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Maritime history is the study of human interaction with and activity at sea. It covers a broad thematic element of
history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
that often uses a global approach, although national and regional histories remain predominant. As an academic subject, it often crosses the boundaries of standard
discipline Discipline refers to rule following behavior, to regulate, order, control and authority. It may also refer to punishment. Discipline is used to create habits, routines, and automatic mechanisms such as blind obedience. It may be inflicted on ot ...
s, focusing on understanding humankind's various relationships to the oceans,
sea The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...
s, and major
waterway A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary ...
s of the globe. Nautical history records and interprets past events involving ships, shipping, navigation, and seafarers. Maritime history is the broad overarching subject that includes
fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from fish stocking, stocked bodies of water such as fish pond, ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. ...
,
whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industr ...
, international maritime law, naval history, the history of
ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...
s, ship design,
shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to bef ...
, the history of
navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation ...
, the history of the various maritime-related sciences (
oceanography Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynami ...
,
cartography Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an i ...
,
hydrography Hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the prima ...
, etc.), sea exploration, maritime economics and trade,
shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...
, yachting,
seaside resort A seaside resort is a town, village, or hotel that serves as a vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, such as in the Germa ...
s, the history of
lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses m ...
s and aids to navigation, maritime themes in literature, maritime themes in art, the social history of
sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...
s and passengers and sea-related communities. There are a number of approaches to the field, sometimes divided into two broad categories: Traditionalists, who seek to engage a small audience of other academics, and Utilitarians, who seek to influence policy makers and a wider audience.


Historiography

Historians from many lands have published monographs, popular and scholarly articles, and collections of archival resources. A leading journal is ''International Journal of Maritime History'', a fully refereed scholarly journal published twice a year by the International Maritime Economic History Association. Based in Canada with an international editorial board, it explores the maritime dimensions of economic, social, cultural, and environmental history. For a broad overview, see the four-volume encyclopedia edited by John B. Hattendorf, '' Oxford Encyclopedia of Maritime History'' (Oxford, 2007). It contains over 900 articles by 400 scholars and runs 2900 pages. Other major reference resources are Spencer Tucker, ed., ''Naval Warfare: An International Encyclopedia'' (3 vol. ABC-CLIO, 2002) with 1500 articles in 1231, pages, and I. C. B. Dear and Peter Kemp, eds., ''Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea'' (2nd ed. 2005) with 2600 articles in 688 pages. Typically, studies of merchant shipping and of defensive navies are seen as separate fields. Inland waterways are included within 'maritime history,' especially inland seas such as the
Great Lakes of North America The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...
, and major navigable rivers and canals worldwide. One approach to maritime history writing has been nicknamed 'rivet counting' because of a focus on the minutiae of the vessel. But revisionist scholars are creating new turns in the study of maritime history. This includes a post-1980s turn towards the study of human users of ships (which involves sociology, cultural geography, gender studies and narrative studies); and post-2000 turn towards seeing sea travel as part of the wider history of transport and mobilities. This move is sometimes associated with Marcus Rediker and Black Atlantic studies, but most recently has emerged from the International Association for the History of Transport, Traffic and Mobilities (T2M) :''See also'': Historiography related articles below


Pre-historic times

Watercraft Any vehicle used in or on water as well as underwater, including boats, ships, hovercraft and submarines, is a watercraft, also known as a water vessel or waterborne vessel. A watercraft usually has a propulsive capability (whether by sai ...
such as rafts and
boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on i ...
s have been used far into pre-historic times and possibly even by ''
Homo erectus ''Homo erectus'' (; meaning "upright man") is an extinct species of archaic human from the Pleistocene, with its earliest occurrence about 2 million years ago. Several human species, such as '' H. heidelbergensis'' and '' H. antecessor ...
'' more than a million years ago crossing
strait A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water. The surface water generally flows at the same elevation on both sides and through the strait in either direction. Most commonly, it is a narrow ocean chan ...
s between landmasses. Little evidence remains that would pin point when the first seafarer made their journey, but it is thought to have occurred some ca. 40,000 year ago in Greater Australia. One of the oldest known boats to be found, is the Pesse canoe, and carbon dating has estimated its construction from 8040BC to 7510BC. The Pesse canoe is the oldest physical object that can date the use of watercraft, but the oldest depiction of a watercraft is from Norway. The rock art at Valle, Norway depicts a carving of a more than 4 meter long boat and it is dated to be 10,000 to 11,000 years old.


Ancient times

Throughout history sailing has been instrumental in the development of civilization, affording humanity greater mobility than travel over land, whether for trade, transport or warfare, and the capacity for fishing. The earliest pictorial representation of a sail is from Egypt, dated to circa 3100 BCE.
Austronesians The Austronesian peoples, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples in Taiwan, Maritime Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melanesia, Polynesia, and Madagascar that speak Au ...
developed oceangoing sailing technologies, namely the
catamaran A Formula 16 beachable catamaran Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-sta ...
, the outrigger ship, and the
crab claw sail The crab claw sail is a fore-and-aft triangular sail with spars along upper and lower edges. The crab claw sail was first developed by the Austronesian peoples some time around 1500 BC. It is used in many traditional Austronesian cultures in Isla ...
— but there is no direct archaeological evidence to date these technological advances. It has been deduced that sails were part of this technology some time prior to 2000 BCE. The
Austronesian expansion The Austronesian peoples, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples in Taiwan, Maritime Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melanesia, Polynesia, and Madagascar that speak Au ...
started in Taiwan around 3000 BCE and eventually spread across the Pacific. Prior to the 16th century Colonial Era, Austronesians were the most widespread ethnolinguistic group, spanning half the planet from
Easter Island Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its nearl ...
in the eastern Pacific Ocean to
Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...
in the western
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...
. The
crab claw sail The crab claw sail is a fore-and-aft triangular sail with spars along upper and lower edges. The crab claw sail was first developed by the Austronesian peoples some time around 1500 BC. It is used in many traditional Austronesian cultures in Isla ...
s and tanja sails of the Austronesians from western Island Southeast Asia possibly influenced the development of the Arab lateen sail. The Ancient Egyptians had knowledge of
sail A sail is a tensile structure—which is made from fabric or other membrane materials—that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails ma ...
construction. The Greek historian
Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria (Italy). He is known fo ...
states that
Necho II Necho II (sometimes Nekau, Neku, Nechoh, or Nikuu; Greek: Νεκώς Β'; ) of Egypt was a king of the 26th Dynasty (610–595 BC), which ruled from Sais. Necho undertook a number of construction projects across his kingdom. In his reign, accord ...
sent out an expedition of
Phoenicians Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their his ...
, which in two and a half years sailed from the
Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...
around Africa to the mouth of the
Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest riv ...
. As they sailed south and then west, they observed that the mid-day sun was to the north. Their contemporaries did not believe them, but modern historians take this as evidence that they were south of the equator.


Age of Navigation

By 1000 BC, Austronesians in Island Southeast Asia were already engaging in regular maritime trade with China,
South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...
, and the Middle East, introducing sailing technologies to these regions. They also facilitated an exchange of cultivated crop plants, introducing Pacific coconuts, bananas, and sugarcane to the Indian subcontinent, some of which eventually reached Europe via overland Persian and Arab traders. A Chinese record in 200 AD describes one of the Austronesian ships, called ''kunlun bo'' or ''k'unlun po'' (崑崙舶, lit. "ship of the Kunlun people"). It may also have been the "kolandiaphonta" known by the Greeks. It has 4–7 masts and is able to sail against the wind due to the usage of tanja sails. These ships reached as far as Madagascar by ca. 50–500 AD and
Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...
in the eighth century AD. Northern European
Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
also developed oceangoing vessels and depended heavily upon them for travel and population movements prior to 1000 AD, with the oldest known examples being
longship Longships were a type of specialised Scandinavian warships that have a long history in Scandinavia, with their existence being archaeologically proven and documented from at least the fourth century BC. Originally invented and used by the Nor ...
s dated to around 190 AD from the Nydam Boat site. In early modern India and
Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Pl ...
the lateen-sail ship known as the dhow was used on the waters of the
Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...
, Indian Ocean, and
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...
. China started building sea-going ships in the tenth century during the
Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...
. Chinese seagoing ship is based on Austronesian ship designs which have been trading with the
Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...
since the second century AD. They purportedly reached massive sizes by the
Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fif ...
in the 14th century, and by the
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
, they were used by
Zheng He Zheng He (; 1371–1433 or 1435) was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat, fleet admiral, and court eunuch during China's early Ming dynasty. He was originally born as Ma He in a Muslim family and later adopted the surname Zheng conferr ...
to send expeditions to the Indian Ocean. Water was the cheapest and usually the only way to transport goods in bulk over long distances. In addition, it was the safest way to transport commodities. The long trade routes created popular trading ports called Entrepôts. there were three popular Entrepôts; the Malaka in southwestern Malaya, Hoi An in Vietnam, and Ayuthaya in
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
. These super centers for trade were ethnically diverse, because ports served as a midpoint of voyages and trade instead of a destination. The Entrepôts helped link the coastal cities to the "hempispheric trade nexus". The increase in sea trade initiated a cultural exchange among traders. From 1400 to 1600 the Chinese population doubled from 75 million to 150 million as a result of imported goods, this was known as the "age of commerce". Mechanical engineer Ma Jun (c. 200–265 AD) invented the south-pointing chariot, a wheeled device employing a differential gear that allowed a fixed
figurine A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with clay ...
to point always in the southern
cardinal direction The four cardinal directions, or cardinal points, are the four main compass directions: north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials N, E, S, and W respectively. Relative to north, the directions east, south, and west are ...
. The mariner's astrolabe was the chief tool of
Celestial navigation Celestial navigation, also known as astronavigation, is the practice of position fixing using stars and other celestial bodies that enables a navigator to accurately determine their actual current physical position in space (or on the surface o ...
in early modern maritime history. This scaled down version of the instrument used by astronomers served as a navigational aid to measure latitude at sea, and was employed by Portuguese sailors no later than 1481. The precise date of the discovery of the magnetic needle compass is undetermined, but the earliest attestation of the device for
navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation ...
was in the '' Dream Pool Essays'' by Shen Kuo (1088). Kuo was also the first to document the concept of true north to discern a compass' magnetic declination from the physical
North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Ma ...
. The earliest iterations of the compass consisted of a floating, magnetized lodestone needle that spun around in a water filled bowl until it reached alignment with Earth's magnetic poles. Chinese sailors were using the "wet" compass to determine the southern cardinal direction no later than 1117. The first use of a magnetized needle for seafaring navigation in Europe was written of by Alexander Neckham, circa 1190 AD. Around 1300 AD, the pivot-needle dry-box compass was invented in Europe, its cardinal direction pointed north, similar to the modern-day mariners compass. There was also the addition of the compass-card in Europe, which was later adopted by the Chinese through contact with Japanese pirates in the 16th century. The oldest known map is dated back to 12,000 B.C. and was found in a Spanish cave, and was discovered by Pilar Utrilla. The early maps were oriented with east being at the top. This is believed to have begun in the region of the middle east. Religion played a role in the drawing of maps. Countries that were predominantly Christian during the Middle Ages placed east at the top of the maps in part due to Genesis,"the lord god planted a garden toward the east in Eden". This led to maps containing the image of Jesus Christ, and the garden of Eden at the top of maps. The latitude and longitude coordinate tables were made with the sole purpose of praying towards
Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow v ...
. The next progression of maps came with the Portolan chart. The portolan was the first map that labeled North at the top and was drawn proportionate to size. Landmarks were drawn with great detail.


