The "largest naval battle in history" is a disputed title between adherents of varying criteria which include the numbers of personnel or vessels involved in thenaval battle, the totaldisplacement of the vessels involved and sometimes the significance and implications of the battle. While battles fought in modern times are comparatively well-documented, the figures from those in pre-Renaissance era are generally believed by contemporary chroniclers to be exaggerated.
In 1975, the Austrian historianHelmut Pemsel [de] attempted to evaluate naval battles in history by a scoring system. He assigned a score to each of four aspects of a battle as follows:
Salamis, September 480BC. A fleet of 371Greek ships defeated 600–900Persian ships in this decisive battle off the coast ofAthens. The high-end estimate of 1,271 ships involved is the largest number of ships involved in a single battle. Greektriremes typically had crews of about 200 men, and the smallerpenteconters were each crewed by 50 oarsmen, yet the total number of personnel involved in the battle is uncertain.The Naval Battle Near Ecnomus (256 BC) byGabriel de Saint-Aubin
Cape Ecnomus, 256BC. One ofAncient Rome's first major naval victories over its rival, the city ofCarthage, during theFirst Punic War. In total the Roman fleet had 140,000 men on board: rowers, other crew, marines and soldiers.[2] The number of Carthaginians is less certainly known but was estimated byPolybius at 150,000, and most modern historians broadly support this. If these figures are approximately correct, then this is possibly the largest naval battle of all time, by the number of combatants involved.[2][3][4][5]
Red Cliffs, winter of 208–209 AD. A decisive battle between the warlordCao Cao and the warlordsSun Quan,Liu Bei andLiu Qi saw the much smaller allied force of 50,000 defeat Cao Cao's at least 220,000-strong force. The precise estimates of numbers are likely lost to time, but it may be the largest in terms of participants as supported by some sources.[6]
Yamen, 19March 1279. This battle completed the Mongol-ledYuan dynasty's conquest of theSouthern Song Dynasty. It is claimed that more than 1,000Song dynasty ships were destroyed by the Yuan dynasty fleet near Yamen,Guangdong, China. This is greater than the low-end estimate of ships involved at the Battle of Salamis; however not all Song ships were warships.
Lake Poyang, 30August – 4October 1363. It is claimed to be the largest naval battle in terms of personnel, with a reported 850,000 sailors and soldiers involved. AMing dynasty rebel force, said to be 200,000 strong, commanded byZhu Yuanzhang, met aHan rebel force, claimed to be 650,000 strong, commanded byChen Youliang, onLake Poyang, China's largest freshwater lake.
Jutland, 31May – 1June 1916. TheImperial German Navy'sHigh Seas Fleet commanded by Vice-AdmiralReinhard Scheer and the BritishGrand Fleet underAdmiral Sir John Jellicoe engaged in battle near Jutland, Denmark, duringWorld War I. The German fleet consisted of 16dreadnought and 6pre-dreadnought battleships, 5battle cruisers, 11light cruisers, and 61 fleet torpedo boats, while the British fleet was comprised 28 battleships, 9 battle cruisers, 8armoured cruisers, 26 light cruisers, 78 destroyers, 1minelayer, and 1seaplane carrier. Britain suffered more casualties and lost more ships than Germany but the outcome was a strategic success for the British since it resulted in the successful containment of the German fleet. In terms of total displacement of ships involved, it was the largest surface battle.[6]
Philippine Sea, 19–20June 1944. This was the largestaircraft carrier battle in history, involving fifteen Americanfleet andlight carriers, nine Japanese carriers, 170 other warships, and some 1,700 aircraft. In terms of displacement, the U.S. Fifth Fleet'sFast Carrier Task Force (TF 58) is the largest single naval formation ever to give battle.
Leyte Gulf, 23–26October 1944. The largest in terms of displacement of ships in the combined orders of battle, if not necessarily in terms of displacement of the ships engaged, was also the largest in terms of the displacement of ships sunk and in terms of the size of the area within which the component battles took place. TheUnited StatesThird andSeventh Fleets (in total,Task Forces 38, 77, 78, and 79) including someAustralian warships, comprised 8 largeaircraft carriers, 8light carriers, 18escort carriers, 12battleships, 24cruisers, 141destroyers anddestroyer escorts, and many other ships, as well as about 1,500 aircraft. The Allies won a decisive victory overJapanese forces, which consisted of 1 largeaircraft carrier, 3light carriers, 9 battleships, 19 cruisers, 34 destroyers, and several hundred aircraft. The opposing fleets carried a combined total of about 200,000 personnel. Leyte Gulf consisted of four major subsidiary battles: theBattle of the Sibuyan Sea, theBattle of Surigao Strait, theBattle off Samar, and theBattle off Cape Engaño, along with other actions. They are counted together by virtue of all being a result of the Japanese operationSho-Go, which was aimed at destroying the Allied amphibious forces involved in theinvasion of Leyte. However, the individual battles were separated by distances as great as two hundred miles, as well as several days' time, from the first submarine action to the Japanese withdrawal.
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