Command of the sea

Command of the sea

Corbett declared,
-Means the control of sea
communications
Admiral Sir Cyprian Bridge

 It enables the nation which possesses it

to attack its foes where it pleases
 At the same time it gives its possessor
security against serious counter-attacks
 In fact, it is the main object of naval
warfare
Distinction between winning
command & exercising it
 Corbett wrote:
– The battle fleet could never be numerous
enough to exercise command and control
the lines of passage
– It is the job of the flotilla and its supporting
cruisers and intermediate ships
Russel Grenfell made the
difference clear
 Control fleet
 Battle fleet
 ‘Balanced fleet’
– Excessive peacetime concentration on the
battle fleet and too little on the control fleet
– Admiral Jelicoe was accused for not
getting balance during first world war
Clarke & Thursfield

 ‘it is either absolute, or it does not exit’

 There is no such thing as partial or
incomplete command of the sea
 At sea there is no halfway house
between victory and defeat
Mahan’s view

 Command of the sea is an exclusive

thing; it can not be shared, and was
applicable to one nation at a time
Command of the sea – Other
aspects
 Relative in terms of place
 Might be limited in extend
 For all these reasons, command of the
sea could never be absolute in practice
 The concept is misleading –it implies
something more in theory than in
practice
Achieving command of the sea-
how?
 Decisive battle – main,quickest and
economical for stronger power
 Fleet-in-being
 blockade
Achieving command of the sea
by decisive battle?
 Effects of the major fleet engagements
 Neglect of protecting commerce &
preparing for operations against
enemy’s coast
 Decisive battle could prove to difficult,
because enemy would chose some
form of fleet-in-being strategy
 Geo-strategic circumstances
Decisive battle