Ships and vessels

Various ships were in use during the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
. Jong, a type of large sailing ship from Nusantara, was built using wooden dowels without iron nails and multiple planks to endure heavy seas. The ''chuan'' (Chinese Junk ship) design was both innovative and adaptable. Junk vessels employed mat and batten style sails that could be raised and lowered in segments, as well varying angles. The
longship Longships were a type of specialised Scandinavian warships that have a long history in Scandinavia, with their existence being archaeologically proven and documented from at least the fourth century BC. Originally invented and used by the Nor ...
was a type of ship that was developed over a period of centuries and perfected by its most famous user, the
Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
, in approximately the ninth century. The ships were clinker-built, utilizing overlapping wooden strakes. The knaar, a relative of the longship, was a type of cargo vessel. It differed from the longship in that it was larger and relied solely on its square rigged sail for propulsion. The cog was a design which is believed to have evolved from (or at least been influenced by) the longship, and was in wide use by the 12th century. It too used the clinker method of construction. The
caravel The caravel (Portuguese: , ) is a small maneuverable sailing ship used in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave it speed and the capacity for sailing w ...
was a ship invented in Islamic Iberia and used in the Mediterranean from the 13th century.John M. Hobson (2004), ''The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation'', p. 141,
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pr ...
, .
Unlike the
longship Longships were a type of specialised Scandinavian warships that have a long history in Scandinavia, with their existence being archaeologically proven and documented from at least the fourth century BC. Originally invented and used by the Nor ...
and cog, it used a carvel method of construction. It could be either square rigged (''Caravela Redonda'') or lateen rigged (''Caravela Latina''). The
carrack A carrack (; ; ; ) is a three- or four- masted ocean-going sailing ship that was developed in the 14th to 15th centuries in Europe, most notably in Portugal. Evolved from the single-masted cog, the carrack was first used for European trade ...
was another type of ship invented in the Mediterranean in the 15th century. It was a larger vessel than the caravel. Columbus's ship, the , was a famous example of a carrack.


Arab age of discovery

The
Arab Empire A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
maintained and expanded a wide trade network across parts of Asia, Africa and Europe. This helped establish the Arab Empire (including the
Rashidun , image = تخطيط كلمة الخلفاء الراشدون.png , caption = Calligraphic representation of Rashidun Caliphs , birth_place = Mecca, Hejaz, Arabia present-day Saudi Arabia , known_for = Companions of ...
,
Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...
,
Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Mutta ...
and
Fatimid caliphate The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids, a ...
s) as the world's leading extensive economic power throughout the 8th–13th centuries according to the political scientist John M. Hobson.John M. Hobson (2004), ''The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation'', p. 29–30,
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pr ...
, .
The Belitung is the oldest discovered Arabic ship to reach the Asian sea, dating back over 1000 years. Apart from the
Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest riv ...
,
Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...
and
Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...
, navigable rivers in the Islamic regions were uncommon, so transport by sea was very important. Islamic geography and navigational sciences were highly developed, making use of a magnetic
compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with ...
and a rudimentary instrument known as a kamal, used for
celestial navigation Celestial navigation, also known as astronavigation, is the practice of position fixing using stars and other celestial bodies that enables a navigator to accurately determine their actual current physical position in space (or on the surface o ...
and for measuring the
altitude Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...
s and
latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north ...
s of the
star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...
s. When combined with detailed maps of the period, sailors were able to sail across oceans rather than skirt along the coast. According to the political scientist John M. Hobson, the origins of the
caravel The caravel (Portuguese: , ) is a small maneuverable sailing ship used in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave it speed and the capacity for sailing w ...
ship, used for long-distance travel by the Spanish and Portuguese since the 15th century, date back to the ''qarib'' used by Andalusian explorers by the 13th century. Control of sea routes dictated the political and military power of the Islamic nation. The Islamic border spread from Spain to China. Maritime trade was used to link the vast territories that spanned the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...
to the
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...
. The Arabs were among the first to sail the Indian Ocean. Long-distance trade allowed the movement of "armies, craftsmen, scholars, and pilgrims". Sea trade was an important factor not just for the coastal ports and cities like
Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...
, but also for
Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
and
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
, which are further inland. Sea trade enabled the distribution of food and supplies to feed entire populations in the middle east. Long distance sea trade imported raw materials for building, luxury goods for the wealthy, and new inventions.


Hanseatic League

The
Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label= Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...
was an alliance of trading guilds that established and maintained a trade monopoly over the Baltic Sea, to a certain extent the North Sea, and most of Northern Europe for a time in the Late Middle Ages and the early modern period, between the 13th and 17th centuries. Historians generally trace the origins of the League to the foundation of the Northern German town of Lübeck, established in 1158/1159 after the capture of the area from the Count of Schauenburg and Holstein by
Henry the Lion Henry the Lion (german: Heinrich der Löwe; 1129/1131 – 6 August 1195) was a member of the Welf dynasty who ruled as the duke of Saxony and Bavaria from 1142 and 1156, respectively, until 1180. Henry was one of the most powerful German p ...
, the
Duke of Saxony This article lists dukes, electors, and kings ruling over different territories named Saxony from the beginning of the Saxon Duchy in the 6th century to the end of the German monarchies in 1918. The electors of Saxony from John the Steadfast on ...
. Exploratory trading adventures, raids and
piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
had occurred earlier throughout the Baltic (see
Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
s) — the
sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...
s of Gotland sailed up rivers as far away as
Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ...
, for example — but the scale of international
economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...
in the Baltic area remained insignificant before the growth of the Hanseatic League. German cities achieved domination of trade in the Baltic with striking speed over the next century, and Lübeck became a central node in all the seaborne trade that linked the areas around the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...
and the Baltic Sea. The 15th century saw the climax of Lübeck's hegemony. ( Visby, one of the midwives of the Hanseatic league in 1358, declined to become a member. Visby dominated trade in the Baltic before the Hanseatic league, and with its monopolistic ideology, suppressed the Gotlandic free-trade competition.) By the late 16th century, the League imploded and could no longer deal with its own internal struggles, the social and political changes that accompanied the
Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
, the rise of Dutch and English merchants, and the incursion of the
Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
upon its trade routes and upon the Holy Roman Empire itself. Only nine members attended the last formal meeting in 1669 and only three (Lübeck, Hamburg and Bremen) remained as members until its final demise in 1862.


Somali maritime enterprise

During the Age of the Ajuran, the Somali
sultanates Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...
and republics of Merca,
Mogadishu Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port ...
, Barawa, Hobyo and their respective ports flourished. They had a lucrative foreign commerce with ships sailing to and coming from
Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Pl ...
, India, Venetia,
Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, Egypt, Portugal and as far away as China. In the 16th century, Duarte Barbosa noted that many ships from the Kingdom of Cambaya in what is modern-day India sailed to Mogadishu with cloths and
spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices a ...
s, for which they in return received gold, wax and ivory. Barbosa also highlighted the abundance of meat,
wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
,
barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...
, horses, and fruit] on the coastal markets, which generated enormous wealth for the merchants. In the early modern period, successor states of the Adal and Ajuran
empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
s began to flourish in Somalia who continued the seaborne trade established by previous Somali empires. The rise of the 19th century Gobroon Dynasty in particular saw a rebirth in Somali maritime enterprise. During this period, the Somali agricultural output to
Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Pl ...
n markets was so great that the coast of Somalia came to be known as the ''Grain Coast'' of
Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and ...
and
Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...
.


