Randolph (CVA 15) - Naval Cruise Book

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object being to destroy the transports and the army they carried. The Battle of llcnomus is considered by students of naval history to bc 't tactical master- thagrnians detached their two wings in an attempt to envelope the convoy and strike at the transports from the rear, while their center engaged the Roman war- ships. In perfect order the Romans detached their own wings to intercept, so that three distinct engage- ments took place, while the transports lled back to their base. The Roman center prevailed Hrst, and went to the rescue of the left wing which was hard- pressed until the Carthaginians fled from such a heavy reinforcement. The Roman right wing was backed up against the shoreline but 't division of Roman , wx X piece. As the fleets approached each other the Car- ships from the main battle surrounded the surround- ing Carthaginians, cutting them off from retreat and capturing them all. VVith the Carthaginian fleet so heavily defeated the Romans were at leisure to invade Africa, where the army at Hrst had great success. In the end, however, this army was destroyed, and thereafter the war was conducted in Sicily. The issue there was the siege of the great Carthaginian fortress of Lilybaeum, which until the beginning of the Semrrd Punic W'ar, Carth- age attempted to restore her empire by strengthening her position in Spain. Her object was to establish a secure base for an over-land invasion of Rome, which .-, .-- fs fftgf ,'.-.. ':X.'iw, fn, ' 'ffl' ..,. E, x J f ti- . Bf I If R x 7 isxtf l v v. X X X- A i l X I X N it I l Roman Legionary Battle of Lepanto w. I carried on lor ten years Wlien at list the fortress w is carried out rn 018 B C hx H tnnrbrl and his ter e peace wrs negotiated the terms being that Romc rrble elephrnts rl l e is u Instr d lor sixteen xt lls lo 1cgTurredS1c1ly ntccn ol xxhuh Ilrnnrlr t um rom the end of the First Punrc Wir in 'fll BC' T0 nrrn rnureuxtrcrl in il ,le K H H I . I ' I ' Zh Q' '5-' Us ' -C ' 1 '1 . ' 'J '- , . e ' ' i ' i ' 7 'I 2 11 '1 ' ll ' ' ' T. ' r ' ' u A for ' 'i ' e 1 ' al :url his small 1 ' V of i f I ' ' -f . .. 110,01 - 1 ' the heart of lta y. frat-

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organization called the Delian League, in which her fleet played the role ol keeper of the peace for a num- ber of smaller sea-faring cities. Gradually the league took on the color of an ,Xtheuian empire as Athenian naval dominance became more obvious, and as het treasury filled with an increasing flow of tribute ,-,. . ,LV '--xv 5 .4 if t '9 V U F i rw A We iifg??lfs . rv X- ' TN, .NX , 43 f Q- t' 1j I5 Greek Oarsman money. XfVith the seas policed against pirates and raiders, the Delian League would have been profitable for all concerned, except that in the end Athens be- came arrogant, and her demands exorbitant. From 432 B.C. until 404 B.C. the cities of Corinth and Sparta with numerous allies fought the Peloponnesian XfVars against Athens to free themselves from what had become the heavy yoke . of the Delian League. Athens held out alone during this long period because of the great economic strength given her by her overseas trade, but in the end she was exhausted by the war, her fleet was destroyed and the city capitulated to a siege. This marked the end of the great days of Athens, and there- after the scene of naval warfare shifted to other emerging powers. During the third century B.C. in the Yvestern Mediterranean two new powers, Rome and Carthage, were expanding mightily, and it began to appear that one of them must prevail over the western world. Until 2611 B.C. Rome had limited her conquests to the mainland of peninsular Italy, and her wars were fought more for political security than for economic profit. Carthage, a city on the coast of Africa near Tunis, was fabulously wealthy, and ruled a commercial empire extending throughout the WVcst.ern Mediterranean, including I3 Spain, Sardinia, and Sicily. The first instance of the extension of Roman power overseas occurred in 264 PLC. when the town of Messina in Sicily appealed to Rottie for help against the city of Syracuse. The Roman Senate considered the decision to send an army overseas for the first time so momentous, as it proved to be, that they submitted the issue to the people of Rome in a referendum, which was passed. The First Punic YVar originated when Carthage at- tempted to resist Rome's entrance into Sicily. At this time Rome had little experience on the sea, but it soon became apparent that a fleet was needed to protect communications with Sicily and to defend the coastal towns of Italy. In only two months Rome performed the prodigious feat of building and train- ing a navy of 120 warships. These ships were slower and less seaworthy than the ships of Carthage, but the balance was redressed by the installation of one of the earliest examples of a secret weapon, the corvus. In a border's fight Roman legionaries, the best troops in the world, could be expected to win, but the handier Carthaginian ships were able to ram at will and retreat with ease. The corvus was a swivel- mounted gangway rigged with a topping-lift and htted with a heavy spike. Xvhen the enemy approached to rain, the corvus was let go, the spike held fast in the wooden deck, and the well-armored Romans poured in among their victims. In the first fleet action of the Roman Trireme war, the Battle of Mylae, the Roman landsmen used this device so effectively as to win a smashing victory. The great naval battle of the war was fought in 256 13.61. oflf Mount Ecnomus on the south coast of Sicily. In order to carry the war into Africa, Rome had mounted a large landing-force, which was to be escorted by the entire fleet. Carthage stationed her fleet some thirty-five miles along the coast from the Roman base in a position to intercept the convoy, her

