How Important Was the Battle of Lepanto?
I dunno much about the Middle Ages.<p>But I&#x27;d argue that the most important Naval Battle for the 20th century was Battle of Tsushima. Yes, even more important than Battle of Midway. Midway was more climactic for sure, but &quot;important&quot; is a bit different.<p>1. The Battle of Tsushima proved that Japan was a world-power and no longer a backwards country of sword wielders. Sinking the Russian fleet (who was considered one of the great Naval powers of the world) was a big deal, and put Japan on the world stage.<p>2. The overwhelming victory became Japanese Naval doctrine: the Japanese &quot;learned&quot; that if you sink the enemy&#x27;s fleet, the enemy will surrender. This doctrine, Kantai Kessen, led to the Japanese strategy of WW2 (aka: Sink the American fleet at Pearl Harbor. Because American carriers luckily escaped the Pearl Harbor attack, the Japanese would pursue Midway to continue to try to decisively sink the remainder of the fleet, again). Indeed, the young &quot;Yamamoto&quot; (original name: Isoroku Takano) lost two fingers in the Battle of Tsushima.<p>3. The world watched the battle, and learned that bigger-guns were better. The Battle of Tsushima led to the development of Dreadnaught Battleships, which had fewer but bigger guns with longer range (much like the Battleship Mikasa, one of the most pivotal ships in the battle). All battleships built after Tsushima had this singular battle in mind as inspiration. This single battle inspired Germany&#x27;s Bismark, USA&#x27;s Iowa, and the Japanese Yamato.<p>4. The Battle of Tsushima was the last time ships lined up and attacked each other with their guns in a blaze of glory.<p>5. The Battle of Tsushima basically ended the Russo-Japanese war. As pivotal as Midway was for WW2, there would be a long, drawn-out conflict for years, regardless of who won Midway. If Japan hypothetically won the Midway Naval battle, it&#x27;d still be a grueling mission to actually take Midway from the garrisoned American forces. And, as we know from reality, even though USA won Midway decisively, it was a grueling &quot;island hopping&quot; mission (including Iwo Jima), followed by the Atomic Bomb, before the USA would win.<p>-------------<p>Arguably, WW2 battles would demonstrate that battleships were obsolete and that the Carrier reigns supreme. The Battle of the Coral Sea, more so than Midway, demonstrated the new realities of Naval battle: Carriers attacking each other &quot;beyond the horizon&quot;, far outside of the range of any gun and only accessible through fleets of aircraft.<p>But unlike Tsushima, this fact was already known and recognized by the major navies. Strategically, the Battle of the Coral Sea and even Midway were conducted where both sides recognized the importance of carriers in the Naval mission.<p>----------<p>As we enter the modern age: there are no such naval battles any more. There is a bunch of theorycraft with how missile destroyers, nuclear subs, and carriers would interact with each other, but none of which has been tested (and ideally, none of this equipment is ever truly tested).