Naval Assault Tactics

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Throughout the history of Naval warfare many empires, nations, and provinces have been determined to invade one another in order to expand their resources and reign of power. The most effective and quickest method was amphibious assault on enemy shores. This plan also eliminated the need of attacking a heavily protected docking port just to send troops to attack the enemy. However throughout history the tactics and technology used has advanced to an almost guaranteed invasion of the coastline. In ancient times, the main powers that first used amphibious assaults were the Greeks and Persians. Both powers used galley’s in order to land on enemy beaches. Now fast forward to the 1700’s and 1800’s, America and many European nations evolved…show more content…
By this time the invention of cannons and rifles were the primary source of naval warfare. However the new ships that were developed allowed an increase carrying capacity for troops, supplies, and amphibious assault vehicles. These amphibious assault vehicles were known as life rafts or life boats. Depending on the size of the raft/boat, 10 to 20 sailors could row ashore and perform their invasion. For example during the American Revolutionary War, America decided to cut off British supplies during the battle of Nassau. Hopkins, the commanding officer of the main attack force, and his reinforcements descended on the fort of Nassau with the primary objective to retrieve supplies for Washington's assault on Boston. Hopkins and his allies sat off the coast of the fort and bombarded it with heavy cannon fire, while life rafts/boats filled with Marines and sailors rowed towards the fort to sweep up and clear the rest of the shore and the fort (About Education, American Revolution: Battle of Nassau). This allowed for a safe opportunity for the supply ships to sail in and to execute their given orders. This tactic of having a target bombed or fired upon while amphibious assault vehicles sailed in under cover fire became the main tactic used for amphibious invasion. Another battle that used the same tactic was the invasion of North Holland. This invasion was executed by…show more content…
During WW2, America came up with the plan to invade France to push back German lines in hopes of ending the war sooner. This plan became known as Operation Overlord. The grand plan was to use naval and aviation firepower to bombard the coastline as to weaken enemy bunkers and strongholds. While the coast was being bombed, over 100,000 men and nearly 13,000 vehicles were were being transported from the naval supply ships to the coast via amphibious assault landings (History Learning Site, Operation Overlord). The most common vehicle used during this assault was the DUKW, which allowed the men to dropped off at the beach and to be transported on land as well. This vehicle used a new tactic, which provided the men inside more cover from on coming fire, allowing for more men to be used in the assault. This tactic of having coastal bombardment from the sea and air and utilizing more protective amphibious assault vehicles has allowed for the most successful amphibious assaults in modern times

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