Largest naval battle in history

The title of "largest naval battle in history" may be conferred according to criteria which might include the numbers of personnel and/or vessels involved in the battle, the total tonnage of the vessels involved, the damage sustained, or the casualties inflicted. There are three other related – but not identical – titles which might be contended: those of "the largest sea battle", "the largest naval action", and "the largest sea action".

Below is a (perhaps rather arbitrary) list of nine candidates, each "said" to have involved 150,000 or more personnel: Ecnomus, Jutland, Lake Poyang, Lepanto, Leyte Gulf, Philippine Sea, Red Cliffs, Salamis and Yamen. However, it is open to question whether all of these can or should be regarded as serious candidates for the title of "largest naval battle in history".

Two (Salamis in 480 BCE and Ecnomus in 256 BCE) occurred in the Classical Era, when ancient sources frequently exaggerated the numbers involved in warfare. These include Herodotus, a key source for information on Salamis. [For example, Herodotus claimed in "The Histories" that Xerxes invaded Greece with some 2,600,000 soldiers, but it is commonly believed that only 100,000–200,000 troops actually participated. Since Herodotus is one of the key sources for information on the Battle of Salamis, it is likely that it involved far fewer than the claimed 200,000 sailors and 1,642 vessels.] Figures for Cape Ecnomus are similarly dubious. Comparable doubts may be raised about the enormous figures given in connection with the battles of Red Cliffs, Yamen and especially Lake Poyang. In contrast, battles fought in modern times are correspondingly well-documented.

In pre-modern battles, large actions involved numerous small galleys, rather than larger vessels like battleships or cruisers. Two battles between the Ottoman Empire and Venice are candidates for the battle with the largest number of ships-of-the-line. In the Action of July 8, 1716, near Corfu, 87 ships were present, although most of them did not take an active part in the fighting. The following year, 85 ships took part in the Battle of Matapan.

Most larger fleet battles of the age of sail involved 20–30 ships-of-the-line, as well as smaller vessels, on each side. Several battles of the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652–1654) as well as the Battle of Lowestoft in 1665, Beachy Head in 1690 and the La Hougue in 1692 also involved large numbers of warships (possibly well over one hundred) on each side.

The great battles of the later age of sail, such as Trafalgar (1805) and the Battle of the Saintes (1782), involved comparatively small numbers of vessels, but the majority of these were ships-of-the-line considerably larger than the vessels typical of earlier periods. "Victory", Nelson's flagship at Trafalgar, displaced more than 3,000 tons, and the Spanish first-rate "Santísima Trinidad", the largest ship at Trafalgar, had a displacement of marginally under 5,000 tons.

By the time of the Battle of Jutland in 1916 battleships and battlecruisers (the capital ships of the period) typically had a displacement of more than 20,000 tons. The battlecruiser "Tiger", the largest ship at Jutland, displaced more than 33,000 tons. The "typical" battleship of the post-Jutland era, and therefore of the Second World War, displaced more than 35,000 tons, and the Japanese "Yamato" and "Musashi" – the largest warships ever to take part in a naval battle – each displaced more than 70,000 tons. Thus, although no surface naval action of the Second World War involved more than 8 battleships (Surigao Strait in 1944) the heavy engagements of that war are not as 'small' as one might therefore suppose.
(N.B. the figures given in the above paragraph are for full load displacement.)

There follows the list of nine candidates. It needs to be stressed that it is only for the last four of these that the figures given can be considered reliable.

The candidates

* ? Salamis, September (28?) 480 BC. 371 Greek ships defeated 1,271 Persian ships in this decisive battle. Greek triremes had a crew of about 200 while their small penteconters had 50 oarsmen. With 1,642 ships altogether, it is thought possible that 200,000 sailors, soldiers and marines took part.

* ? Cape Ecnomus, (exact date and duration unknown) 256 BC. Like Salamis, Ecnomus was also a single engagement where 680 ships were fighting in a very small area. Some historians accept Roman claims that Rome had about 100,000 personnel. If this were true, which is unlikely, it would make it probable that at least 200,000 Roman and Carthaginian sailors and soldiers were involved.