Age of Discovery

The ''
Age of Discovery The Age of Discovery (or the Age of Exploration), also known as the early modern period, was a period largely overlapping with the Age of Sail, approximately from the 15th century to the 17th century in European history, during which seafa ...
'' was a period from the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century, during which European ships traveled around the world to search for new trading routes after the
Fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city fell on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 53-day siege which had begun o ...
. Historians often refer to the 'Age of Discovery' as the pioneer Portuguese and later Spanish long-distance maritime travels in search of alternative
trade route A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. The term can also be used to refer to trade over bodies of water. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a sing ...
s to " the East Indies", moved by the trade of gold,
silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...
and
spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices a ...
s. In the process, Europeans encountered peoples and mapped lands previously unknown to them. The Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India changed Europe's view of the world.
Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...
was a
navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's prima ...
and maritime explorer who is one of several historical figures credited as the discoverer of the Americas. It is generally believed that he was born in
Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...
, although other theories and possibilities exist. Columbus' voyages across the Atlantic Ocean began a European effort at
exploration Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...
and
colonization Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...
of the
Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, the te ...
. While history places great significance on his first voyage of 1492, he did not actually reach the mainland until his third voyage in 1498. Likewise, he was not the earliest European explorer to reach the Americas, as there are accounts of European transatlantic contact prior to 1492. Nevertheless, Columbus's voyage came at a critical time of growing national imperialism and
economic competition In economics, competition is a scenario where different economic firmsThis article follows the general economic convention of referring to all actors as firms; examples in include individuals and brands or divisions within the same (legal) fir ...
between developing nation states seeking wealth from the establishment of
trade route A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. The term can also be used to refer to trade over bodies of water. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a sing ...
s and
colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...
. Therefore, the period before 1492 is known as
Pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...
. John Cabot was a Genoese
navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's prima ...
and explorer commonly credited as one of the first
early modern Europe Early modern Europe, also referred to as the post-medieval period, is the period of European history between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, roughly the late 15th century to the late 18th century. Histor ...
ans to land on the North American mainland aboard the in 1497. Sebastian Cabot was an Italian explorer and may have sailed with his father John Cabot in May 1497. John Cabot and perhaps Sebastian, sailing from
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...
, took their small fleet along the coasts of a "New Found Land". There is much controversy over where exactly Cabot landed, but two likely locations that are often suggested are
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...
and Newfoundland. Cabot and his crew (including perhaps Sebastian) mistook this place for China, without finding the passage to the east they were looking for. Some scholars maintain that the name America comes from Richard Amerik, a Bristol merchant and customs officer, who is claimed on very slender evidence to have helped finance the Cabot voyages.
Jacques Cartier Jacques Cartier ( , also , , ; br, Jakez Karter; 31 December 14911 September 1557) was a French- Breton maritime explorer for France. Jacques Cartier was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of ...
was a
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's prima ...
who first explored and described the Gulf of St-Lawrence and the shores of the
Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...
, which he named Canada, likely comes from the Huron-Iroquois word “kanata”, meaning “village” or “settlement”. Juan Fernández was a Spanish explorer and navigator. Probably between 1563 and 1574 he discovered the
Juan Fernández Islands The Juan Fernández Islands ( es, Archipiélago Juan Fernández) are a sparsely inhabited series of islands in the South Pacific Ocean reliant on tourism and fishing. Situated off the coast of Chile, they are composed of three main volcanic ...
west of
Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...
,
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...
. He also discovered the Pacific islands of San Félix and
San Ambrosio The Desventuradas Islands ( es, Islas Desventuradas, , "Unfortunate Islands" or ''Islas de los Desventurados'', "Islands of the Unfortunate Ones") is a group of four small oceanic islands located off the coast of Chile, northwest of Santiago in t ...
(1574). Among the other famous explorers of the period were Vasco da Gama,
Pedro Álvares Cabral Pedro Álvares Cabral ( or ; born Pedro Álvares de Gouveia; c. 1467 or 1468 – c. 1520) was a Portuguese nobleman, military commander, navigator and explorer regarded as the European discoverer of Brazil. He was the first human ...
, Yermak,
Juan Ponce de León Juan Ponce de León (, , , ; 1474 – July 1521) was a Spanish explorer and ''conquistador'' known for leading the first official European expedition to Florida and for serving as the first governor of Puerto Rico. He was born in Santerv� ...
, Francisco Coronado, Juan Sebastián Elcano,
Bartolomeu Dias Bartolomeu Dias ( 1450 – 29 May 1500) was a Portuguese mariner and explorer. In 1488, he became the first European navigator to round the southern tip of Africa and to demonstrate that the most effective southward route for ships lay in the o ...
, Ferdinand Magellan, Willem Barentsz, Abel Tasman, Jean Alfonse, Samuel de Champlain, Willem Jansz, Captain James Cook, Henry Hudson, and Giovanni da Verrazzano. Peter Martyr d'Anghiera was an Italian-born historian of Spain and of the discoveries of her representatives during the Age of Exploration. He wrote the first accounts of explorations in Central America, Central and South America in a series of letters and reports, grouped in the original Latin publications of 1511–1530 into sets of ten chapters called "decades." His ''Decades'' are thus of great value in the history of geography and discovery. His ''De Orbe Novo'' (published 1530; "On the New World") describes the first contacts of Europeans and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native Americans and contains, for example, the first European reference to India rubber. Richard Hakluyt was an English writer, and is principally remembered for his efforts in promoting and supporting the settlement of North America by the English people, English through his works, notably ''Divers Voyages Touching the Discoverie of America'' (1582) and ''The Principal Navigations, Voiages, Traffiques and Discoueries of the English Nation'' (1598–1600).


European expansion

Although Europe is the world's second-smallest continent in terms of area, it has a very long coastline, and has arguably been influenced more by its ''maritime history'' than any other continent. Europe is uniquely situated between several navigable seas and intersected by navigable rivers running into them in a way which greatly facilitated the influence of maritime traffic and commerce. When the
carrack A carrack (; ; ; ) is a three- or four- masted ocean-going sailing ship that was developed in the 14th to 15th centuries in Europe, most notably in Portugal. Evolved from the single-masted cog, the carrack was first used for European trade ...
and then the
caravel The caravel (Portuguese: , ) is a small maneuverable sailing ship used in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave it speed and the capacity for sailing w ...
were developed by the Portuguese people, Portuguese, European thoughts returned to the fabled East. These explorations have a number of causes. Monetarists believe the main reason the Age of Exploration began was because of a severe shortage of bullion in Europe. The European economy was dependent on gold and silver currency, but low domestic supplies had plunged much of Europe into a recession. Another factor was the centuries long conflict between the Iberians and the Muslims to the south. The Silk Road, eastern trade routes were controlled by the Ottoman Empire after the Turkish people, Turks took control of Constantinople in 1453, and they barred Europeans from those trade routes. The ability to outflank the Muslim states of North Africa was seen as crucial to their survival. At the same time, the Iberians learnt much from their Arab neighbours. The carrack and caravel both incorporated the Mediterranean lateen sail that made ships far more manoeuvrable. It was also through the Arabs that History of geography#Greco-Roman world, Ancient Greek geography was rediscovered, for the first time giving European sailors some idea of the shape of Africa and Asia.


European colonization

In 1492,
Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...
reached the Americas, after which European exploration and colonization rapidly expanding. The post-1492 era is known as the Columbian Exchange period. The first conquests were made by the Spanish, who quickly conquered most of South America, South and Central America and large parts of North America. The Portuguese took Brazil. The British, French and Dutch conquered islands in the Caribbean Sea, many of which had already been conquered by the Spanish or depopulated by disease. Early European colonies in North America included Spanish Florida, the British settlements in Colony and Dominion of Virginia, Virginia and New England, French settlements in New France, Quebec and Louisiana (New France), Louisiana, and Dutch settlements in New Netherlands. Denmark-Norway revived its former colonies in Greenland from the 18th until the 20th century, and also colonised a few of the Virgin Islands. From its very outset, Western colonialism was operated as a joint public-private venture. Columbus' voyages to the Americas were partially funded by Italian investors, but whereas the Spanish state maintained a tight rein on trade with its colonies (by law, the colonies could only trade with one designated port in the mother country and treasure was brought back in special Spanish treasure fleet, convoys), the English, French and Dutch granted what were effectively trade monopolies to Joint stock company, joint-stock companies such as the British East India Company, East India Companies and the Hudson's Bay Company. In the exploration of Africa, there was the proliferation of conflicting European claims to African territory. By the 15th century, Europeans explored the African coast in search of a water route to India. These expeditions were mostly conducted by the Portugal, Portuguese, who had been given papal authority to exploit all non-Christians, Christian lands of the Eastern Hemisphere. The Europeans set up coastal colonies to prosecute the Atlantic slave trade, but the interior of the continent remained unexplored until the 19th century. This was a cumulative period that resulted in European colonial rule in Africa and altered the future of the African continent. Western imperialism in Asia, Imperialism in Asia traces its roots back to the late 15th century with a series of voyages that sought a sea passage to India in the hope of establishing direct trade between Europe and Asia in spices. Before 1500 European economies were largely self-sufficient, only supplemented by minor trade with Asia and Africa. Within the next century, however, European and Asian economies were slowly becoming integrated through the rise of new global trade routes; and the early thrust of European political power, commerce, and culture in Asia gave rise to a growing trade in lucrative commodities—a key development in the rise of today's modern world capitalist economy. European colonies in India were set up by several European nations beginning at the beginning of the 16th century. Rivalry between reigning European powers saw the entry of the Dutch, British and French among others.


Ming Maritime world


Zheng He voyages

In the 15th century, before the European Age of Discovery began the Chinese Ming Dynasty carried out a maritime operation that, like the European's late expeditions, was primarily carried out to expand power, increase trade, and in some instances forcibly subdue local populations. In 1405 Zheng He, a Muslim eunuch, was ordered by the Ming dynasty to lead a fleet of over 27,000 sailors and anywhere between 62 to 300 ships, this was the beginning of an age of expedition which would last 33 years. During his seven voyages, Zheng He visited over 30 countries spread out across the Indian Ocean. Under Emperor Yongle this naval undertaking served primarily as a deliverer of letters demanding tribute and allegiance to the middle kingdom, gifts were the first approach to gaining a country's favor, but if circumstances required it Zheng He's fleet would resort to violence. The result was a successful connection to 48 new tribute states and an influx of over 180 new trade goods; many were gifts. These expeditions expanded China's diplomatic supremacy of the region and strengthened their economic ties in the area. When these expeditions ended, China's maritime strength diminished and lacked a powerful navy for centuries after.


Other Ming Maritime Activity

The end of the imperially-sponsored voyages, however, in no way meant that Ming people no longer put to sea. Merchants, pirates, fishermen, and others depended on boats and ships for their livelihood, and immigration to Southeast Asia, both permanent and temporary, continued throughout Ming times. Because Chinese and Chinese immigrants to Southeast Asia were the main players in commerce in the South China Sea, Chinese merchants and ships were critical to the Spanish trade in Manila. Not only did Chinese merchants supply the goods the Spanish bought with their American silver, but Chinese shipbuilders built the famous galleons that carried those goods and that silver back and forth across the Pacific twice a year.


