)

Destroyer

iv)

Frigate

v)

Submarine

vi)

Mine sweepers

10

Other Type Of Navy Vessels

i)
Amphibious Assault Ship
ii)

PT Boat

11
12

Conclusion
Reference

13
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INTRODUCTION
Naval warfare developed when humans first fought from water-borne vessels. Prior to the
introduction of the cannon and ships with sufficient capacity to carry the large guns, navy
warfare primarily involved ramming and boarding actions. In the time of ancient Greece and
the Roman Empire, naval warfare centred on long, narrow vessels powered by banks of
oarsmen designed to ram and sink enemy vessels or come alongside the enemy vessel so its
occupants could be attacked hand-to-hand. Naval warfare continued in this vein through the
Middle Ages until the cannon became commonplace and capable of being reloaded quickly
enough to be reused in the same battle.
In ancient China, large naval battles were known since the Qin Dynasty (also see Battle of
Red Cliffs, 208), employing the war junk during the Han Dynasty. However, China's first
official standing navy was not established until the Southern Song Dynasty in the 12th
century, a time when gunpowder was a revolutionary new application to warfare.
The mass and deck space required to carry a large number of cannon made oar-based
propulsion impossible and ships came to rely primarily on sails. Warships were designed to
carry increasing numbers of cannon and naval tactics evolved to bring a ship's firepower to
bear in a broadside, with ships-of-the-line arranged in a line of battle.
The development of large capacity, sail-powered ships carrying cannon led to a rapid
expansion of European navies, especially the Spanish and Portuguese navies which
dominated in the 16th and early 17th centuries, and helped propel the age of exploration and
colonialism. The repulsion of the Spanish Armada (1588) by the English fleet revolutionized
naval warfare by the success of a guns-only strategy and caused a major overhaul of the
Spanish Navy, partly along English lines, which resulted in even greater dominance by the
Spanish. From the beginning of the 17th century the Dutch cannibalized the Portuguese
Empire in the East and, with the immense wealth gained, challenged Spanish hegemony at
sea. From the 1620s, Dutch raiders seriously troubled Spanish shipping and, after a number
of battles which went both ways, the Dutch Navy finally broke the long dominance of the
Spanish Navy in the Battle of the Downs (1639).

The next stage in the evolution of naval warfare was the introduction of metal plating along
the hull sides. The increased mass required steam-powered engines, resulting in an arms race
between armor and weapon thickness and firepower. The first armored vessels, the French
Gloire and British HMS Warrior, made wooden vessels obsolete. Another significant
improvement came with the invention of the rotating turrets, which allowed the guns to be
aimed independently of ship movement. The battle between the CSS Virginia and the USS
Monitor during the American Civil War (18611865) is often cited as the beginning of this
age of maritime conflict. The Russian Navy was considered the third strongest in the world
on the eve of the Russo-Japanese War, which turned to be a catastrophe for the Russian
military in general and the Russian Navy in particular. Although neither party lacked courage,
the Russians were defeated by the Japanese in the Battle of Port Arthur, which was the first
time in warfare that mines were used for offensive purposes. The warships of the Baltic Fleet
sent to the Far East were lost in the Battle of Tsushima. A further step change in naval
firepower occurred when the United Kingdom launched HMS Dreadnought (1906), but naval
tactics still emphasized the line of battle.
The first practical military submarines were developed in the late 19th century and by the end
of World War I had proven to be a powerful arm of naval warfare. During World War II, Nazi
Germany's submarine fleet of U-boats almost starved the United Kingdom into submission
and inflicted tremendous losses on U.S. coastal shipping. The German battleship Tirpitz, a
sister ship of the Bismarck, was almost put out of action by miniature submarines known as
X-Craft. The X-Craft severely damaged her and kept her in port for some months.
A major paradigm shift in naval warfare occurred with the introduction of the aircraft carrier.
First at Taranto in 1940 and then at Pearl Harbor in 1941, the carrier demonstrated its ability
to strike decisively at enemy ships out of sight and range of surface vessels. The Battle of
Leyte Gulf (1944) was arguably the largest naval battle in history; it was also the last battle in
which battleships played a significant role. By the end of World War II, the carrier had
become the dominant force of naval warfare.
World War II also saw the United States become by far the largest Naval power in the world.
In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the United States Navy possessed over 70% of the
world's total numbers and total tonnage of naval vessels of 1,000 tons or greater. Throughout
the rest of the 20th century, the United States Navy would maintain a tonnage greater than
that of the next 17 largest navies combined. During the Cold War, the Soviet Navy became a
3

significant armed force, with large numbers of large, heavily armed ballistic missile
submarines and extensive use of heavy, long-ranged antisurface missiles to counter the
numerous United States carrier battle groups. Only 3 nations (United States, France, and
Brazil) presently operate CATOBAR carriers of any size, while Russia, China and India
operate sizeable STOBAR carriers (although all three are originally of Russian design). The
UK is also currently constructing two Queen Elizabeth class carriers, which will be the
largest STOVL vessels in service, and India is currently building one Vikrant-class aircraft
carrier and considering another. France is also looking at a new carrier, probably using a
CATOBAR system and possibly based on the British Queen Elizabeth design.

