Ancient navies and vessels

During the First Punic War a large fleet was built allegedly using a stranded Phoenician vessel as a prototype. The Romans lacked the skill of other maritime powers such as the Greeks and Carthaginians and had to resort to technology for advantages. The traditional naval tactic of ramming wasn't abandoned, but the Roman ships were fitted with a corvus to accommodate their strengths in land combat. This movable boarding bridge enabled the Romans to transform naval combat from ramming and sinking to boarding with marines through capturing and plundering the vessels. In its initial stages this new combat style enabled the Romans to win some overwhelming successes against the Carthaginian fleet, but the added weight of the corvus made their vessels less maneuverable and seaworthy resulting in heavy losses with violent weather conditions.[6] A tactic that the Romans used were the use of fireships and combustibles. The combustibles were thrown on board the enemy ships to damage the ship and its personnel.[8]

During the Second Punic War, Hannibal abandoned the once formidable Carthaginian fleet to focus on land operations. This was caused by a victory that bred confidence and led to the eventual invasion of North Africa. Their newly founded sea prowess enabled the Roman legions to land on the coast of North Africa and bring the war out of Italy and into the laps of the Carthaginians.[6]

With the final destruction of Carthage, and the end of the Third Punic War in 146 BC, Rome was the master of sea power in the Mediterranean. In both the Second and Third Punic Wars, Roman sea power was predominant, though not vigorously exercised. This caused restrictions for the Carthaginian communication forces and forced them to keep strong defensive garrisons in Spain and their home territory.[9] However, the conquest of Carthage also eliminated the threat of maritime warfare as there was no longer any sea powers left to challenge Roman supremacy. As a result, the navy slipped into the logistical role of support to the legions and providing escort for trade vessels and grain shipments, with the adverse effect of drastically increasing piracy.[6]

The imperial navy after Augustus, aside from the occasional conflicts in civil wars, once again was primarily charged with the protection of shipping and deterring piracy. Rome maintained two large fleets, the Classis Praetoria Misenensis and Classis Praetoria Ravennatis based in the Mediterranean with smaller squadrons operating on the North Sea, Black Sea and along the major rivers running throughout the provinces. Misenum, built by Agrippa in 31 BC, was the main naval base of the Mediterranean, joined by Ravenna, Aleria on Corsica and other temporary ports. The military situations on the Rhine and the Danube necessitated the construction of several dedicated fleet installations for the provincial fleets, classis Germanica, Pannonia and Moesica, but most were attached to the existing forts of Provincial Legions. In the English Channel and the North Sea (Oceanus Britannicus and Oceanus Germanicus), the Classis Britannica was stationed at Portus Itius (Boulogne) in Gaul and later also used the Saxon Shore forts of Britannia as bases.

As Roman power waned in the 4th and 5th centuries AD, so went the Roman navy. In 429 AD, the Vandals embarked on ships from southern Gaul and landed in North Africa, where they established their own kingdom. Within a couple of decades, the Roman Empire consisted of little more than the city of Rome itself and its original territories in Latium and Central Italy. The Vandals' powerful navy contributed to the fall of the Western Empire when Vandal pirate King Gaiseric not only eliminated Roman shipping on the Mediterranean, but also invaded Rome itself. By the mid 5th century, the Vandals were the masters of the sea, and by 476 AD, Rome had fallen completely from power in Western Europe.[6]