The Intricacies of Naval Warfare (1)

 The new trend is taking shape. The material is so vast that the title, "The Intricacies of Naval Warfare," will cover the entire book unit instead of individual chapters. The content will spread via the sixth-fourteenth centuries and include the main battles viewed through their strategy and tactics. As an epithet, I chose the following extract from Thucydides: “Sea power is a matter of skill; it is not possible to get practice in the odd moment when the chance occurs, but it is a full-time occupation leaving no moment for other things.”

I had another look at Chapter 1, Naval Factories, and made minor corrections to this solid piece describing how shipyards looked like, which facilities they encompassed, and which workers they engaged. 

Chapter 2, The Battle of Ad Decimum (September 13, 533), is a land battle that pitted the Byzantine army commanded by General Belisarius against the Vandal army headed by King Gelimer. I stopped on this episode as it required the fleet's transportation from Constantinople to Carthage and the first appearance of the powerful East Roman fleet (I mean, warships and not only merchantmen carrying troops and ammunition). Currently, I arrange my bits and pieces for a compelling narrative. 

Chapter 3, The Omayyad Siege of Constantinople (August 717-August 718), is ready. 

Other chapters will include the battles of Corfu, Maloria, Malta, and Acre. I give no details because I have yet to study these combats profoundly. I will decide on the Battle of Corinth, whose main episode was the portage of ships across the Isthmus of Corinth, check other contributions of Roger of Lauria, except the classical Battle of Malta, and delve into episodes of Genoese-Venetian Wars, other than the Battle of Acre. 

Meanwhile, the first extract of the future project is available. 

https://www.academia.edu/104456432/War_galleys_in_the_Medieval_Mediterranean 

I plan to upload the second piece later in the year. 

The Umayyad Siege of Constantinople (717-8)

 

A restored section of the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Constantinople_(717%E2%80%93718) 

I have completed a draft of the first section of a new chapter about the Second Siege of Constantinople, a joint land and naval operation supervised by Maslama al-Malik, the caliph's brother and an adept general. 

  Emperor Leo Isaurian did not have a robust fleet to prevent the Arab navy from plying through the Turkish Straits as far as the walls of Constantinople. However, Byzantine engineers equipped their dromons with the Greek Fire, the secret weapon whose emotional impact rose over its destructive force. Its initial use pressured the Arab ship to take distance from the walls.  

It is unfair to ascribe Byzantine success only to this powerful weapon. The Greeks demonstrated  better tactics and managed to combine their limited means to wade off the aggressor. 

It became clear that the key to the successful siege of the Imperial City was naval support, and the Greeks had to do their best to bar access to the Marmara Sea from the Dardanelles to foreign navies.  

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I made a new draft of the second section of Chapter I, titled "Sailing Ships in the Medieval Mediterranean." 

Before uploading it on my Academia page, I want to offer it to history magazines or online editions. They usually demand exclusive publication.

https://independent.academia.edu/BaizermanMichael  

The article delves into the world of the so-called round ships, which primarily served as freighters, even when pressed into service as part of the fleet.

I comment on sailing ships’ propulsion and behavior in flat calms and storms.  I speak about choosing appropriate sailing styles and debunk the myth of the “closed sea.” 

The article numbers about 3000 words, including endnotes.

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 I collected data for the second section of a chapter about naval tactics: the Battle of Corfu (November 1084) between the Norman and Venetian fleets. Though I am sure about the Battle of Meloria (August 1284) and Malta (June 1283), I am still trying to decide on further chunks.