Which transformed naval warfare more the “gunpowder revolution” or the “industrial revolution”?

Answer 1

naval warfare was very much out and about even before the "industrial revolution" (one look at the movies " pirates of the carribean, master and commander, et al justify that !) and they did use gunpowder, so it must have been the gunpowder revolution which transformed naval warfare. prior to cannons i believe they used cutlasses, not much use when thrown over board to the other ship though ! take care,

Answer 2

Undoubtedly the Industrial Revolution. Once the breach loading gun had been invented and was made in their thousands, warships were extremely formidable.

Even though the ships of the day in King Henry VIIIs time actually had cannon, the evidence from the wreck of the Mary Rose off Portsmouth, indicates the soldiers on board were still using the Long Bow as a weapon of attack.

Have a look at HMS Victory at Portsmouth, you'll see there the last of the great Georgian War Ships. The next generation were made of iron, a cannon ball simply bounced off. That is until someone invented a gun which fired a missile from it's rifled barrel.

WW-One was the great proving ground for Victorian war engineering. The British had cordite, it made the guns several times more powerful than the gun powder of the past.

So, I'd say on the whole that the Industrial Revolution was the great leap forward in terms of technology and war.

Answer 3

without a doubt it was the industrial revolution,HMS Warrior and her two sister ships built in 1861 were to outclass all other naval ships at the time,they had steam and sail and could out gun and out manouver any other vesel making the Royal Navy the most powerfull combatant in the world,Sail could be handled very well but out manouvering a vesel then required ships to go in a zig zag line ,steam meant a ship could turn in any wind direction and render the enemies guns useless.Most guns were then carried on the broadside in line with the gunwall and had a limited arc of fire,up and down, in 1886 HMS Devastation was the worlds first fully turreted ship mounting 4 huge guns in two cupolas thus being able to fire in any direction,no other ship was able to do this..One ship could effectivly out gun up to ten standard sail vesels and was not subject to favourable winds.
A ship that was used ,say sevarel hundred years before could out gun a non cannon firing vesel but could still be attacked from behind and as all guns were carried broadside an attack would only have been effective if done side by side.
The industrial revolution speeded up naval developement faster than any other century before.
The industrial revolution rovided the navy with many new concepts in warefare,,,steam power,hydrolics,Breach loading guns,firepower,manouverability,signaling and communications,
hope this helps you...
Between 1861 and 1913 (just52 years)the navies of the world were transformed beyond belief.the previous 450 years had seen little major developments in the way ships were built or used.1913 saw the worlds first battleship built HMS dreadnought

source = studied naval history for many years

Answer 4

The Industrial Revolution
The increased protection of Ironclads and Armoured ships required the upgrading of many ideas of Naval Warfare.

Answer 5

While gunpowder did make naval warfare engagements take place at longer ranges, prior ages also had ranged weapons (i.e. catapults and ballista) The advent of steam power and then armoring of the ships really changed the way battles where fought. Prior to this whoever had the wind could more or less control the battle. Then you had the american battle of their civil war that matched two steam powered vessels with armor and they fought to a draw, ending the age of sailing warships.

Answer 6

This is not a complete answer but if this is for a school project you may want to consider the differing impacts on different navies/countries.
For example, the way that Germany became a naval power (pretty suddenly) with reference to the Dreadnought arms race etc etc

Answer 7

well before they used gunpowderr in canons and muskets they used stuff like sling shot and bows and arrows which dont really have the umph of your average 7 pounder do they? so im going to have to say the gunpowder revolution as from then on in it was more of an industrial revolution to find the one who could produce the best guns dont you think?

Answer 8

Um, random persons in boats stealing from different random persons in boats probable occurred earlier vast prepared collectives waged warfare upon one yet another in boats. second area of question--there are nevertheless tremendous bodies of water and there remains warfare.

Answer 9

The submarine and aircraft carrier