* ? Red Cliffs, (exact date and duration unknown) northern winter 208, the battle between Cao Cao and Sun Quan on China's Yangtze River – the exact location is debated – during the late Han Dynasty. Cao Cao's forces are said to have numbered 220,000–240,000 while Sun Quan's fleet is said to have had 50,000 marines, the total claimed therefore being some 270,000 or 290,000 in all.

* ? Yamen, March 19, 1279. The battle which ended the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty's conquest of Southern Song Dynasty. It is claimed that more than 1,000 Song Dynasty warships were destroyed by the Yuan Dynasty near Yamen, Guangdong, China.

* ? Lake Poyang, August 30–October 4 1363. Claimed to be the largest battle in terms of personnel. Sailors of the Ming rebel force, said to be 200,000 strong, commanded by Zhu Yuanzhang, met a Han rebel force, claimed to be 650,000-strong, commanded by Chen Youliang, on Lake Poyang, China's largest freshwater lake.
* Battle of Preveza September 28, 1538
* Lepanto, 7 October 1571. 212 Holy League galleys and galleasses against 272 or more Ottoman galleys, galliots etc (484+ total). The forces of the Holy League inflicted a crushing defeat on the Ottoman fleet. This was the last major naval battle, at least in the Western world, to be fought entirely or almost entirely between rowing vessels. Around 150,000 personnel took part in the battle. Lepanto is thought by some historians to have been the most decisive naval battle since Actium in 31 BC. The Turkish fleet lost more than 200 vessels and suffered at least 20,000 casualties.

* Jutland, May 31–June 1, 1916. The largest battle in terms tonnage of ships "engaged", and in terms of the total tonnage of ships involved in a single action. Possibly the largest battle-line action, in terms of numbers of ships engaged; certainly the largest in terms of the "tonnage" of ships engaged. The largest "surface" action and the largest ship-to-ship action, in terms of the tonnage of the ships engaged. The largest "gun" action in terms of the weight of fire of the guns involved, and the largest single action – surface or otherwise – in terms of the numbers of torpedoes launched. The Imperial German Navy's battle fleet (the High Seas Fleet) commanded by Reinhardt Scheer was engaged by the numerically superior British main battle fleet (the Grand Fleet) under Jellicoe. Material losses were heavier on the British side, but the High Seas Fleet only narrowly escaped destruction and was thereafter not prepared to risk an encounter with the Grand Fleet.

* Philippine Sea, June 19–20, 1944. The largest aircraft carrier battle in history, involving 15 US fleet carriers, nine Japanese fleet carriers, 170 other warships and some 1,700 aircraft. Leyte Gulf is generally considered to be a group of several interrelated battles rather than simply "one" battle. If this is taken seriously Philippine Sea therefore emerges as the largest single naval battle of World War II, and arguably the largest in history. The air-sea action fought on 19 June 1944 is unquestionably the largest of its kind. The US Fifth Fleet's Task Force 58 is (in terms of tonnage) the largest single naval formation ever to give battle, with the possible exception of the British Grand Fleet at Jutland. Task Force 58 alone was manned by nearly 99,000 personnel, and was in all respects larger and more powerful than any formation to give battle at Leyte Gulf. Likewise the action on 19 June 1944 is, with the possible exception of Jutland, the largest single fleet action, in terms of tonnage, in history.

* Leyte Gulf, October 23–26, 1944. The largest in terms of tonnage of ships in the combined orders of battle, if not necessarily in terms of tonnage of the ships "engaged". Also the largest in terms of the tonnage of ships sunk, and in terms of the size of the area within which the component battles took place. The United States 3rd and 7th Fleets, including some Australian warships, comprised 8 large aircraft carriers, 24 light/escort carriers, 12 battleships, 24 cruisers, 141 destroyers, many other ships, and around 1,500 aircraft. They won a decisive victory over Japanese forces, which consisted of four aircraft carriers, nine battleships, 19 cruisers, 34 destroyers and several hundred aircraft. The opposing fleets carried a total of about 200,000 men. Leyte Gulf was also a major air battle. Leyte Gulf consisted of four major subsidiary battles: Battle of Sibuyan Sea, Battle of Surigao Strait, Battle off Samar and Battle of Cape Engano, along with other actions. These are counted together by virtue of their all being caused by the Japanese operation "Sho-Go", which was aimed at destroying the Allied amphibious forces involved in the invasion of Leyte. However, the individual battles were separated by distances as great as two hundred miles.

