The title of 'largest naval battle in history' depends on criteria that may include the number of people and ships involved, the total tonnage of vessels, the size of the battlefield, and the duration of the action. There are five main candidates, each said to have involved at least 200,000 personnel: the Battle of Salamis, the Battle of Ecnomus, the Battle of Yamen, the Battle of Lake Poyang and the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
The first two occurred in the Classical Era, when ancient sources frequently exaggerated the numbers involved in warfare. This includes Herodotus, a key source for information on Salamis.^[1] Figures for Cape Ecnomus are similarly dubious. In contrast, Leyte Gulf was fought during World War II, and one side represented liberal democracies with strong record-keeping institutions.
In pre-modern battles, large actions involved numerous small galleys, rather than larger vessels like battleships or cruisers. Two battles between the Ottoman Empire and Venice are candidates for the battle with the largest number of ships of the line. In the Action of July 8, 1716, near Corfu, 87 ships were present, although most of them did not take an active part in the fighting. The following year, 85 ships took part in the Battle of Matapan.
Several battles of the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652-1654) as well as the Battle of Beachy Head in 1690 and the Battle of La Hougue in 1692 also featured large numbers of warships on each side, possibly well over 100, depending on where the line is drawn between ships of the line and frigates. Most larger fleet battles involved 20-30 battleships, as well as smaller ships, on each side.

Contents

The candidates

Other large battles

Footnotes

The candidates

★ The 'Battle of Salamis', 480 BC. 371 Greek ships defeated 1,271 Persian ships in this decisive battle. Greek triremes had a crew of about 200 while their small penteconters had 50 oarsmen. With 1,642 ships altogether, it is possible that 200,000 sailors, soldiers and marines may have taken part.

★ The 'Battle of Cape Ecnomus', 256 BC. Like Salamis, Ecnomus was also a single engagement where 680 ships were fighting in a very small area. Some historians accept Roman claims that Rome had about 100,000 personnel. If this is true, it is probable that at least 200,000 Roman and Carthaginian sailors and soldiers were involved.

★ The 'Battle of Yamen', 1279. The battle which ended the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty conquest of Southern Song Dynasty . More than 1,000 Song Dynasty warships were destroyed by the Yuan Dynasty.

★ The 'Battle of Lake Poyang', 1363. Claimed to be the largest battle in terms of personnel. The 200,000 sailors of the Ming rebel force, commanded by Zhu Yuanzhang, met the 650,000-strong Han rebel force, commanded by Chen Youliang, on Lake Poyang, China's largest freshwater lake.

★ The 'Battle of Leyte Gulf', 1944. The largest in terms of tonnage of ships and also in terms of the area in which the action took place. United States and Australian forces included 17 large aircraft carriers, 18 smaller escort carriers, 12 battleships, 24 cruisers, 141 destroyers, smaller ships, and around 1,500 planes. They won a decisive victory over Japanese forces, which consisted of four aircraft carriers, nine battleships, 19 cruisers, 34 destroyers and other ships and around 200 planes. About 200,000 personnel were involved. Leyte Gulf was also a major air battle, and saw the first use of kamikaze planes. It encompassed several distinct actions over the space of three days, linked by the strategies of the Allied and Japanese commanders.

Other large battles

★ The Battle of Actium, 31 BC - Battle between Mark Antony, Cleopatra and Octavian for control of the Roman world; more than 500 warships were involved.

★ The Battle of Baekgang, 663. More than 800 Yamato ships versus 170 Tang ships.

★ The Battle of Tangdao, 1161. More than 600 Jin warships versus 120 Song warships.

★ The Battle of Lepanto, 1571 - 212 Holy League galleys and galleasses vs 272 or more Ottoman galleys, galliots etc (c. 484 or more total).

★ The Battle of Noryang Point, 1598, final battle to end Japanese invasions of Korea (1592-1598), 500 Japanese warships versus 140 Korean and Chinese warships.

★ The Battle of Myeongnyang, a large Japanese assault on Admiral Yi's remaining 13 ships. The japanese attacked with 300.

★ The Battle of Cartagena de Indias, 1741 - 186 British ships vs major Spanish fortifications and 6 warships in Cartagena de Indias (present-day Colombia).

★ The Battle of Vyborg Bay, 1790 - 257 Russian vs 241 Swedish sailing ships and rowing vessels (498 total)[1].

★ The Battle of Penghu, 1683 - More than 200 Qing vs more than 200 Kingdom of Tungning warships (400+ total).

★ The Second Battle of Svensksund, 1790 - 196 Swedish vs 141 Russian vessels (337 total).

★ The Battle of Jutland, 1916 - 151 British vs 99 German ships of the main battle fleets (250 total).

★ The Battle of Lowestoft, 1665 - 109 English ships vs 103 Dutch ships (212 total).

Footnotes

1. For example, Herodotus claimed in ''The Histories'' that Xerxes invaded Greece with some 2,600,000 soldiers, but it is commonly believed that only 100,000-200,000 troops actually participated. Since Herodotus is one of the key sources for information on the Battle of Salamis, it is likely that it involved far fewer than the claimed 200,000 sailors and 1,642 vessels.

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