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Most (but not all) armed forces make considerable distinction between the land-based warfare of an Army, the sea-based warfare of a Navy, and the air-based warfare of an Air Force – often splitting the three components into mostly independent forces. A modern navy typically uses a combination of ships, boats, submarines, and aircraft launched from aircraft carriers.

Many navies include ground forces ( marines) to fight on land and defend sea craft. In many countries, the navy is the oldest branch of the armed services. Hence, for example, the British term "the Senior Service."

Merchant navy is a British and Commonwealth term for the civilian seafaring industry, recognizing both the shared hazards of seafaring activity during wartime, as well as the expectation that civilian vessels may be put under various kinds of control by military authorities. In the USA the equivalent term is merchant marine.

The word navy came via Old French from Latin "navigium".

1 See also

• list of navies
• Modern Naval tactics
• naval history
• sea power

2 Other meanings

• The colour navy blueNavy blue is an especially dark shade of blue color. Some people mistake navy blue for black, especially when concerning clothing. Navy blue likely got its name from the dark color of blue (contrasted with white) worn by sailors in the British Royal Navy.
• "Naval" is occasionally a misspelling for navel.

3 Types of Naval Vessel

• Aircraft carrier
• Amphibious assault shipThe amphibious assault ships usually shortened to amphibs denotes a range of classes of warship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault. The largest fleet of these types is operated by the United States Navy.
• BattlecruiserBattlecruiser s were large naval gunships of the early 20th Century, which evolved from armored cruisers, as new technology made it possible to build bigger ships. The main difference was their uniform main armament, compared to armored cruisers which had
• BattleshipThis article is about a battleship as a type of warship. See also Battleship (game). Dreadnought redirects here. See also Workers' Dreadnought. In naval history, battleships were the most heavily armed and armored warships afloat. In the mid- 20th century
• Bireme
• Bomb ketch
• Corvette
• Cruiser
• Destroyer
• Dromon
• Escort aircraft carrier
• Frigate
• Gunboat
• Hospital ship
• Ironclad
• Liburnian
• PT Boat
• Quinquireme
• Seaplane tender
• Ship of the line
• Sloop-of-war
• Submarine (also U-boat)
• Trireme
• Xebec (Chebek/Shebec/Zebec)

For a list of the prefixes used with ship names (HMS, USS, &c.) see ship prefix.