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ing exery Roman .unix with the tentetitx to oppose thetn. although other fIatth.tgini.tn .ntnies were badly defeated elsewhere. l'he Roinans were unable to rt-- tnoxe this incredible thorn in their side until Stipio .Mricatuts again inyaded Xlrita. forcing the friglttenetl Cartliaginimts to recall their brilliant general to the defense of the titx. l'he .unix withdrew frotn Italy by sea in good order. but at last in 202 PLC. Hannibal was defeated in his own country. and Carthage was forced to sue for peace. . l here were no great nayal battles in the Second Punic Nyar because is e ts. Routes control of the sea was too powerful for Carthage to contest. Hannibafs campaign of fourteen years is one of the most brilliant in military history, but he was never able to muster strength enough to assault the city of Rome, because his supply litres were too tenuous. Only one attempt was made to re- inforce Hannibal in strength when in 207 B.C. his brother I-Iasdrubal brought an army of 30,000 men across the Alps, the seas being closed to Carthaginian ships. Be- cause the Romans were between the two armies they were able to destroy Hasdrubal's army before a junc- tion could be effected. Prior to this Hannibal had concluded an alliance with the King of Macedon, but the Roman navy prevented him from sending troops into Italy. Thus Rome's control of the sea denied Hannibal what chance he had for victory, and in the end defeated him by launching an overseas attack on Carthage. The peace terms imposed by Rome make clear the importance she attributed to sea powerg except for a very mild payment of reparation, the only stipulation was that Carthage was never again to maintain more than ten hghting ships. Thereafter, Rome was the undisputed master of the western world, and until her fall the only wars which were fought were between Roman political parties, but these were wars on the largest scale. The hrst of them was waged between -lulius Caesar and Pompey, which resulted in Caesar's being crowned the hrst Emperor of Rome. After his assassination the Empire was thrown into great confusion, until the contestants for power were reduced to two, Nfark Antony with his charming ally, Cleopatra, and Ortavian, afterwards Augustus Caesar. This war was finally decided at the naval battle of Actium in 31 ll.C., and Augustus was at last able to put the Roman Empire on a secure and peareful footing. One of history's most dramatic events occurred at the Battle of Arttium, through the romantic tircum- stance that the two principal commanders of the l5 lzastern fleet were lovers. They had been blockaded in the Cuff of Anrbracia on the western coast of Greece, and it becatne necessary to break the blockade and either defeat Octavian or retreat to Egypt. Xvhen .Xntony's fleet sortietl from the bay, Cleopatra com- ntandetl the reserve stptatlron in the rear. At the critical point in the battle, when the fleets were heavily Italian Light Cruiser engaged, she made sail, an almost unprecedented occurrence in ancient battles, and broke through the center of the line to the open sea. Antony's fleet con- tinued the battle, but without their commander, for Antony had transferred in a boat to Cleopatra's Hag- ship, and fled with her to Egypt, leaving his fleet to its destruction. It is possible to consider Cleopatra's action a sound military gambleg the object of the battle was to break the blockade, which Cleopatra accomplished, at least in part. The Eastern ships were much heavier and slower than Octavian's, but making sail allowed Cleo- patra to obtain speed and maneuverability to strike a blow at the center of the line. If the rest of the fleet had been able to disengage and follow her it might have turned out to be a stroke of tactical genius. How- ever, the attempt failed, and Mark Antony has been remembered as a great soldier who was put to shame by his love for a fascinating woman. After the Battle of Actium the stabilization of the Roman Empire brought the Pax Romana to the troubled waters of the Mediterranean. It was to be many hundreds of years before there would again be a great fleet action. The decay of the Roman Empire was prolonged and gradual under constant pressure from the barbarians of the North. In 330 AD. limperor Constantine shifted his capital to Byvantium. thereafter called Constantinople, and nowadays lstan- bul. This marked the formal end of the Roman Em- Cmtlimterl on Page 114