naval battle

/ˌneɪvəl ˌbædl/

Other forms: naval battles

Definitions of naval battle

1. noun

   a pitched battle between naval fleets
   examples:

   Actium

   the naval battle in which Antony and Cleopatra were defeated by Octavian's fleet under Agrippa in 31 BC

   Aegadean Isles

   islands west of Sicily (now known as the Egadi Islands) where the Romans won a naval victory over the Carthaginians that ended the first Punic War in 241 BC

   Aegospotamos

   a river in ancient Thrace (now Turkey); in the mouth of this river the Spartan fleet under Lysander destroyed the Athenian fleet in the final battle of the Peloponnesian War (404 BC)

   battle of the Bismarck Sea

   a naval battle in World War II; Allied land-based bombers destroyed a Japanese convoy in the Bismarck Sea in March 1943

   battle of the Coral Sea

   a Japanese defeat in World War II (May 1942); the first naval battle fought entirely by planes based on aircraft carriers

   Hampton Roads

   a naval battle of the American Civil War (1862); the indecisive battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac

   battle of Jutland

   an indecisive naval battle in World War I (1916); fought between the British and German fleets off the northwestern coast of Denmark

   Battle of Lepanto

   Turkish sea power was destroyed in 1571 by a league of Christian nations organized by the Pope

   Manila Bay

   a naval battle in the Spanish-American War (1898); the American fleet under Admiral Dewey defeated the Spanish fleet

   Battle of Midway

   naval battle of World War II (June 1942); American planes based on land and on carriers decisively defeated a Japanese fleet on its way to invade the Midway Islands

   battle of Navarino

   a decisive naval battle in the War of Greek Independence (1827); the Turkish and Egyptian fleet was defeated by an allied fleet of British and French and Russian warships

   Cape Passero

   a naval battle in the Mediterranean Sea off Cape Passero in which the Spanish navy was destroyed by France and England while attempting to recover Sicily and Sardinia from Italy (1719)

   battle of the Philippine Sea

   a naval battle in World War II (1944); a decisive naval victory for the United States fleet over the Japanese who were trying to block supplies from reaching American troops on Leyte

   Santiago de Cuba

   a naval battle in the Spanish-American War (1898); the United States fleet bottled up the Spanish ships in the harbor of Santiago de Cuba and destroyed them when they tried to escape

   Battle of the Spanish Armada

   in the English Channel a small fleet of British ships successfully defeated the large armada sent from Spain by Philip II to invade England

   battle of Trafalgar

   a naval battle in 1805 off the southwest coast of Spain; the French and Spanish fleets were defeated by the English under Nelson (who was mortally wounded)

   Tsushima

   a naval battle in the Russo-Japanese War (1905); the Japanese fleet defeated the Russian fleet in the Korean Strait

   type of:

   battle, conflict, engagement, fight

   a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war