In a recent article titled How the Dutch Ate Their Prime Minister in 1672, we recounted a military event carried out by the navy of the Netherlands that occurred in 1667: a bold naval incursion in which sixty-two warships, under the command of Admiral Michiel de Ruyter and the brother of the Dutch prime minister, […]
Naval warfare
The Sacking of the Irish Town of Baltimore by Barbary Corsairs in 1631
Although the general idea is that the Ottomans and Barbary corsairs limited their naval raids to the Mediterranean, this is a mistake, as ships and even entire fleets dared to pass through the Pillars of Hercules and sail into the Atlantic Ocean to attack not only the Canary Islands and Madeira but even the British […]
Another Bronze Ram Recovered at a Depth of 80 Meters in the Site of the Battle of the Aegates Islands that ended the First Punic War
The sea, which was the setting for the Battle of the Aegates Islands off the coast of Sicily, continues to reveal its archaeological treasures. During the August research campaign, a new bronze ship ram (rostrum) was recovered from the seabed at a depth of around 80 meters. This valuable find was retrieved by divers from […]
The minimum impact speed to break a ship with the ram of an ancient trireme is 1.3 knots
A recent study has shed light on the capabilities of ancient triremes, revealing that the minimum speed needed to break a single plank of an enemy ship with a ram is 1.3 to 3 knots. This finding highlights the technical sophistication and advanced understanding of naval engineering in antiquity. Triremes, famous for their efficient design […]
The Battle of Drepana, the Greatest Roman Naval Defeat in the First Punic War, was Foretold by Chickens
A while ago, we dedicated an article to the long siege that the Romans subjected Lilybaeum to, the last Carthaginian stronghold in Sicily. We then pointed out that this episode, which determined Rome’s victory in the First Punic War, was marked by a series of land and naval battles and that in one of them […]
Naulochus, Agrippa’s Great Naval Victory over Sextus Pompey that Raised Octavian to Power
After the death of Julius Caesar, Rome was plunged into a civil war. Another one. If the previous had been due to the power struggle between the deceased and Pompey the Great, this time it was between the heirs of Caesar’s legacy and the assassins. The former, Octavian and Mark Antony, agreed to an alliance […]
The Residence of the Prefect of the Roman Tyrrhenian Fleet, from where Pliny the Elder would have seen the Vesuvius Eruption, uncovered
In an area already protected by ministerial archaeological restrictions due to the density of ancient testimonies scattered around Punta Sarparella, in Bacoli, from the entrance to the Roman theater of Misenum, passing through the sacellum of the Augustales, to the inner basin of the ancient port, an archaeological discovery of excepcional importance has been made. […]
Tsushima, the “biggest and most important naval battle since Trafalgar”
The outcome of a battle can have implications beyond the confrontation between the contenders and even beyond the war itself. Sometimes, it resonates on the international stage, triggering events and behaviors that might never have occurred otherwise. A good example of this is the naval combat at Tsushima, formerly known as the Battle of the […]
Quasi-War, the undeclared conflict that pitted the United States against France between 1798 and 1800
A few days were enough for Esteban to realize that Víctor Hugues had been overly optimistic in telling him that the journey from Cayenne to Paramaribo, at such times, was an easy undertaking. Jeannet, envious of Guadeloupe’s prosperity, also had his privateers: small, rapacious captains, without the charisma or stature of an Antoine Fuët, who […]