8 ms·
> Finding and sinking enemy fleets should be the principal purpose of a Navy. The last naval fleet engagement was the battle of Leyte Gulf in WWII.
by JoeyBananas 5y ago
> Finding and sinking enemy fleets should be the principal purpose of a Navy.
The last naval fleet engagement was the battle of Leyte Gulf in WWII.
- javajosh 5y agoAlthough it would be highly inappropriate, the navy could easily retort, "Debating and passing legislation should be the principle purpose of a Senate."
- throwawayboise 5y agoOversight of the military is certainly within the scope of the elected civilian government.
- swader999 5y agoThey sure don't write the legislation anymore. Industry does. We're lucky if they read it all.
- i_am_proteus 5y agoMore likely it was the Falkland Islands war in 1982. Depends on one's criteria, I suppose.
- EthanHeilman 5y agoWhat about "Operation Praying Mantis" in 1988. It was the largest US Naval battle since WW2 and involved a US Carrier Group destroying about half of the Iranian Navy, destroying several Iranian Oil platforms and shot down a passenger airliner.
- paukwdavis 5y agoI was on the Wainwright during it. The airline incident was months later.
- remarkEon 5y agoI'm not sure what you mean by "fleet engagement". Do you mean battleships exchanging volleys?
- dragonwriter 5y ago> The last naval fleet engagement was the battle of Leyte Gulf in WWII. AFAIK, the naval portion of the later Battle of Okinawa is a better candidate for the last fleet engagement of WWII. You can (by, say, requiring a certain minimum number of ships of certain classes for a “fleet engagement”) probably make that also the last fleet engagement, but in doing so you will likely be using a more restrictive definition of “fleet” than intended by “Finding and sinking enemy fleets should be the principal purpose of a Navy”.
- fourtrees 5y agoYou're right about Okinawa (and the rest of your comment), but it was so lop-sided (if I recall correctly, even the captain of the Yamamoto understood it as a suicide mission) that I think it was hardly a test of the Navy's war-fighting capacity. I'd say the last true test of the "fighting culture" of the Navy came during the Samar phase of Leyte.
- yuppie_scum 5y agoForce projection. Carrier groups are the hardest power the USA has.
- deepsun 5y agoArmies are never needed until they are needed.