NAVAL VESSEL
A naval vessel or ship is a ship used by a navy. Naval ships are differentiated from civilian
ships by colour, construction and purpose. Generally, naval ships are damage resilient and
armed with weapon systems, though armament on troop transports is light or non-existent.
Naval ships designed primarily for naval warfare are termed warships, as opposed to support
auxiliary ships or shipyard operations. About 70% of the earth covered by the ocean. This is
mean that the country are extremely vulnerable. All the country in the world have their own
vessel to defend the coast of their state by the ocean. In other terms, whoever can controlled
the ocean, he can conquer the world.
Naval vessel is a pride of a country. So the bigger the ship and their destroyer it can be a very
big impact to a country to afraid of. Naval vessel has a various type of classification. Among
them are aircraft carrier, surface combatant, amphibious warfare and also submarine.

MAIN CONTENTS
NAVAL VESSEL CLASSIFICATION
i)

Aircraft Carriers

An aircraft carrier is a warship with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying,
arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft, that serves as a seagoing airbase. Typically, it is
the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a naval force to project air power worldwide without
depending on local bases for staging aircraft operations. It is extremely expensive to build
and important to protect. Aircraft carriers have evolved from converted cruisers to nuclearpowered warships that carry numerous fighter planes, strike aircraft, helicopters, and other
types of aircraft.
The Nimitz Class aircraft carriers are the largest warships ever built. With over 6,000
personnel (crew and aircrew), the carrier has a displacement of 102,000t, and a flight deck
length of 332.9m. About 130 aircraft and chopper can be fixed in. All nine nuclear-powered
Nimitz Class carriers have been built by Newport News Shipbuilding (now Northrop
Grumman Ship Systems), based in Virginia.
Tasked with a multi-mission attack / ASW role, the first of class, USS Nimitz, was
commissioned in 1975. The last of the class, USS George HW Bush (CVN 77), was
commissioned in January 2009.
CTOL (Conventional Take Off and Landing) aircraft carriers usually needs catapults, driven
by steam power to allow the aircraft to take off and an angled deck with brake-cables to
recover the landing aircraft.

ii)

Cruiser

A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundred years, and has
had different meanings throughout this period. During the Age of Sail, the term cruising
referred to certain kinds of missions independent scouting, raiding or commerce protection
fulfilled by a frigate or sloop, which were the cruising warships of a fleet.
By the early 20th century, cruisers could be placed on a consistent scale of warship size,
smaller than a battleship but larger than a destroyer. In 1922, the Washington Naval Treaty
placed a formal limit on cruisers, which were defined as warships of up to 10,000 tons
displacement carrying guns no larger than 8 inches in calibre. These limits shaped cruisers up
until the end of World War II. The very large battlecruisers of the World War I era were now
classified, along with battleships, as capital ships.
In the later 20th century, the obsolescence of the battleship left the cruiser as the largest and
most powerful surface combatant. The role of the cruiser varied according to ship and navy,
often including air defense, commerce raiding and shore bombardment. The U.S. Navy in the
Cold War period built guided-missile cruisers primarily designed to provide air defense,
while the navy of the USSR built battlecruisers with heavy anti-ship missiles designed to sink
NATO carrier task forces.

iii)

Destroyer

A destroyer is a fast maneuverable long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels

in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller powerful short-range
attackers.
In the US Navy, fleet destroyers operate in support of carrier battle groups, surface action
groups, amphibious groups and replenishment groups. The destroyers currently in use by the
US Navy are the Arleigh Burke class. Destroyers (with a DD hull classification symbol)
primarily perform anti-submarine warfare duty while guided missile destroyers (DDGs) are
multi-mission (anti-submarine, anti-aircraft and anti-surface warfare) surface combatants,
with an emphasis on anti-surface warfare.
The addition of cruise missile launchers has greatly expanded the role of the destroyer in
strike and land-attack warfare. As the expense of heavier surface combatants has generally
removed them from the fleet, destroyer tonnage has grown (a modern Arleigh Burke-class
destroyer has the same tonnage as a World War II light cruiser). Many modern destroyer
designs delegate their anti-submarine role to embarked helicopters, which in addition to antisubmarine warfare can also be used for maritime rescue and vertical replenishment.
In October 2013 the first of three U.S. Zumwalt-class class of destroyers left dry dock, the
destroyer built with specific structural angles and a superstructure wrapped in a carbon fiber
composite canopy to reduce its radar detectability by a factor of 50. The ship, with 80
missiles and a crew of 150, will include two Advanced Gun Systems (AGS) that can fire
rocket-powered, computer-guided shells to destroy targets 63 miles away.