Other very large naval battles / operations

* Actium, 31 BC. Battle between Mark Antony, Cleopatra and Octavian for control of the Roman world; more than 500 warships were involved.

* Baekgang, 663. More than 800 Yamato ships versus 170 Tang ships.

* Tangdao, 1161. More than 600 Jin warships versus 120 Song warships.

* Sluys, 1340. An English Fleet of about 250 vessels destroyed a French fleet of nearly 200. A decisive battle of the Hundred Years' War, it ended the threat of a French invasion of England.

* Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 1588. In a series of engagements in the English Channel, a Spanish invasion fleet of 130 ships was defeated by English forces numbering nearly 200 ships.

* Myeongnyang, 1597. A large Japanese assault on Admiral Yi's remaining 13 ships. The Japanese attacked with 333, but were routed by the smaller force.
* Noryang Point, 1598. The final battle to end Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598): 500 Japanese warships versus 140 Korean and Chinese warships.

* Lowestoft, 1665. 109 English ships fought 103 Dutch ships (212 total).

* Penghu, 1683. More than 200 Qing fought more than 200 Tungning warships (400+ total).

* Cartagena de Indias, 1741. 186 British ships attacked Spanish fortifications and six warships in Cartagena de Indias (present-day Colombia), resulting in a major defeat and heavy losses for the British: 50 ships lost and 18,000 casualties.

* The Saintes, also known as the Battle of Dominica, 1782. During the American Revolutionary War, a British fleet of 36 ships-of-the-line under Rodney fought a French fleet of 33 of the line under De Grasse, capturing five.

* Vyborg Bay, 1790. 257 Russian vs 241 Swedish sailing ships and rowing vessels (498 total) (neva.ru).
* Svensksund, 1790 (The Second Battle of Svensksund). 196 Swedish fought 141 Russian vessels (337 total).

* Trafalgar, 1805. A British fleet of 27 ships-of-the-line and six other vessels, commanded by Nelson, attacked and destroyed a combined French and Spanish fleet of 41 ships (including 33 ships-of-the-line), capturing 21 of the line and destroying another. Almost certainly the largest battle, at least until Santiago in 1898, in terms of the damage and/or casualties inflicted by gunfire alone. One of the most decisive battles in history.

* Unternehmen Rheinübung ("Operation Rhine Exercise"), also known as "The Hunt for . . " or "The Sinking of . . " the "Bismarck", 18–27 May 1941. The new German battleship "Bismarck" and heavy cruiser "Prinz Eugen" attempt to break out to the Atlantic and attack Britain's convoy routes. In response to the German sortie the British Admiralty deploy 6 battleships, 3 battlecruisers, 2 aircraft carriers, 16 cruisers and 33 destroyers. In the Battle of the Denmark Strait on 24 May the German force sinks the battlecruiser "Hood". "Bismarck" is then relentlessly pursued by every available British major warship, and destroyed with overwhelming force on 27 May. At the start of Rheinübung "Bismarck" and "Hood" were (in displacement) the largest operational warships in the world.

* Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941. Six large Japanese aircraft carriers, the most powerful carrier force assembled up to that time, commanded by Chuichi Nagumo, made a surprise attack, with 353 aircraft in all, on the US Pacific Fleet's base of Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu. This raid was effectively the start of the Pacific War. Five US battleships were sunk at their moorings. Three of these were subsequently raised and recommissioned, but two ("Arizona" and "Oklahoma") were total losses. Other US warships were sunk or damaged, and nearly 200 US aircraft destroyed (mostly on the ground). 2,400 US military/naval personnel and civilians were killed and 1,280 wounded. However, this event is not usually referred to as a "battle".
* Midway, 4–6 June 1942. The most decisive battle of the Pacific War. Brought about by the largest Japanese naval operation in history (involving 11 battleships, 7 aircraft carriers and some 200 other ships), it resulted in the destruction of 4 large Japanese carriers and one large American carrier – the heaviest ever aircraft carrier losses in a single battle. Midway was a crushing defeat for the Japanese navy, reversing the course of the Pacific War.
* Guadalcanal, 12–15 November 1942. A series of surface and air-sea battles in which 2 battleships, 3 cruisers, 10 destroyers and 11 transports were sunk. The decisive battle of the Solomons campaign, it ended the Japanese endeavour to drive US forces from the island of Guadalcanal.
* Ten-gō sakusen ("Operation Ten-go"), 7 April 1945. The sinking of the Japanese battleship "Yamato", the largest warship in the world, and five of her escorts by aircraft of the US Navy's Task Force 58 commanded by Marc Mitscher. Not normally thought of as an exceptionally large naval battle, it is nonetheless, by virtue of the immense displacement of "Yamato", and thus in terms of the tonnage sunk, one of the six largest in history (along with Jutland, Operation Rheinübung, Midway, the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, and Leyte Gulf) – or seven if one counts the attack on Pearl Harbor as a battle.

There may as well be the question of the identity of the largest "sea" battle in history. Usually one would tend to assume that "largest naval battle" and "largest sea battle" are synonymous, but if the Battle of Red Cliffs (for example) – which was fought on the Yangtze River – were to be adjudged the largest naval battle in history, it would not resolve the question of the largest "sea" battle – Leyte Gulf, Jutland, Salamis or Cape Ecnomus might still qualify for that title.

Footnotes

References

General

* Fuller, J.F.C. "The Decisive Battles of the Western World and their Influence upon History", 3 vols. (Eyre & Spottiswoode, London, 1954-6)
**"Volume 1: From the earliest times to the battle of Lepanto"
**"Volume 2: From the defeat of the Spanish Armada to the battle of Waterloo"
**"Volume 3: From the American Civil War to the end of the Second World War"

A source for entries on Salamis, Actium, Sluys, Lepanto, the Defeat of the Spanish Armada, Trafalgar, Midway and Leyte Gulf.

Midway

*cite book
last = Morison
first = Samuel Eliot
authorlink = Samuel Eliot Morison
coauthors =
year = 1949 (reissue 2004)
chapter =
title = Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions, May 1942 – August 1942 "vol. 4 of "History of United States Naval Operations in World War II
publisher = Little Brown & Company (reissue = University of Illinois)
location = Champaign, Illinois, U.S.A.
id = ISBN 0-252-07063-1

The Battle for Leyte Gulf

*cite book
last = Cutler
first = Thomas
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 2001
chapter =
title = The Battle of Leyte Gulf: 23-26 October 1944
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location = Annapolis, Maryland, U.S.
id = ISBN 1-55750-243-9

*cite book
author= Hornfischer, James D.
title=The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors
publisher=Bantam
year=2004
id=ISBN 0-553-80257-7

*cite book
last = Morison
first = Samuel Eliot
authorlink = Samuel Eliot Morison
coauthors =
year = 1963 (reissue 2004)
chapter =
title = Leyte, June 1944-January 1945, "vol. 12 of "History of United States Naval Operations in World War II
publisher = University of Illinois Press; Reprint edition
location = Champaign, Illinois, U.S.A.
id = ISBN 0-252-07063-1

*cite book
last = Sauer
first = Howard
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1999
chapter =
title = The Last Big-Gun Naval Battle: The Battle of Surigao Strait
publisher = Glencannon Press
location =
id = ISBN 1-889901-08-3

*cite book
last = Woodward
first = C. Vann
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1947 (reissue 2007)
chapter =
title = The Battle for Leyte Gulf
publisher = Skyhorse Publishing
location =
id = ISBN 1602391947