Clipper route

During this time, the clipper route was established by clipper, clipper ships between Europe and the Far East, Australia and New Zealand. The route ran from west to east through the Southern Ocean, in order to make use of the strong westerly winds of the Roaring Forties. Many ships and sailors were lost in the heavy conditions along the route, particularly at Cape Horn, which the clippers had to round on their return to Europe. In September 1578, Sir Francis Drake, in the course of his circumnavigation of the world, discovered Cape Horn. This discovery went unused for some time, as ships continued to use the known passage through the Strait of Magellan. By the early 17th century, the Dutch merchant Jacob le Maire, together with navigator Willem Schouten, set off to investigate Drake's suggestion of a route to the south of Tierra del Fuego. At the time it was discovered, the Horn was believed to be the southernmost point of Tierra del Fuego; the unpredictable violence of weather and sea conditions in the Drake Passage made exploration difficult, and it was only in 1624 that the Horn was discovered to be an island. It is an interesting testament to the difficulty of conditions there that Antarctica, only 650 kilometres (400 mi) away across the Drake Passage, was discovered as recently as 1820, despite the passage having been used as a major shipping route for 200 years. The clipper route fell into commercial disuse with the introduction of steamboat, steam ships, and the opening of the Suez Canal, Suez and Panama Canals.


End of exploration

The age of exploration is generally said to have ended in the early 17th century. By this time European vessels were well enough built and their navigators competent enough to travel to virtually anywhere on the planet. Exploration, of course, continued. The Arctic and Antarctic seas were not explored until the 19th century.


Age of Sail

The ''Age of Sail'' originates from ancient seafaring exploration, during the rise of ancient civilizations. Including Mesopotamia, the Far East and the Cradle of Civilization, the Arabian Sea has been an important Marine (ocean), marine
trade route A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. The term can also be used to refer to trade over bodies of water. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a sing ...
since the era of the ''coastal sailing vessels'' from possibly as early as the third millennium BC, certainly the late second millennium BC up to and including the later days of Age of Sail. By the time of Julius Caesar, several well-established combined land-sea trade routes depended upon water transport through the Sea around the rough inland terrain features to its north. These routes usually began in the Far East with transshipment via historic Bharuch (Bharakuccha), traversed past the inhospitable coast of today's Iran then split around Hadhramaut into two streams north into the Gulf of Aden and thence into the Levant, or south into Alexandria via
Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...
ports such as Axum. Each major route involved transhipping to pack animal caravans, travel through desert country and risk of bandits and extortionate tolls by local potentiates. Southern coastal route past the rough country in the southern Arabian peninsula (
Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and ...
and
Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...
today) was significant, and the Egyptian Pharaohs built several shallow canals to service the trade, one more or less along the route of today's Suez canal, and another from the
Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...
to the Nile River, both shallow works that were swallowed up by huge sand storms in antiquity. In the modern western countries, the European "Age of Sail" is the period in which international trade and naval warfare were both dominated by sailing ships. The age of
sail A sail is a tensile structure—which is made from fabric or other membrane materials—that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails ma ...
mostly coincided with the age of discovery, from the 15th to the 18th century. After the 17th century, English naval maps stopped using the term of British Sea for the English Channel. From 15th to the 18th centuries, the period saw square rigged sailing ships carry European ethnic groups, European settlers to many parts of the world in one of the most important human migrations in recorded history. This period was marked by extensive exploration and colonization efforts on the part of European kingdoms. The sextant, developed in the 18th century, made more accurate charting of nautical position possible.


Notable individuals

Juan of Austria was a military leader whose most famous victory was in the naval Battle of Lepanto (1571), Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Philip had appointed Juan to command the navy, naval forces of the Holy League (Mediterranean), Holy League which was pitted against the Ottoman Empire. Juan, by dint of leadership ability and charisma, was able to unite this disparate coalition and inflict a historic defeat upon the Ottomans and their Privateer, corsair allies in the Battle of Lepanto (1571), Battle of Lepanto. His role in the battle is commemorated in the poem "s:Lepanto, Lepanto" by G. K. Chesterton. Maarten Tromp was an officer and later admiral in the Netherlands, Dutch navy. In 1639, during the Eighty Years' War, Dutch struggle for independence from Spain, Tromp defeated a large Spanish fleet bound for Flanders at the Battle of the Downs, marking the end of Spanish naval power. In a preliminary battle, the action of 18 September 1639, Tromp was the first fleet commander known to deliberately use line of battle tactics. His flagship in this period was ''Aemilia''. In the First Anglo-Dutch War of 1652–1653 Tromp commanded the Dutch fleet in the battles of Battle of Dungeness, Dungeness, Battle of Portland, Portland, Battle of the Gabbard, the Gabbard and Battle of Scheveningen, Scheveningen. In the last of these, he was killed by a sharpshooter in the rigging of William Penn (admiral), William Penn's ship. His acting flag captain, Egbert Bartholomeusz Kortenaer, on kept up fleet morale by not lowering Tromp's standard, pretending Tromp was still alive. Cornelis Tromp was a Commander in Chief of the Dutch Republic, Dutch and Danish navy. In 1656 he participated in the relief of Gdańsk (Danzig). In 1658 it was discovered he had used his ships to trade in luxury goods; as a result he was fined and not allowed to have an active command until 1662. Just before the Second Anglo-Dutch War he was promoted to vice-admiral on 29 January 1665; at the Battle of Lowestoft he prevented total catastrophe by taking over fleet command to allow the escape of the larger part of the fleet. In 1676 he became Admiral-General of the Danish navy and Knight in the Order of the Elephant. He defeated the Swedish navy in the Battle of Öland, his only victory as a fleet commander. Charles Hardy was a Kingdom of Great Britain, British naval Officer (armed forces), officer and Colonialism, colonial governor. He was appointed governor and commander-in-chief of the British Empire, British colony of Colony of Newfoundland, Newfoundland in 1744. In 1758, he and James Wolfe attacked French posts around the mouth of the St. Lawrence River and destroyed all of the French fishing stations along the northern shores of what is now New Brunswick and along the Gaspé peninsula. Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel was a Great Britain, British admiral who held sea commands during the Seven Years' War and the War of American Independence. During the final years of the latter conflict he served as First Lord of the Admiralty. During the Seven Years' War he saw constant service. He was in North America in 1755, on the coast of France in 1756, was detached on a cruise to reduce the French settlements on the west coast of Africa in 1758, and his ship ''Torbay'' (74) was the first to get into action in the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759. In 1757 he had formed part of the court martial which had condemned Admiral John Byng, Byng, but was active among those who endeavoured to secure a pardon for him; but neither he nor those who had acted with him could produce any serious reason why the sentence should not be carried out. When Spain joined France in 1762 he was sent as second in command with Sir George Pocock in the expedition which took Havana. His health suffered from the fever which carried off an immense proportion of the soldiers and sailors, but the £25,000 of prize money which he received freed him from the unpleasant position of younger son of a family ruined by the extravagance of his father. Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke was a naval officer of the Royal Navy. During the War of the Austrian Succession he was promoted to rear admiral. In the Seven Years' War, Hawke replaced Admiral John Byng as commander in the Mediterranean in 1756. Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe was a British admiral. During the rebellion in North America, Howe was known to be sympathetic to the colonists – he had in prior years sought the acquaintance of Benjamin Franklin, who was a friend of Howe's sister, a popular lady in London society. During his career, Howe displayed a tactical uncommon originality. His performance was unexcelled even by Horatio Nelson, Nelson, who, like Howe's other successors, was served by more highly trained squadrons and benefitted from Howe's example. Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson was a British admiral famous for his participation in the Napoleonic Wars, most notably in the Battle of Trafalgar, a decisive British victory in the war, where he was killed. Nelson was noted for his considerable ability to inspire and bring out the best in his men, to the point that it gained a name: "The Nelson Touch". His actions during these wars meant that before and after his death he was revered like few military figures have been throughout British history. Alexander Davison was a contemporary and close friend of Horatio Nelson. Davison is responsible for several acts that glorified Nelson's public image. These included the creation of a medal commemorating the victory at the Battle of the Nile and the creation of the Nelson Memorial, Swarland, Nelson Memorial at his estate at Swarland, Northumberland. As a close friend of the Admiral he acted as an intermediary when Nelson's marriage to his wife, Frances Nisbet, Frances Nelson fell apart due in large part to his affair with Emma Hamilton. Sir Hyde Parker, 5th Baronet, Hyde Parker in 1778 was engaged in the Savannah expedition, and in the following year his ship was wrecked on the hostile Cuban coast. His men, however, entrenched themselves, and were in the end brought off safely. Parker was with his father at the Dogger Bank, and with Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe, Richard Howe in the two actions in the Straits of Gibraltar. In 1793, having just become rear admiral, he served under Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, Samuel Hood at Toulon and in Corsica, and two years later, now a vice admiral, he took part, under William Hotham, 1st Baron Hotham, Lord Hotham, in the indecisive fleet actions on 13 March 1795 and the 13 July 1795. From 1796 to 1800 he was in command at Jamaica and ably conducted the operations in the West Indies. Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth was a British naval officer who fought during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars, French Revolutionary, and the Napoleonic Wars. Pellew is remembered as an officer and a gentleman of great courage and leadership, earning his land and titles through courage, leadership and skill – serving as a paradigm of the versatility and determination of Naval Officers during the Napoleonic Wars. Antoine de Sartine, a French statesman, was the List of Naval Ministers of France, Secretary of State for the Navy under King Louis XVI of France, Louis XVI. Sartine inherited a strong French Navy, resurrected by Étienne François, duc de Choiseul, Choiseul after the disasters of the Seven Years' War when France lost Canada, New France, Canada, Louisiana (New France), Louisiana, and French India, India, and which would later defeat the Royal Navy, British Navy in the France in the American Revolutionary War, War of American Independence. James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez was an admiral of the British Royal Navy, notable for his victory at the Algeciras Campaign, Battle of Algeciras. In 1801 he was raised to the rank of Rear-Admiral of the Blue, was created a baronet, and received the command of a small squadron which was destined to watch the movements of the Spanish fleet at Cadiz. Between 6 and 12 July he performed a brilliant piece of service, in which after a first repulse at Algeciras he routed a much superior combined force of French and Spanish ships at the Battle of Algeciras. For his services Saumarez received the order of the Bath and the freedom of the City of London. David Porter (naval officer), David Porter during the First Barbary War (1801–07) was 1st lieutenant of , and and was taken prisoner when ''Philadelphia'' ran aground in Tripoli, Libya, Tripoli harbor 31 October 1803. After his release 3 June 1805 he remained in the Mediterranean as acting captain of and later captain of ''Enterprise''. He was in charge of the naval forces at New Orleans 1808–1810. As commander of in the War of 1812, Captain Porter achieved fame by capturing the first British warship of the conflict, , 13 August 1812 as well as several merchantmen. In 1813 he sailed ''Essex'' around Cape Horn and cruised in the Pacific warring on British whalers. On 28 March 1814 Porter was forced to surrender off Valparaiso after an unequal contest with the frigates and and only when his ship was too disabled to offer any resistance.


