File talk:Battleship.jpg

Just as a note; Battleships and most Cruisers are obsolete. They're expensive and make too big a target to miss, especially as aircraft carriers can sink them far from a distance, submarines from below and other ships, which are armed with missiles. Also, there is electronic warfare and early warning systems, which give more time for slow, hulkish Battleships.

Naval tactics revolve around aircraft carriers; they are large, but slow and to counter this, carrier fast aircraft. However they themselves are threatened from submarine or air attack bringing the next three ships; anti-air ships, anti-surface ships and anti-air ships. Most navies today equip ships as all three. They are equipped as escorts to defend the carriers. In addition, carriers carry aircraft to deal with air attacks and helicopters to search for submarines. Escort ships are usually designated as (in order of size - biggest to smallest) Destroyers, Frigates or Corvettes. In addition, Patrol boats and Gunboats are used to defend the coast, rivers, etc.

There is a classification system for navies: blue-water, green-water or brown-water navy. Blue-water navies are operated by the military powers of the world, such as the US Navy, the French Navy or the Royal Navy. Blue-water navies are able to be deployed on the high seas and into other nations; the Falklands War is a good example of this. Green-water navies are more regional and don't have that capability. However most have aircraft carriers and can still pose a threat to blue-water navies. The last type is brown-water navy, which consists of river and coast defence. Almost all nations operate a brown-water navy in addition to blue or green. In fact the US Navy used one during the Vietnam War. The US Coast Guard is a brown-water navy.

Although Battleships aren't used, Cruisers are used, but only by three navies, the US, the Russian, and for some reason, the Peruvian Navy. The Kirov-class Battlecruiser used by the Russians is the largest in operation today. It is the closest thing we have to a Battleship. -- Agent Johnson |  Proud to be English, not proud to support our football team :P  16:11, 24 December 2011 (UTC)