Appendix G: Trireme Warfare in Thucydides

Ships, sea battles, and naval policy are key features in Thucydides\u27 account of the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides—who served as a general and commanded a squadron of triremes himself (4.104.4-5; 4.106.3)—clearly viewed naval power as the key to supremacy in the Aegean (1.15); Athens\u27 rise to empire and fall from glory was inextricably bound with her fortunes at sea. [par 1

LEVERAGING THE LIGHT AMPHIBIOUS WARSHIP AS A MASS CASUALTY EVACUATION PLATFORM IN A CONTESTED ENVIRONMENT

The Marine Corps needs more accurate models and tools to examine the capabilities of evacuating mass casualties in a dispersed and disaggregated environment. Specifically, the Marine Corps needs to determine the types of platforms required to evacuate casualties for a distributed force as well as the accompanying concepts of operations. To assist in this, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory is developing the Expeditionary Energy Multi-Domain Model (E2M2), which applies an agent-based simulation framework called Probabilistic Investigation of Resource Allocation in Networks of Hierarchical Agents (PIRANHA). The E2M2 evaluates the performance of the Light Amphibious Warship (LAW) used for casualty evacuations. This research utilizes high-dimensional experimental design to vary factors within an Expeditionary Advanced Based Operations scenario to explore varying hospital locations, number of LAWs, LAW configurations, and LAW transportation polices in evacuating mass casualties within the Indo-Pacific region. The E2M2 assists the Marine Corps in determining how LAW is best used as a viable casualty evacuation platform for a distributed force. This research identifies the best-fitting models, methods, and tools that can be used to support analysis in this area. It also includes a demonstration of the E2M2 in support of a scenario and documentation that identifies challenges and opportunities in using the E2M2 in support of concept development activities.Captain, United States Marine CorpsApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Raeder versus Wegener—Conflict in German Naval Strategy

German naval thought between the world wars was defined by a dispute between two distinguished officers: one who critiqued German naval performance in the conflict just ended, the other obliged to meet the very different realities of the war to come. Neither was wholly wrong or entirely correct; the disagreement produced concepts that mark naval doctrine today

The 'Loose Dreadnoughts': South America's Struggle for Naval Preeminence

Near the beginning of the twentieth century, the three prevailing powers in South America--Argentina, Brazil, and Chile--engaged in a naval arms race centered around the revolutionary "dreadnought" warship type, which were larger, more heavily armed, and faster than all previous battleships. In 1907, the Brazilian government, the first mover in this arms race, contracted with British shipbuilders for two dreadnoughts designed to be the most powerful in the world. The Brazilians hoped that the prestige of these new warships would spearhead their ambitious attempt to become the regional hegemon and an international power, but a plethora of skeptical British and American media outlets quickly bought into conspiratorial suspicions that the country had ordered the ships as a proxy for a great power, a move that would have disrupted a fragile naval balance among some of the world's great powers. Once it became clear that Brazil was keeping the ships, Argentina's decision to respond with two dreadnoughts, themselves the most powerful in the world, was seen as a necessary countermove required by the time's prevailing naval doctrine. Notably, the method by which Argentina conducted its dreadnought's bidding process was subjected to criticism from shipbuilders after the dissemination of their unique designs. The Argentine dreadnoughts induced the Chilean government to seek their own cornerstones of maritime strength, but their two dreadnoughts were taken over by the United Kingdom after the outbreak of the First World War. A third Brazilian dreadnought, larger than the previous two and designed to carry the largest number of guns in a capital ship's main battery that the world had ever seen, was sold to the Ottoman Empire in 1913 and later seized by the British after the beginning of the same conflict. The five dreadnoughts that eventually reached South America, the British having sold one of the Chilean dreadnoughts back to the country in 1920, were never actively employed against a foreign power. As time went on, the major naval powers had commissioned more dreadnoughts to stronger and larger designs, something which ensured that the South American dreadnoughts could no longer affect the great power's naval balances of power and neutralized these ship's once-heightened importance in the international media

China Maritime Report No. 24: Incubators of Sea Power: Vessel Training Centers and the Modernization of the PLAN Surface Fleet

The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is building modern surface combatants faster than any other navy in the world. Before these new ships can be deployed, however, their crews must learn how to effectively operate them across the range of missions for which they were designed. In the PLAN, this “basic training” largely occurs at specialized organizations called Vessel Training Centers (VTCs). Since their creation in 1980, VTCs have played a key role in generating combat power for the fleet. But as China’s naval ambitions have grown, the VTCs have been forced to adapt. Since the early 2000s, and especially since 2012, they have faced tremendous pressure to keep pace with the rapid expansion and modernization of the PLAN surface fleet and its growing mission set, improve the standards and quality of vessel training, and uphold the integrity of training evaluations. This report argues that the PLAN’s VTCs have generally risen to the challenge, ensuring that new and recently-repaired ships can quickly reach operational units in a fairly high state of readiness.https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cmsi-maritime-reports/1023/thumbnail.jp

China Maritime Report No. 23: The Type 075 LHD: Development, Missions, and Capabilities

When the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) commissioned its first Type 075 class Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) in April 2021, it represented an important advance in power projection capability for China’s maritime forces. For the first time, the PLAN had an amphibious warship capable of hosting significant rotary wing forces while acting as the flagship for an amphibious task force. Now with three Type 075 class ships either in or soon to be in service, the PLAN has expanded its amphibious capability even further. The Type 075’s dedicated aviation support capability, ability to conduct wet well operations, and expanded command and control and medical facilities reflect capabilities that previously did not exist within the PLAN amphibious fleet. With the Type 075 LHD, the PLAN clearly intends to bolster its ability to project power from the sea in order to protect China’s overseas interests, but will require time for amphibious task forces to become fully proficient.https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cmsi-maritime-reports/1022/thumbnail.jp