Spanish and English Armadas

The Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Alonso de Guzmán El Bueno, 7th Duke of Medina Sidonia, Duke of Medina Sidona in 1588. The Spanish Armada was sent by King Philip II of Spain, who had been king consort of England until the death of his wife Mary I of England thirty years earlier. The purpose of the expedition was to escort the Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, Duke of Parma's army of tercios from the Spanish Netherlands across the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...
for a landing in south-east England. Once the army had suppressed English support for the Dutch Republic, United Provinces — part of the Spanish Netherlands — it was intended to cut off attacks against Spanish Empire, Spanish possessions in the New World and the Atlantic Spanish treasure fleet, treasure fleets. It was also hoped to reverse the Protestant revolution in England, and to this end the expedition was supported by Pope Sixtus V, with the promise of a subsidy should it make land. The command of the fleet was originally entrusted to Alvaro de Bazan, a highly experienced naval commander who died a few months before the fleet sailed from Lisbon in May 1588. The Spanish Armada consisted of about 130 warships and converted merchant ships. After forcing its way up the English Channel, it was attacked by a fleet of 200 Royal Navy, English ships, assisted by the Dutch navy, in the North Sea at Naval battle of Gravelines, Gravelines off the coastal border between France and the Spanish Netherlands. A fire ship, fire-ship attack drove the Armada ships from their safe anchorage, and in the ensuing battle the Spanish abandoned their rendezvous with Parma's army. The Spanish Armada was blown north up the east coast of England and in a hasty strategic move, attempted a return to Spain by sailing around Scotland and out into the Atlantic, past Ireland. But very severe weather destroyed a portion of the fleet, and more than 24 vessels were wrecked on the north and western coasts of Ireland, with the survivors having to seek refuge in Scotland. Of the Spanish Armada's initial complement of vessels, about 50 did not return to Spain. However, the loss to Philip's Royal Navy was comparatively small: only seven ships failed to return, and of these only three were lost to enemy action. The English Armada was a fleet of warships sent to the Iberian coast by Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1589, during the Anglo-Spanish War (1585), Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604). It was led by Sir Francis Drake as admiral and Sir John Norris (soldier), John Norreys as general, and failed in its attempt to drive home the advantage England had won upon the defeat and dispersal of the Spanish Armada in the previous year. With the opportunity to strike a decisive blow against the weakened Spanish lost, the failure of the expedition further depleted the crown treasury that had been so carefully restored during the long reign of Elizabeth I of England, Elizabeth I. The Anglo-Spanish War (1585), Anglo-Spanish war was very costly to both sides, and Spain itself, also fighting France and the Dutch Republic, United Provinces, had to default on its debt repayments in 1596, following another raid on Cadiz. But the failure of the English Armada was a turning point, and the fortunes of the various parties to this complicated conflict fluctuated until the Treaty of London, 1604, Treaty of London in 1604, when a peace was agreed. Spain's rebuilt navy had quickly recovered and exceeded its pre-Armada dominance of the sea, until defeats by the Eighty Years' War, Dutch fifty years later marked the beginning of its decline. With the peace, the English were able to consolidate their hold on Ireland and make a concerted effort to establish colonies in North America.


North American maritime

The ''maritime history of the United States'' starts in the modern sense with the first successful English colony established in 1607, on the James River (Virginia), James River at Jamestown, Virginia, Jamestown. It languished for decades until a new wave of settlers arrived in the late 17th century and set up commercial agriculture based on tobacco. The connection between the American colonies and Europe, with shipping as its cornerstone, would continue to grow unhindered for almost two hundred years. The ''Continental Navy'' was formed during the American Revolution in 1774–1775. Through the efforts of the Continental Navy's apparent patron, John Adams and vigorous congressional support in the face of stiff opposition, the fleet cumulatively became relatively substantial when considering the limitations imposed upon the Patriot supply poole. The "''Six original United States frigates''" were the first United States frigates of the United States Navy, first authorized by the United States Congress, Congress with the Naval Act of 1794 on March 27, 1794, at a cost of $688,888.82. John Paul Jones was America's first well-known US Navy, naval hero in the American Revolutionary War. John Paul adopted the alias ''John Jones'' when he fled to his brother's home in Fredericksburg, Virginia in 1773 in order to avoid the hangman's noose in Tobago after an incident when he was accused of murdering a sailor under his command. He began using the name ''John Paul Jones'' as his brother suggested during the start of the American Revolution. Though his naval career never rose above the rank of captain in the Continental Navy after his victory over with the frigate , John Paul Jones remains the first genuine American naval hero, and a highly regarded battle commander. Jonathan Haraden was a privateer during the American Revolution, being the first lieutenant of the sloop-of-war Massachusetts ship Tyrannicide (1776), ''Tyrannicide'', fourteen guns. On board for two years, he captured many prizes, becoming her commander in 1777. George H. Preble was an American naval officer and writer, notable for his history of the flag of the United States and for taking the first photograph of the Fort McHenry flag that inspired ''The Star-Spangled Banner''. George entered the United States Navy, Navy as a midshipman on 10 December 1835, serving on until 1838. Edward Preble was a United States of America, U.S. naval officer. Following his Revolutionary War service, he was appointed 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. In January 1799, he assumed command of the 14-gun brig and took her to the West Indies to protect American commerce during the Quasi-War with France. Commissioned Captain (United States), Captain 7 June 1799, he took command of in December and sailed in January 1800 for the Pacific to provide similar protective services for Americans engaged in the East Indies trade. Given command of the 3rd Squadron, with as his flagship, in 1803, he sailed for the Barbary coast and by October had promoted a treaty with Morocco and established a blockade off Tripoli, Libya, Tripoli in the First Barbary War.


Triangular trade

In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries a network of maritime trade formed in the Atlantic, connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas through a triangular trade of African slaves, sugar/molasses, and rum. This maritime trade route would enrich Europe and the Americas while also pulling both deeper into the slave trade. European merchants would buy slaves from African slavers, transporting these slaves to their sugar plantations in the Caribbeans, where the sugar/molasses they produced would be shipped to British North America and distilled into rum where it would be consumed in the colonies and sent to Europe. In some models of triangular trade, the Colonies take Europe's place, and the model of trade shifts to Slaves from Africa to the Caribbean, sugar and molasses go to New England, and the rum/other finished goods would be sold in Africa to get more slaves. Both of these models are not restricted to sugar trade; tobacco, cotton, and other plantation based raw materials take the place of sugar, and its derivatives.


Piracy in the Atlantic Ocean

During the Age of Discovery, key trade routes to the new world formed in the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean. With this concentrated area of trade, piracy was a significant maritime hazard in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Some nations would use pirates to sabotage their rivals, going as far as supplying and recognizing them as legitimate. Eventually, powers like the English and Dutch implemented strong anti-piracy tactics to strengthen their trade empires in the 18th century. In the 16th and 17th century Caribbean, the trading of slaves, precious metals, and raw materials all fell prey to piracy. Pirates would raid forts, and attack ships at sea to get possession of merchants material wealth. In some cases, pirates would tie themselves to a maritime power like the British and aid them by raiding rival nations like the Spanish and leaving British trade unmolested. In areas like Jamaica, some pirates were friendly with the British and would remain on the fringes of the colony. Some of these pirates were accepted by British colonial governors. The English and Dutch had created extensive trade empires during the 17th and 18th century and saw pirates as a barrier to their continued growth. English began building a codification for piracy, which started a war against pirates that lasted from the 1670s ending in the 1720s. During this time the English would develop a ship called the Jamaica Sloops which were better at fending off piracy. In the late 1600s, the British began building up their navy and were able to put an end to most piracy by the 1720s violently, only isolated individual instances persisted.


Life at sea

Shipping, whether of cargo or passengers, is a business and the duties of a ship's captain reflect that. A captain's first duty was to the ship's owner and often the captain was encouraged to buy into the business with at least a one eighth share of the ship. A captain's second duty was to the cargo itself followed thirdly by the crew. Crew were broken into two shifts that served four hour alternating watches often with all hands jointly serving the noon to 4:00 watch. American ships would commonly alternate watches with the addition of a two-hour dog watch. Work for sailors during their shift consisted primarily of general ship maintenance, washing, sanding, painting and repairs from general wear and tear or damage from storms. General ship operations like raising and lowering the anchor or furling and unfurling sails were done as needed. During the off shift hours, sailors could take care of their personal chores, washing and repairing clothes, sleeping and eating. Leisure time could was often spent reading, writing in journals, playing an instrument, wood carving or fancy rope work. The American Seaman's Friend Society in New York City would loan boxes of books to ships for sailor's use. Life aboard ship for immigrant travelers was much harsher and sometimes deadly. Ship owners would pack as many people as they could on board to maximize profits and little government oversight existed to ensure they received proper care during the voyage. British immigrant ships would often show less care to the passengers than criminals on prison ships to Australia. In 1803 the Passenger Vessel Act in Britain limited occupancy to one person per two tons of the ship's register. America issue stricter laws in 1819 limiting ships to a 1 to 5 ratio with fine levied should an overcrowded ship arrive at port. The Act of Feb. 1847 further increased the amount of space granted to passengers with the confiscation of a ship as the penalty for overcrowding.


