Amphibious warfare
From Freepedia
Image:FS Rapiere.jpg Amphibious warfare is the assault of an objective located on land by a force attacking from ships. It requires landing craft to transport troops to land from the ships which carry them to the area to be assaulted.
An amphibious assault is one of the most difficult military operations:
- coordination of fire from ships and aircraft
- perilous task of disembarking from landing craft onto a shore held by the enemy
- defenders have a tremendous advantage due to the open spaces found on most beaches.
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History
World War I
During World War I, amphibious warfare was still in its infancy: tactics and equipment were rudimentary and required much improvisation.
During this period, British Royal Marine Light Infantry (merged with the Royal Marine Artillery in the 1920s to form the Royal Marines) were used primarily as naval parties onboard Royal Navy warships to maintain discipline and man ships' guns. The RMLI joined a new Royal Navy division - the Royal Naval Division - formed in 1914 to fight on land; however, throughout the conflict, army units were depended upon to provide the bulk - if not all - of troops used in amphibious landings.
The first amphibious assault of the war ended in disaster in 1914. A large British Indian Army force was directed to launch an amphibious assault on Tanga, German East Africa. British actions prior to the assault, however, alerted the Germans to prepare to repel an invasion. The Indian forces suffered heavy casualties when they advanced on the city, forcing them to withdraw back to their boats, leaving much of their equipment behind.
The Allied invasion against the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915 proved even more disastrous than Tanga, in part due to incompetence at the high command.
Soldiers were landed via open, oared whaleboats and tugs at Anzac and Helles. At V Beach, Helles, the landing troops - inexperienced at amphibious landings - were effectively slaughtered by the Ottoman defenders, most not even making it out of their landing craft. The Royal Dublin Fusiliers, for example, lost their commanding officer and suffered over 500 casualties.
In a second landing at Suvla in August, the forerunner of modern landing craft - the armoured 'Beetle' - was first used by the British.
World War II
Arguably the most famous amphibious assault was the Normandy landings on 6 June, 1944, in which British, Canadian, French and US forces were landed at Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword Beaches.
Other large amphibious actions in the European Theatre in WWII include:
In the Pacific Theatre, almost every campaign involved "island hopping" assaults from the sea. Some of the famous ones are mentioned:
Post-World War II
During the Korean War, the U.S. Marine Corps landed at Inchon, which resulted in Chinese intervention in the war on the side of North Korea.
The Royal Marines made their first post-WWII amphbious assault during the Suez War of 1956 when they successfully landed at Suez on 6 November. In the Falklands War. The Royal Marines 3 Commando Brigade (augmented by the British Army's Parachute Regiment) landed at Port San Carlos on 21 May 1982.
The most recent amphibious assault has been carried out by the Royal Marines when they landed at the Al-Faw Peninsula on 20 March, 2003 during the Iraqi War.