iv)

Frigate

Frigates are very versatile warships. They are suitable for air defence, anti-submarines
warfare and surface warfare. They have a wide array of sensors, communication devices and
large numbers of sonars. There are several different weapon systems on board which are
controlled from the command room and can follow and attack a target fully automatically.
Frigates are often equipped with a helicopter landing platform. The ships have a length of
about 130 metres and a crew 0f 150. The vessels are lightweight, highly manoeuravable ships
with a large propulsion power divided over two engines rooms. At a speed of 30 knots they
can come to a complete stop within 1.5 ship lengths.
In modern navies, frigates are used to protect other warships and merchant-marine ships,
especially as anti-submarine warfare (ASW) combatants for amphibious expeditionary forces,
underway replenishment groups, and merchant convoys. Ship classes dubbed "frigates" have
also more closely resembled corvettes, destroyers, cruisers and even battleships. The rank
"frigate captain" derives from the name of this type of ship.

v)

Submarines

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a

submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term most commonly refers
to a large, crewed, autonomous vessel. It is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to
refer to remotely operated vehicles and robots, as well as medium-sized or smaller vessels,
such as the midget submarine and the wet sub.
Most large submarines consist of a cylindrical body with hemispherical ends and a vertical
structure, usually located amidships, which houses communications and sensing devices as
well as periscopes. In modern submarines, this structure is the "sail" in American usage, and
"fin" in European usage. A "conning tower" was a feature of earlier designs: a separate
pressure hull above the main body of the boat that allowed the use of shorter periscopes.
There is a propeller (or pump jet) at the rear, and various hydrodynamic control fins. Smaller,
deep diving and specialty submarines may deviate significantly from this traditional layout.
Submarines change the amount of water and air in their ballast tanks to decrease buoyancy
for submerging or increase it for surfacing.
Submarines have one of the widest ranges of types and capabilities of any vessel. They range
from small autonomous examples and one or two-person vessels that operate for a few hours,
to vessels that can remain submerged for six months such as the Russian Typhoon class, the
biggest submarines ever built. Submarines can work at greater depths than are survivable or
practical for human divers. Modern deep-diving submarines derive from the bathyscaphe,
which in turn evolved from the diving bell.
Types of submarine including Ballistic Missile Nuclear Submarine (SSBN), Nuclear-powered
Attack Submarine (SSN) and General Purpose Diesel Electric Submarine (SSK-SSC).

vi)

Mine Sweepers

Mine Counter Measure Vessels (MCMV) is any vessel that is designed to locate and destroy
mines and keep waterways clear for shipping. Minesweeping made significant advancements
during World War II. Combatant nations quickly adapted ships to the task of minesweeping,
including Australia's 35 civilian ships that became Auxiliary Minesweepers. Both Allied and
Axis countries made heavy use of minesweepers throughout the war. Historian Gordon
Williamson wrote that "Germany's minesweepers alone formed a massive proportion of its
total strength, and are very much the unsung heroes of the Kriegsmarine." Naval mines
remained a threat even after the war ended, and minesweeping crews were still active after VJ
Day. After the Second World War, allied countries worked on new classes of minesweepers
ranging from 120-ton designs for clearing estuaries to 735-ton oceangoing vessels. The
United States Navy even used specialized Mechanized Landing Craft to sweep shallow
harbors in and around North Korea.
Minesweepers are equipped with mechanical or electrical devices known as "sweeps", for
disabling mines. The modern minesweeper is designed to reduce the chances of it detonating
mines itself. It is soundproofed to reduce its acoustic signature and often constructed using
wood, fiberglass or non-ferrous metal or is degaussed to reduce its magnetic signature.
There are two modes of operating an influence sweep: MSM (mine setting mode) and TSM
(target simulation mode or target setting mode). MSM sweeping is founded on intelligence on
a given type of mine, and produces the output required for detonation of this mine. If such
intelligence is unavailable, the TSM sweeping instead reproduces the influence of the friendly
ship that is about to transit through the area. TSM sweeping thus clears mines directed at this
ship without knowledge of the mines. However, mines directed at other ships might remain.
OTHER TYPES OF NAVY VESSEL
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i)