War of 1812

Stephen Decatur was an United States Navy, American naval officer notable for his heroism in the First Barbary War and the Second Barbary War and in the War of 1812. He was the youngest man to reach the rank of captain in the history of the U.S. Navy, and the first American celebrated as a national military hero who had not played a role in the American Revolution. James Lawrence was an American United States Navy, naval hero. During the War of 1812, he commanded in a single-ship action against (commanded by Philip Broke). He is probably best known today for his q:Last words, dying command "Don't give up the ship!", which is still a popular naval battle cry. John H. Aulick was an officer in the United States Navy whose service extended from the War of 1812 to the end of the antebellum era. During the War of 1812, he served in and took part in her battle with on 4 September 1813. After that engagement ended in an American victory, Aulick served as prize master of the prize. Thomas Macdonough was an early 19th-century American naval officer, most notably as commander of American naval forces on Lake Champlain during the War of 1812. One of the leading members of "Preble's Boys", a small group of naval officers who served during the First Barbary War, Macdonough's actions during the decisive Battle of Lake Champlain are often cited as a model of tactical preparation and execution.


''Challenger'' Expedition

, built in 1858, undertook the first global marine research expedition called the Challenger expedition, ''Challenger'' expedition in 1872. To enable her to probe the depths, all but two of ''Challenger''s guns had been removed and her spars reduced to make more space available. Laboratories, extra cabins and a special dredging platform were installed. She was loaded with specimen jars, alcohol for preservation of samples, microscopes and chemical apparatus, trawls and dredges, thermometers and water sampling bottles, sounding leads and devices to collect sediment from the sea bed and great lengths of rope with which to suspend the equipment into the ocean depths. In all she was supplied with of Italian hemp for sounding, trawling and dredging. As the first true oceanographic cruise, the Challenger expedition laid the groundwork for an entire academic and research discipline.


End of the sail

Like most history by period, periodic eras the definition is inexact and close enough to serve as a general description. The age of sail runs roughly from the Battle of Lepanto (1571), Battle of Lepanto in 1571, the last significant engagement in which oar-propelled galleys played a major role, to the Battle of Hampton Roads in 1862, in which the steam-powered destroyed the sailing ships and , finally culminating with the advance of steam power, rendering sail power obsolete.


Submarines

The ''history of submarines'' covers the historical chronology and facts related to ''submarines'', the ships and boats which operate underwater. The modern underwater boat proposal was made by the Englishman William Bourne (mathematician), William Bourne who designed a prototype submarine in 1578. Unfortunately for him these ideas never got beyond the planning stage. The first submersible proper to be actually built in modern times was built in 1620 by Cornelius Jacobszoon Drebbel, a Dutchman in the service of James I of England, James I: it was based on Bourne's design. It was propelled by means of oars. The precise nature of the submarine type is a matter of some controversy; some claim that it was merely a bell towed by a boat. Two improved types were tested in the Thames between 1620 and 1624. In 1900, the U.S. navy was sold their first submarine by an Irish man named John Holland. From 1945 to 1955, tremendous changes were made for a great time when the first submarine was sent out to sail for the first time. The United States heavily depended on the submarines as a weapon of war when they were going to war with the Japanese.


Age of Steam

Steam was first applied to boats in the 1770s. With the advent of economical steam engines, efficient External combustion engine, external combustion heat engines that makes use of the heat energy that exists in steam and converting it to mechanical work, the Wiktionary:prime mover, prime mover was steam for ships. The technology only became relevant to sea travel after 1815, the year Pierre Andriel crossed the English Channel aboard the steamship ''Élise''.


Rise of steam vessels

Steamships gradually replaced sailing ships for commercial shipping in the 19th century – mostly through the latter part of the century. Paradoxically, steam supported sail, by providing tugs that could speed the arrival of ships that could often be windbound in anchorages close to their point of departure or destination. Larger sailing vessels could be built for bulk cargoes, as the availability of tugs meant that they could be docked efficiently. Steam "donkey engines" enabled these larger ships to work with smaller crews, being used for hoisting large sails and generally doing the heavy work on the ship. Steam technology required a number of developmental steps to be able to compete with sail propulsion. Better materials and designs were needed for the boilers that ran at the higher pressures that allowed the increases in fuel efficiency from, first, compound engines (successfully used in SS Agamemnon (1865)) and then the triple expansion engine (starting with SS Aberdeen (1881)). The practice of using sea water in boilers caused build up of salt in the boilers, so requiring regular cleaning on route. An interim solution was to regularly replace the water, to keep the salt content low – needing development of heat exchangers to recover the heat from old water. Ultimately condensers were designed to recover the fresh water used in later boilers. The inherent problems of paddlewheel propulsion were solved by the screw propeller, but that needed a functional stern gland and thrust bearing. Iron hulls overcame the structural issues of wooden-hulled steamers, but needed Anti-fouling paint, anti-fouling materials, or, failing that, dry docks in which hulls could be regularly cleaned. For steamships to operate around the world, coaling stations had to be provided for shipping routes and coal of the correct quality had to be transported there. Whilst the technology steadily improved, sail remained the most economical choice for ship-owners who wished to make a good return on the capital they had invested. Steam was an option only for a limited number of trades until the 1860s, focussing on routes requiring scheduled services and/or reliable average speeds on a voyage – and only where the customer was prepared to pay the higher costs involved. Most of this was passenger transport and mail contracts. Only when the much more fuel efficient triple expansion engine had become common (by the 1890s) were all shipping routes fully commercially viable for steamers. Ironclads are steam engine, steam-propelled warships of the later 19th century, protected by iron or steel armor plates. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shell (projectile), shells. The first ironclad battleship, , was launched by the French Navy in 1859; she prompted the British Royal Navy to start building ironclads. After the Battle of Hampton Roads, first clashes of ironclads took place during the American Civil War, it became clear that the ironclad had replaced the Ship of the line, unarmored line-of-battle ship as the most powerful warship afloat. In 1880, the American passenger steamer SS Columbia (1880), ''Columbia'' became the first ship to utilize the dynamo and incandescent light bulb. Furthermore, ''Columbia'' was the first structure besides Thomas Edison's laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey to use the incandescent light bulb.Dalton, Anthony
A long, dangerous coastline : shipwreck tales from Alaska to California
Heritage House Publishing Company, 1 Feb 2011 - 128 pages


Greek War of Independence

The Greek War of Independence was a successful war waged by the Greeks to win independence for Greece from the Ottoman Empire. Success at sea was vital for the Greeks. If they failed to counter the Ottoman Navy, it would be able to resupply the isolated Ottoman garrisons and land reinforcements from the Ottoman Empire's Asian provinces at will, crushing the rebellion. The Greeks decided to use fireships and found an effective weapon against the Ottoman vessels. Conventional naval actions were also fought, at which naval commanders like Andreas Vokos Miaoulis, Andreas Miaoulis, Nikolis Apostolis, Iakovos Tombazis and Antonios Kriezis distinguished themselves. The early successes of the Greek fleet in direct confrontations with the Ottomans at Naval Battle of Patras, Patras and Naval Battle of Spetsai, Spetsai gave the crews confidence, and contributed greatly to the survival and success of the uprising in the Peloponnese. Despite victories at Naval Battle of Samos, Samos and Naval Battle of Gerontas, Gerontas, the Revolution was threatened with collapse until the intervention of the Great Powers in the Battle of Navarino in 1827. The Ottoman fleet was decisively defeated by the combined fleets of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Britain, July Monarchy, France and the Russian Empire, effectively securing the independence of Greece.


1850 to the end of the century

Most warships used steam propulsion until the advent of the gas turbine. Steamships were superseded by diesel-driven ships in the second half of the 20th century. The ''Confederate States Navy'' (''CSN'') was the Navy, naval branch of the Confederate States of America, Confederate States armed forces established by an act of the Congress of the Confederate States, Confederate Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the American Civil War. The two major tasks of the Confederate Navy during the whole of its existence were the protection of Southern United States, Southern harbors and coastlines from outside invasion, and making the war costly for the Union (American Civil War), North by attacking merchant ships and breaking the Union blockade, Union Blockade. David Farragut was the first senior officer of the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He was the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and full Admiral (United States), admiral of the Navy. He is remembered in popular culture for his possibly apocryphal order at the Battle of Mobile Bay, usually paraphrased: "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!". Franklin Buchanan was an officer in the United States Navy who became an admiral in the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War. He was the captain of the ironclad (formerly ) during the Battle of Hampton Roads in Virginia. He climbed to the top deck of ''Virginia'' and began furiously firing toward shore with a carbine as was shelled. He soon was brought down by a sharpshooter's minie ball to the thigh. He would eventually recover from his leg wound. He never did get to command ''Virginia'' against . That honor went to Catesby ap Roger Jones. But Buchanan had handed the US Navy the worst defeat it would take until Attack on Pearl Harbor, Pearl Harbor. Raphael Semmes was an officer in the United States Navy from 1826 to 1860 and the Confederate States Navy from 1860 to 1865. During the American Civil War he was captain of the famous commerce raider , taking a record fifty-five prizes. Late in the war he was promoted to admiral and also served briefly as a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army. In Italy, Carlo Pellion di Persano was an Italian admiral and commander of the Regia Marina fleet at the Battle of Lissa (1866), Battle of Lissa. He commanded the fleet from 1860 to 1861, and saw action in the struggle for Risorgimento, Italian unification. After unification he was elected to the legislature; he became Minister of Marine in 1862 and in 1865 he was nominated a Senator. However, his career was marred during the Seven Weeks War, war with Austria when he commanded the Italian fleet at Lissa. After the defeat, he was condemned for incapacity, and discharged. Again in America, Charles Edgar Clark was an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War and the Spanish–American War. He commanded the battleship at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, San Francisco, and when war with Spain was deemed inevitable, he received orders to proceed to Key West, Florida, with all haste. After a most remarkable voyage of over , around Cape Horn, he joined the American fleet in Cuban waters on May 26, and on July 3 commanded his ship at the destruction of Pascual Cervera y Topete, Cervera's squadron. George Dewey was an admiral of the United States Navy, best known for his victory (without the loss of a single life of his own forces due to combat; one man died of a heart attack) at the Battle of Manila Bay (1898), Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War. He was also the only person in the history of the United States to have attained the rank of Admiral of the Navy (United States), Admiral of the Navy, the most senior rank in the United States Navy. Garrett J. Pendergrast was an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He commanded during the Mexican–American War in 1846. In 1856, he commissioned , the ship that would later become CSS ''Virginia''. Lewis Nixon (naval architect), Lewis Nixon was a shipbuilding executive, naval architecture, naval architect, and political activist. Nixon graduated first in his class from the Naval Academy in 1882 and was sent to study naval architecture at the Royal Naval College where, again, he graduated first in the class in 1885. In 1890, with help from assistant naval constructor David W. Taylor, he designed the ''Indiana''-class battleships which included , and USS ''Oregon''. Patricio Montojo was the Spanish Admiral, naval commander at the Battle of Manila Bay (May 1, 1898), a decisive battle of the Spanish–American War. At the outbreak of the Spanish–American War, Montojo was in command of the Spanish Squadron that was destroyed by the U.S. Asiatic Squadron in the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1, 1898. Montojo was wounded during this battle, as was also one of his two sons who were participating in this battle. United States Navy, United States naval forces under Commodore (rank), Commodore George Dewey decisively defeated Spain's Pacific fleet, at anchor in Manila Bay, the Philippines. Most of the seven Spanish vessels sank or surrendered.


