Small boat operations

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Royal Marines in a Rigid Raider assault watercraft. Wfm rigid raider.jpg
Royal Marines in a Rigid Raider assault watercraft.

Small boat operations in military and naval warfare refers to operations in and around the littoral zone, within a certain distance of shore, carried out by small, fast and highly maneuverable craft. [1] In recent years[ when? ], research has been conducted into the use of autonomous small boats for use in military contexts. [2]

Contents

History

The role of these types of operations has been both offensive and defensive. Conventional navies have used small torpedo craft for hit-and-run type attacks and raids on coastal and shoreline targets as far back as the late 1800s. Prior to the use of modern small boat operations and torpedoes in warfare, large naval vessels were generally used to contain enemy ports without a large risk of sustaining damage from the vessels in port, though the advancement of small boats has changed this calculus. By the 20th century, the use of small boats in coastal operations had become a standard part of naval defense strategies. [1]

Following suicide attacks on warships by terrorists such as in the Sri Lankan Civil War and the USS Cole bombing, navies have adapted specialized craft to maintain port security, patrol coastal and river line areas.

Craft types

Special Boat Team 22 in SOC-R boats SBT 22 on SOC-R boats.jpg
Special Boat Team 22 in SOC-R boats

Units

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torpedo boat</span> Small, fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naval ship</span> Military ship used by a navy

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warship</span> Ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brown-water navy</span> Naval force capable of operating in littoral waters

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fast attack craft</span> Naval surface vessel capable of high speed designed to attack other watercraft

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egyptian Navy</span> Maritime warfare branch of Egypts military

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coastal Forces of the Royal Navy</span> British Royal Navy unit

Coastal Forces was a division of the Royal Navy initially established during World War I, and then again in World War II under the command of Rear-Admiral, Coastal Forces. It remained active until the last minesweepers to wear the "HM Coastal Forces" cap tally were taken out of reserve in 1968. The division received more gallantry awards than any other branch of the Royal Navy during that period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Special warfare combatant-craft crewmen</span> Military unit

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The Korean People's Army Navy (KPANF; Korean: 조선인민군 해군; Hanja: 朝鮮人民軍 海軍; MR: Chosŏn-inmingun Haegun; lit. Korean People's Military Navy; or the Korean People's Navy, is the naval component of the Korean People's Army, the North Korean armed forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Navy torpedo retrievers</span> Naval vessels that retrieve training munitions

United States Navy submarines, surface ships, and aircraft launch torpedoes, missiles, and autonomous undersea vehicles as part of training exercises. Typically, these training munitions have no warhead and are recovered from the sea and reused. Similarly, new naval weapons under development are launched at sea in performance trials. These experimental units also need to be recovered, in their case to obtain evaluation data. At various points in history, newly manufactured torpedoes were fired as a quality control measure and these, too, had to be recovered before issuing them to the fleet. The U.S. Navy has used a variety of boats to accomplish the retrieval of these test and training munitions. As their missions evolved over the last century they have been variously known as torpedo retrievers, torpedo weapon retrievers, torpedo recovery boats, range support craft, and multi-purpose craft.

References

  1. 1 2 Hughes, Wayne P. (October 2000). "Take the Small Boat Threat Seriously" (PDF). Proceedings. 126 (10). United States Naval Institute: 104–106 via Calhoun: The NPS Institutional Archive.
  2. Elkins, Les; Sellers, Drew; Monach, W. Reynolds (29 September 2010). "The Autonomous Maritime Navigation (AMN) project: Field tests, autonomous and cooperative behaviors, data fusion, sensors, and vehicles". Journal of Field Robotics . 27 (6): 790–818. doi:10.1002/rob.20367. S2CID   36636004.