Sea Power: Battleships Through the Ages

In ancient times, the civilisations that grew up around the Mediterranean were the most important of their age. From Egypt to Rome, it was Mediterranean nations who led the Western world with warfare at the centre of their existence, especially Naval warfare. This is the story of those distant days — the days of the first sea power.

English pirate adventurers such as Sir Francis Drake and John Hawkins, preyed upon the vital bullion convoys en-route to Spain from the new world, disrupting Spanish trade. These men precipitated the conflict between England and Spain, which was to produce one of the most famous engagements in naval history — the defeat of the Spanish Armada and the rise of the Tudor and Elizabethan navies.

In the early nineteenth century, the armies of Napoleon Bonaparte reigned supreme over most of Europe. Only Britain stood between Napoleon and absolute mastery. However, Napoleon knew that before he could invade Britain, he first had to defeat the Royal Navy and its legendary stout, oak ships.

The mechanized processes of the Industrial Revolution produced ships with impenetrable iron armor and with the launch of the Warrior in 1860, the age of the Ironclads began.

One of the best ways to attack an enemy ship would be from beneath, leading to the building of one of the most significant weapons of WWII: the German U-boat.

In February 1944, this Micronesian paradise of the Truk Lagoon was visited by the full force of a United States air attack on the occupying Japanese forces. Until the Japanese surrendered on September 2, 1945, it was the scene of one of the bloodiest engagements ever seen at sea.