20th century

In the 20th century, the internal combustion engine and gas turbine came to replace the steam engine in most ship applications. Trans-oceanic travel, transatlantic crossing, transatlantic and transpacific, was a particularly important application, with steam powered Ocean liners replacing sailing ships, then culminating in the massive Superliner (passenger ship), Superliners which included the . The event with the Titanic lead to the Maritime Distress Safety System.


Maritime events of World War I

At the start of the war, the German Empire had cruisers scattered across the globe. Some of them were subsequently used to attack Allied merchant shipping. The British Royal Navy systematically hunted them down, though not without some embarrassment from its inability to protect allied shipping. For example, the detached light cruiser , part of the East-Asia squadron stationed at Tsingtao, seized or destroyed 15 merchantmen, as well as sinking a Russian cruiser and a French destroyer. However, the bulk of the German East-Asia squadron – consisting of the armoured cruisers and , light cruisers and and two transport ships – did not have orders to raid shipping and was instead underway to Germany when it was lost at the Battle of the Falkland Islands in December 1914. Soon after the outbreak of hostilities, Britain initiated a naval blockade of Germany, preventing supplies from reaching its ports. The strategy proved effective, cutting off vital military and civilian supplies, although this blockade violated generally accepted international law codified by international agreements.London Declaration concerning the Laws of Naval War A blockade of stationed ships within a three-mile (5 km) radius was considered legitimate, however Britain mined international waters to prevent any ships from entering entire sections of ocean, causing danger to even neutral ships. Though there was limited response to this tactic, some expected a better response for German's aim with its unrestricted submarine warfare. German U-boats attempted to cut the supply lines between North America and Britain. The nature of submarine warfare meant that attacks often came without warning, giving the crews of the merchant ships little hope of survival.Gilbert, Martin (2004), The First World War: A Complete History, Clearwater, Florida: Owl Books, p. 306, , OCLC 34792651 p. 306 After the infamous sinking of the passenger ship in 1915, Germany promised not to target passenger liners. In 1916 the United States launched a protest over a cross-channel passenger ferry sinking, Sussex pledge, Germany modified its rules of engagement. Finally, in early 1917 Germany adopted a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, realizing the Americans would eventually enter the war. Germany sought to strangle Allied sea lanes before the U.S. could transport a large army overseas. The U-boat threat lessened in 1917, when merchant ships entered convoys escorted by destroyers. This tactic made it difficult for U-boats to find targets. The accompanying destroyers might sink a submerged submarine with depth charges. The losses to submarine attacks were reduced significantly. But the convoy system slowed the flow of supplies. The solution to the delays was a massive program to build new freighters. Various troop ships were too fast for the submarines and did not have to travel the North Atlantic in convoys. The First World War also saw the first use of aircraft carriers in combat, with launching Sopwith Camels in a successful raid against the Zeppelin hangars at Tondern in July 1918.


Maritime events of World War II


Battle of the Atlantic

In the North Atlantic, German U-boats attempted to cut supply lines to the United Kingdom by sinking merchant ships. In the first four months of the war they sank more than 110 vessels. In addition to supply ships, the U-boats occasionally attacked British and Canadian warships. One U-boat sank the British aircraft carrier, carrier , while another managed to sink the battleship in her home anchorage of Scapa Flow. In the summer of 1941, the Soviet Union entered the war on the side of the Allies. Although the Soviets had tremendous reserves in manpower, they had lost much of their equipment and manufacturing base in the first few weeks following the German invasion. The Western Allies attempted to remedy this by sending Arctic convoys of World War II, Arctic convoys, which travelled from the United Kingdom and the United States to the northern ports of the Soviet Union: Arkhangelsk, Archangel and Murmansk. The treacherous route around the North Cape, Norway, North Cape of Norway was the site of many battles as the Germans continually tried to disrupt the convoys using U-boats, bombers, and surface ships. Following the entry of the United States into the war in December 1941, U-boats sank shipping along the East Coast of the United States and Canada, the waters around Dominion of Newfoundland, Newfoundland, the Battle of the Caribbean, Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico. They were initially so successful that this became known among U-boat crews as the second happy time. Eventually, the institution of shore Blackout (wartime), blackouts and an interlocking convoy system resulted in a drop in attacks and U-boats shifted their operations back to the mid-Atlantic. The turning point of the Battle of the Atlantic took place in early 1943 as the Allies refined their naval tactics, effectively making use of new technology to counter the U-boats. The Allies produced ships faster than they were sunk, and lost fewer ships by adopting the convoy system. Improved anti-submarine warfare meant that the life expectancy of a typical U-boat crew would be measured in months. The vastly improved German Type XXI submarine, Type 21 U-boat appeared as the war was ending, but too late to affect the outcome. In December 1943, the last major sea battle between the Royal Navy and Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' took place. At the Battle of North Cape, the German battleship , was sunk by , , and several destroyers.


Pacific War

The Pacific War was the part of World War II, especially following the successful Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, attack on United States forces at Pearl Harbor to 1945. The main American naval theaters were as Pacific Ocean Areas (command), Pacific Ocean Areas and South West Pacific Area (command), Southwest Pacific Area. The British fought chiefly in the Indian Ocean. It was a war of logistics, with American home bases in California and Hawaii sending supplies to Australia. The U.S. used its submarines to sink Japanese transports and oil tankers, thereby cutting off Japan's supplies to its outposts and causing a severe shortage of gasoline. Leapfrogging (strategy), Island hopping was the key strategy to bypass heavily fortified Imperial Japanese Army, Japanese positions and instead concentrate the limited Allied resources on strategically important islands that were not well defended but capable of supporting the drive to the main islands of Japan. This strategy was possible in part because the Allies used submarine and air attacks to blockade and isolate Japanese bases, weakening their garrisons and reducing the Japanese ability to resupply and reinforce. Most Japanese soldiers killed in the Pacific died of starvation, and Japan used its submarine fleet to try to resupply them. Hard-fought battles on the Japanese Archipelago, Japanese home islands of Battle of Iwo Jima, Iwo Jima, Battle of Okinawa, Okinawa, and others resulted in horrific casualties on both sides, but finally produced a Japanese retreat. Faced with the loss of most of their experienced pilots, the Japanese increased their use of kamikaze tactics in an attempt to create unacceptably high casualties for the Allies of World War II, Allies. After ''the turning point of the Pacific'' where a third of the Imperial Japanese Navy fleet was hit in the Battle of Midway, the United States Department of the Navy recommended various positions for and against an invasion of Japan in 1945.Japan 1945: From Operation Downfall to Hiroshima and Nagasaki By Clayton K. S. Chun, John White. Page 13. Some staff proposed to force a Japanese surrender through a total naval blockade or air raids.


Latter half of the 20th century

In the latter half of the 20th century, various vessels, notably aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines, and nuclear-powered icebreakers, made use of nuclear marine propulsion. Sonar and radio augmented existing navigational technology. Various blockades were set up in international action. Egypt Israeli passage through the Suez Canal and Straits of Tiran, blockaded of the Straits of Tiran from 1948 to 1956 and 1967. The United States set up a blockade of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. The Israelis set up a sea blockade of the Gaza Strip since the outbreak of the Second Intifada (2000) and up to the present. The Israeli blockades of some or all the shores of Lebanon at various times during the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990), the 1982 Lebanon War, and the South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000)—resumed during the 2006 Lebanon War.


Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis was seen as an event that brought the U.S. closest to nuclear war and nearly the end of human existence. The event was on October the 22, 1962 during the presidency of John F. Kennedy. It also happened over a 13-day period. The nuclear power of the United States had a hand in why this event occurred. From this situation, the country learned that nuclear power does not have a lot of influence in politics. The soviet leader, Klrushchv, was the first to have his missiles fall back. At the time, it did not look like the United States was going to do the same. The U.S. did not back down because an American plane had been shot down in Cuba during the event. The blockade ended when the two powers resolved the issue peacefully.


Gulf of Tonkin Incident

The Gulf of Tonkin Incident was an alleged pair of attacks by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam against two American warships in 1964. One night a U.S. ship was sailing in North Vietnam when they thought they were being attacked. The president at this time decided that he needed to make a statement and asked congress for permission to act on this. Congress gave him permission by approving the Gulf of Tonkin resolution on August 7, 1964. With this resolution, president Johnson was able to release missiles on North Vietnamese torpedo boats and oil storage facilities. The Resolution was repealed in January 1971.


Falklands War

In 1982, the Falklands War was a war over the Falkland Islands with Argentina. This was said to be a very desperate war between Britain and Argentina. Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands where they were going in and out of the island. Britain was initially taken by surprise when the Argentine attack on the South Atlantic islands happened, but launched a naval task force to engage the Argentine Navy and Argentine Air Force, Air Force, and retake the islands by amphibious assault. Argentina ended up losing the war.


Panama canal handover

Though controversial within the United States, a process of handing the Panama canal lead to Panamanian control of the Panama Canal Zone by the Panama Canal Authority, Panama Canal Authority (ACP). It was effective at noon on December 31, 1999. Before this handover, the government of Panama held an international bid to negotiate a 25-year contract for operation of the Canal's container terminal, container shipping ports (chiefly two facilities at the Atlantic and Pacific outlets), which was won by the People's Republic of China, Chinese firm Hutchison Whampoa, a Hong Kong-based shipping concern whose owner Li Ka Shing is the wealthiest man in Asia. One of the conditions on the handover to the Panama Canal Authority by the United States was the permanent neutrality of the Canal and the explicit statements that allowed the United States to come back at any time.


