List of amphibious assault operations
Encyclopedia
This is a list of amphibious assault
operations that have taken place during history. It is structured chronologically by war, then by theatre during wars such as World War II that covered large areas of the world simultaneously, and chronologically within those theatres. It also covers operations that were planned but cancelled for various reasons.
Amphibious warfare
Amphibious warfare is the use of naval firepower, logistics and strategy to project military power ashore. In previous eras it stood as the primary method of delivering troops to non-contiguous enemy-held terrain...
operations that have taken place during history. It is structured chronologically by war, then by theatre during wars such as World War II that covered large areas of the world simultaneously, and chronologically within those theatres. It also covers operations that were planned but cancelled for various reasons.
- Trojan WarTrojan WarIn Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
- Siege of Troy — around 1200 B.C. AgamemnonAgamemnonIn Greek mythology, Agamemnon was the son of King Atreus and Queen Aerope of Mycenae, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of Clytemnestra, and the father of Electra and Orestes. Mythical legends make him the king of Mycenae or Argos, thought to be different names for the same area...
- Siege of Troy — around 1200 B.C. Agamemnon
- Norman conquest of EnglandNorman conquest of EnglandThe Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
- Battle of HastingsBattle of HastingsThe Battle of Hastings occurred on 14 October 1066 during the Norman conquest of England, between the Norman-French army of Duke William II of Normandy and the English army under King Harold II...
— 14 October 1066 William the Conqueror
- Battle of Hastings
- Seventh CrusadeSeventh CrusadeThe Seventh Crusade was a crusade led by Louis IX of France from 1248 to 1254. Approximately 800,000 bezants were paid in ransom for King Louis who, along with thousands of his troops, was captured and defeated by the Egyptian army led by the Ayyubid Sultan Turanshah supported by the Bahariyya...
- Assault of Damiette — 5 June 1249 Louis IX of FranceLouis IX of FranceLouis IX , commonly Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death. He was also styled Louis II, Count of Artois from 1226 to 1237. Born at Poissy, near Paris, he was an eighth-generation descendant of Hugh Capet, and thus a member of the House of Capet, and the son of Louis VIII and...
- Assault of Damiette — 5 June 1249 Louis IX of France
- Invasion of Algiers in 1830Invasion of Algiers in 1830The Invasion of Algiers in 1830 was a large-scale military operation by which the Kingdom of France, ruled by Charles X, invaded and conquered the Ottoman Regency of Algiers...
- Amphibious landing of Sidi-Ferruch — 14 June 1830 General de Bourmont
- Mexican-American War
- Siege of VeracruzSiege of VeracruzThe Battle of Veracruz was a 20-day siege of the key Mexican beachhead seaport of Veracruz, during the Mexican-American War. Lasting from 9-29 March 1847, it began with the first large-scale amphibious assault conducted by United States military forces, and ended with the surrender and occupation...
— 9 March 1847 Winfield ScottWinfield ScottWinfield Scott was a United States Army general, and unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852....
lands army in Central Mexico
- Siege of Veracruz
- Crimean WarCrimean WarThe Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
- Assault of Bomarsund — 8 August 1854 Brigadier-général Harry Jone, Colonel Jacques Fieron Anglo-French operation against Russia in Finland
- Second Opium WarSecond Opium WarThe Second Opium War, the Second Anglo-Chinese War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a war pitting the British Empire and the Second French Empire against the Qing Dynasty of China, lasting from 1856 to 1860...
- Battle of the Pearl River FortsBattle of the Pearl River FortsThe Battle of the Pearl River Forts, or the Battle of the Barrier Forts, in late 1856, was an amphibious assault and short occupation conducted by the United States Navy against a series of forts along China's Pearl River...
— 16 November 1856, American punitive operation against China
- Battle of the Pearl River Forts
- Cochinchina CampaignCochinchina CampaignThe Cochinchina campaign , fought between the French and the Spanish on the one side and the Vietnamese on the other, began as a limited punitive campaign and ended as a French war of conquest...
- Siege of Tourane (Da Nang) — 1–2 June 1858 Admiral Rigault de Genouilly. Franco-Spanish operation.
- American Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
- Second Battle of Fort FisherSecond Battle of Fort FisherThe Second Battle of Fort Fisher was a joint assault by Union Army and naval forces against Fort Fisher, outside Wilmington, North Carolina, near the end of the American Civil War...
— 13–15 January 1865, American sailors make an amphibious assault while infantry attacks from land
- Second Battle of Fort Fisher
- Korean Expedition
- Battle of GanghwaBattle of GanghwaThe Battle of Ganghwa was fought during the conflict between Korea and the United States in 1871. In May, an expedition of five Asiatic Squadron warships set sail from Japan to Korea in order to establish trade relations, ensure the safety of shipwrecked sailors, and to find out what happened to...
— 10 June 1871, American attack on Korean forts at Ganghwa Island
- Battle of Ganghwa
- War of the PacificWar of the PacificThe War of the Pacific took place in western South America from 1879 through 1883. Chile fought against Bolivia and Peru. Despite cooperation among the three nations in the war against Spain, disputes soon arose over the mineral-rich Peruvian provinces of Tarapaca, Tacna, and Arica, and the...