Amphibious Assault Ship

An amphibious assault ship also referred to as a commando carrier or an amphibious assault

carrier is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on
enemy territory by an amphibious assault. The design evolved from aircraft carriers converted
for use as helicopter carriers, but includes support for amphibious landing craft with most
designs including a well deck. Coming full circle, some amphibious assault ships now have a
secondary role as aircraft carriers.
The role of the amphibious assault ship is fundamentally different from a standard aircraft
carrier. Its aviation facilities have the primary role of hosting helicopters to support forces
ashore rather than to support strike aircraft. However, some are capable of serving in the seacontrol role, embarking aircraft like Harrier fighters for CAP and ASW helicopters or
operating as a safe base for large numbers of STOVL fighters conducting air support for the
MEU once it has gone ashore. Most of these ships can also carry or support landing craft,
such as air-cushioned landing craft (hovercraft) or LCUs.
The largest fleet of these types is operated by the United States Navy, including the Tarawaclass dating back to the 1970s and the larger Wasp-class ships that debuted in 1989.
Amphibious assault ships are also operated by the British Royal Navy, the Chinese Navy, the
French Navy, the Italian Navy, the Republic of Korea Navy, the Spanish Navy, and the Royal
Australian Navy.

ii)

PT boat
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PT boats were a variety of torpedo-armed fast attack craft used by the United States Navy in
World War II to attack larger surface ships. "PT" is the US hull classification symbol for
"Patrol Torpedo". The PT boat squadrons were nicknamed "the mosquito fleet". The Japanese
called them "devil boats".
The original preWorld War I torpedo boats were designed with "displacement" hulls. They
displaced up to 300 tons and the top speed was 25 to 27 kn (29 to 31 mph; 46 to 50 km/h).
The PT boats used in World War II were built using the planing-type hull form developed for
racing boats. They were much smaller (3075 tons) and faster (35 to 40 kn (40 to 46 mph; 65
to 74 km/h)). Both types were designed to strike at larger warships with torpedoes, using
relatively high speed to get close, and small size to avoid being spotted and hit by gunfire.
They were much less expensive than large warships. PT boats were much faster, smaller, and
cheaper than conventional vessels.
The primary anti-ship armament was two to four Mark 8 torpedoes, which each weighed
2,600 pounds (1,179 kg) and contained a 466-pound (211 kg) TNT warhead. These torpedoes
were launched by Mark 18 21-inch (530 mm) steel torpedo tubes. Mark 8 torpedoes had a
range of 16,000 yards (14,630 m) at 36 knots (41 mph). Common to all US PT boats were
two twin M2 .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns. Another automatic weapon commonly
mounted on PT boats was the Oerlikon 20 mm cannon. All U.S. PT boats were powered by
three 12-cylinder gasoline-fueled engines running on high octane aviation gasoline (AvGas).
These engines were built by the Packard Motor Car Company, and were a modified design of
the 3A-2500 V-12 liquid-cooled aircraft engine.

CONCLUSION
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The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) supports implementation
of the National Security Strategy, provides legal certainty in the world's largest maneuver
space, and preserves essential navigation and overflight rights. One hundred and sixty nations
and the European Union are Party to the Convention but not the United States, the world's
leading maritime nation.
Becoming a Party to the Law of the Sea Convention would help to ensure the Navy's ability
to move forces on, over, and under the world's oceans, whenever and wherever needed, and is
an important asset in the Global War on Terrorism.
The Convention is in the national interest of the United States because it establishes stable
maritime zones, including a maximum outer limit for territorial seas; codifies innocent
passage, transit passage, and archipelagic sea lanes passage rights; works against
"jurisdictional creep" by preventing coastal nations from expanding their own maritime
zones; and reaffirms sovereign immunity of warships, auxiliaries and government aircraft.
Every country need to defend their coastline from its enemy. Therefore, they must have a
better assets to serve the country by sea, air and land. In conclusion, we can see that whoever
can control the sea he might be able to conquer the world. It is because 71% of the earth
covered by sea and this means any assets that are most lethal owned by a country can rule the
world.
Any country in the world will not let their territorial sea to trespassers. The era begins with
the building and construction of a ships or vessel for the purpose of defend their country. The
building and construction of a warship might be different from passanger ship. It is because
the ships carried weapons that used to destroy and kill. The bigger the warship the bigger the
chances to win the war.

REFERENCE
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 Arnd Bernaerts1982 United Nations Convention On The Law Of the Sea, second

edition, 1994.
K. Van Dokkum, Ship Knowledge : A Modern Encyclopedia, 2003.
http://www.unitedstatesnavy.com
http://www.jag.navy.mil/organization/code_10_law_of_the_sea.htm
http://usmarinecorps.com
http://www.sealswcc.com/seal-default.html

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