21st century

Since the turn of the millennium, the construction of stealth ships have occurred. These are ships which employs stealth technology construction techniques in an effort to ensure that it is harder to detect by one or more of radar, visual, sonar, and infrared methods. These techniques borrow from stealth aircraft technology, although some aspects such as wake reduction are unique to stealth ships' design. Some of the major social changes of this period include women becoming admirals in defensive navies, being allowed to work on submarines, and being appointed captains of cruise ships.


Arctic Resources Race

As of March 2020, global superpowers are currently in competition of laying claim to both regions of the Arctic Circle and shipping routes that lead directly into the Pacific and Atlantic oceans from the
North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Ma ...
. Extensive access to the sea routes of the North Pole would allow, for example, save thousands of kilometers in distance from Europe to China. Most prominently, claims to territory in the Arctic Circle would guarantee a plethora of resources; some including: oil, gas, minerals, and fish.


Piracy

Seaborne piracy against transport vessels remains a significant issue (with estimated worldwide losses of US$13 to $16 billion per year), particularly in the waters between the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, off the Somali coast, and also in the Strait of Malacca and Singapore, which are used by over 50,000 commercial ships a year. Modern pirates favor small boats and taking advantage of the small number of crew members on modern cargo vessels. They also use large vessels to supply the smaller attack/boarding vessels. Modern pirates can be successful because a large amount of international commerce occurs via shipping. Major shipping routes take cargo ships through narrow bodies of water (such as the Gulf of Aden and the Strait of Malacca) making them vulnerable to be overtaken and boarded by small motorboats. Other active areas include the South China Sea and the Niger Delta. As usage increases, many of these ships have to lower cruising speeds to allow for navigation and traffic control, making them prime targets for piracy. The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) maintains statistics regarding pirate attacks dating back to 1995. Their records indicate hostage-taking overwhelmingly dominates the types of violence against seafarers. For example, in 2006, there were 239 attacks, 77 crew members were kidnapped and 188 taken hostage but only 15 of the pirate attacks resulted in murder.Security Management:Piracy on the high seas
. Retrieved October 23, 2007.
In 2007 the attacks rose by 10% to 263 attacks. There was a 35% increase on reported attacks involving guns. Crew members that were injured numbered 64 compared to just 17 in 2006.ICC Commercial Crime Services: IBM Piracy Report 2007
Retrieved January 22, 2008.
That number does not include hostages/kidnapping where they were not injured. Modern definitions of piracy include the following acts: * Boarding (attack), Boarding * Extortion * Hostage taking * Kidnapping of people for ransom * Murder * Robbery * Sabotage resulting in the ship subsequently sinking * Seizure (law), Seizure of items or the ship * Shipwrecking done intentionally to a ship


See also


General

* Atlantic history * Atlantic World * Bibliography of early U.S. naval history * Bibliography of 18th–19th century Royal Naval history * Congo River * History of the Royal Navy * History of whaling * Indian maritime history * List of museum ships * List of naval battles * Maritime history of Colonial America * Maritime history of Europe * Maritime museum * Maritime timeline * Maritime transport * Military history * Ming treasure voyages * Naval history * Niger River * Sailortowns * Timeline of maritime migration and exploration


Historiography articles

* American Neptune, a scholarly journal * Atlantic history, historiography of the Atlantic region * Frank C. Munson Institute of American Maritime History * International Commission for Maritime History * North American Society for Oceanic History


References


Citations and notes


General resources

Listed by date * Pearson, Michael, ed. ''Trade, Circulation, and Flow in the Indian Ocean World'' (2016), Nine essays by experts
excerpt
* Pearson, Michael N. "Notes on world history and maritime history." ''Asian Review of World History'' 3#1 (2015): 137–151
online
* Catsambis, Alexis, and Ben Ford, eds. ''The Oxford Handbook of Maritime Archaeology'' (2013
excerpt
* Smith, Joshua M. “Toward a Taxonomy of Maritime Historians,” ''International Journal of Maritime History'' XXV:2 (December, 2013), 1-16 * Paine, Lincoln. ''The sea and civilization: a maritime history of the world'' (Knopf, 2013). Pp. xxxv+ 744. 72 illustrations, 17 maps
excerpt
* Tucker, Spencer C. ''World War II at Sea: An Encyclopedia'' (2 vol. 2011
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* Blume, Kenneth. ''Historical Dictionary of the U.S. Maritime Industry'' (2011
excerpt and text search
* Sohn, Louis B. et al. ''The Law of the Sea in a Nutshell'' (2nd ed. 2010
excerpt and text search
* Haycock, David Boyd and Sally Archer, eds. ''Health and Medicine at Sea, 1700–1900'' (Woodbridge Boydell Press, 2009
online review
* Black, Jeremy. ''Naval Power: A History of Warfare and the Sea from 1500 Onwards'' (2009) * O'Hara, Glen. (2009) "'The Sea is Swinging Into View'": Modern British Maritime History in a Globalised World," ''English Historical Review,'' Vol. 124 Issue 510, pp 1109–1134 * Sobecki, S. (2008
The Sea and Medieval English Literature
* John Hattendorf, Hattendorf, John B. (4 vol. 2007
Oxford Encyclopedia of Maritime History
* Fremont-Barnes, Gregory. (2007) ''The Royal Navy 1793–1815'' (Battle Orders
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* Kennedy, Paul M. ''The Rise And Fall of British Naval Mastery'' (2nd ed. 2006
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* Shiflett, T. D. (2005)
America's Line of Battle: Its Construction & History
Tiger Lily Publications LLC. * Callo, J. F. (2004). ''Who's Who in Naval History'' * Rasor, Eugene L. (2004) ''English/British Naval History to 1815: A Guide to the Literature''; (1990) ''British Naval History after 1815: A Guide to the Literature'' * Herman, Arthur. (2004) ''To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World'' * Friel, Ian. (2003) ''The British Museum Maritime History of Britain and Ireland: c. 400–2001'' * Chen, Yan (2002). ''Maritime Silk Route and Chinese-Foreign Cultural Exchanges''. Beijing: Peking University Press. . * Burnett, John. (2002). ''Dangerous Waters: Modern Piracy and Terror on the High Seas'' * * Samson, Jane. "Maritime history" in , Historiography * Deng, Gang. ''Maritime Sector, Institutions, and Sea Power of Premodern China'' (1999
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* Labaree, Benjamin W. et al. (1998) ''America and the Sea: A Maritime History''; 686 p
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covers the men and women involved in exploring, fishing, merchant marine, the navy, coastal trade, river boats, and canals. * Bjork, Katharine. (1998). "The Link That Kept the Philippines Spanish: Mexican Merchant Interests and the Manila Trade, 1571–1815" ''Journal of World History'' 1#1 pp. 25–50. * Rodger, Nicholas. (1997) ''The Safeguard of the Sea: A Naval History of Britain Vol 1: 660-1649'' and (2004) ''The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649–1815'' * Stopford, Martin. ''Maritime Economics'' (2nd ed. 1997
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* Hill, J.R. (1995) ''The Oxford Illustrated History of the Royal Navy'' * De La Pedraja, René. '' Historical Dictionary of the U.S. Merchant Marine and Shipping Industry: Since the Introduction of Steam'' (1994
online
* Sager, Eric W. ''Ships and Memories: Merchant Seafarers in Canada's Age of Steam'' (1993
online
* Love, Jr., Robert W., (1992) ''History of the U.S. Navy'' (2 vol
excerpt and text search vol 1excerpt and text search vol 2
* Chang, Pin-tsun. (1989). "The Evolution of Chinese Thought on Maritime Foreign Trade from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century," ''International Journal of Maritime History'' 1: 51–64. * Needham, Joseph (1986). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Part 3''. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd. * Potter, E. B. (1981) ''Sea Power: A Naval History''; worldwide combat history * Boxer, Charles R. (1969) ''The Portuguese Seaborne Empire, 1415–1825'' * Parry, J. H. (1973) ''The Spanish seaborne empire'' * Boxer, Charles R. (1965) ''The Dutch Seaborne Empire 1600–1800'' * Morison, S. E. (1961)
The maritime history of Massachusetts, 1783–1860
Boston: Houghton Mifflin. * Burwash, Dorothy, ''English Merchant Shipping, 1460–1540'' (1947
online
* Paine, Ralph D. ''The Old Merchant Marine: A Chronicle of American Ships and Sailers'' (1919
online
* Allen, G. W. (1913)
A naval history of the American Revolution
* Mahan, A. T. (1905)
Sea power in its relations to the War of 1812
Boston: Little, Brown, and Company. * Maclay, E. S. (1899)
A history of American privateers
New York: D. Appleton and Co. * Mahan, A. T. (1898)
The influence of seapower upon the French revolution and empire, 1793–1812
Boston: Little, Brown & Co. * Corbett, S. J. S. (1898)
Drake and the Tudor navy, with a history of the rise of England as a maritime power
New York: B. Franklin. * Mahan, A.T. (1890) ''The Influence of Sea Power Upon History: 1660-1783'' thesingle most influential boo
online
* Scharf, J. T. (1887). ''History of the Confederate States navy from its organization to the surrender of its last vessel: Its stupendous struggle with the great navy of the United States; the engagements fought in the rivers and harbors of the South, and upon the high seas; blockade-running, first use of iron-clads and torpedoes, and privateer history.
online


Primary sources

* Hattendorf, John B. et al. eds. (1991) ''British Naval documents, 1204–1960'' (1993)


External links


''Coriolis: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Maritime Studies''International Commission for Maritime History'' The Institute of Maritime History''
– a non-profit institute focused on research, preservation and education in maritime history
Society for Nautical ResearchThe Maritime History PodcastFederation of Maritime History and Archeology Research (Sorbonne University)International Association for the History of Transport, Traffic and MobilityThe Australian Association for Maritime History
*North American Society for Oceanic History, The North American Society for Oceanic History {{DEFAULTSORT:Maritime History Maritime history, History of technology