- Battle of PisaguaBattle of PisaguaThe Battle of Pisagua , was a landing operation of the War of the Pacific, fought on November 2, 1879, between Chile and the combined forces of Bolivia and Peru. The Chilean army commanded by Erasmo Escala, supported by the Chilean Fleet, launched an amphibious assault, led by Gen...
— 2 November 1879, Chilean troops defeat a joint Peuvian-Bolivian army and separes Iquique from Peru
- Battle of Pisagua
- Banana Wars
- Santo Domingo AffairSanto Domingo AffairThe Santo Domingo Affair, or the Santo Domingo Crisis, refers to an incident in 1904 involving the United States and insurgent forces of Carlos F. Morales in the present day Dominican Republic...
— 11 February 1903, American forces land at Santo Domingo and rout Dominican rebels from the city. - Battle of Veracruz — 21 April 1914, American forces land and occupy Veracruz, Mexico
- Santo Domingo Affair
- World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
- Battle of TangaBattle of TangaThe Battle of Tanga, sometimes also known as the Battle of the Bees, was the unsuccessful attack by the British Indian Expeditionary Force “B” under Major General A.E. Aitken to capture German East Africa during World War I in concert with the invasion Force “C” near Longido on the slopes of...
— 1914 - Gallipoli Campaign — 1915–1916
- Landing at Anzac CoveLanding at Anzac CoveThe landing at Anzac Cove was part of the amphibious invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula by Australian and New Zealand forces on 25 April 1915. The landing, north of Gaba Tepe on the Aegean coast of the Peninsula, was made by soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and was the first...
— 25 April 1915 - Landing at Cape HellesLanding at Cape HellesThe landing at Cape Helles was part of the amphibious invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula by British and French forces on April 25, 1915 during the First World War. Helles, at the foot of the peninsula, was the main landing area. With the support of the guns of the Royal Navy, a British division...
— 25 April 1915 - Landing at Suvla BayLanding at Suvla BayThe landing at Suvla Bay was an amphibious landing made at Suvla on the Aegean coast of Gallipoli peninsula in the Ottoman Empire as part of the August Offensive, the final British attempt to break the deadlock of the Battle of Gallipoli...
— 6 August 1915
- Landing at Anzac Cove
- Zeebrugge RaidZeebrugge RaidThe Zeebrugge Raid, which took place on 23 April 1918, was an attempt by the British Royal Navy to neutralize the key Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge...
— 23 April 1918
- Battle of Tanga
- Rif War (1920)Rif War (1920)The Rif War, also called the Second Moroccan War, was fought between Spain and the Moroccan Rif Berbers.-Rifian forces:...
- Amphibious assault of AlhucemasAl HoceimaAl Hoceima is a city and port in the north of Morocco and in the center of the Rif Mountains. The Al Hoceima city region has a population of 395.644 and is the capital of the Taza-Al Hoceima-Taounate region...
— 8 September 1925 General José SanjurjoJosé SanjurjoGeneral José Sanjurjo y Sacanell, 1st Marquis of the Rif was a General in the Spanish Army who was one of the chief conspirators in the military uprising that led to the Spanish Civil War.-Early life:...
- Amphibious assault of Alhucemas
- World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
- European TheatreEuropean Theatre of World War IIThe European Theatre of World War II was a huge area of heavy fighting across Europe from Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 until the end of the war with the German unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945...
- Operation Chariot — 28 March 1942
- Operation Jubilee — 18 August 1942
- Operation SledgehammerOperation SledgehammerOperation Sledgehammer was a World War II Allied plan for a cross-Channel invasion of Europe, as the first step in helping to reduce pressure on the Soviet Red Army by establishing a Second Front...
— contingency plan for German collapse in the west - Operation GymnastOperation GymnastDuring World War II, Operation Gymnast was an early plan for the invasion of north Africa first used in 1941. The term was replaced by Super Gymnast and finally Operation Torch....
— codename used for proposed invasion of Europe during 1942 - Operation NeptuneOperation NeptuneThe Normandy landings, codenamed Operation Neptune, were the landing operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy, in Operation Overlord, during World War II. The landings commenced on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 , beginning at 6:30 AM British Double Summer Time...
— 6 June 1944 - Operation InfatuateOperation InfatuateOperation Infatuate was the codename given to Anglo-Canadian operation during the Second World War to open the port of Antwerp to shipping and relieve logistical constraints. The operation was part of the wider battle of the Scheldt and involved two assault landings from the sea by the 4th Special...
— 1 November 1944 - Operation OverlordOperation OverlordOperation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
— 6 June 1944
- Mediterranean TheatreMediterranean Theatre of World War IIThe African, Mediterranean and Middle East theatres encompassed the naval, land, and air campaigns fought between the Allied and Axis forces in the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and Africa...
- Operation AbstentionOperation AbstentionOperation Abstention was the code name given to the British invasion of the Italian island of Kastelorizo, off Turkey, during the Second World War, on late February 1941...
— 25 February 1941 - Operation Ironclad — 5 May 1942
- Operation AgreementOperation AgreementOperation Agreement consisted of a series of ground and amphibious operations carried out by British, Rhodesian and New Zealand forces on German and Italian-held Tobruk on 13 September 1942, during the Second World War. A Special Interrogation Group, fluent in German, also took part in missions...
— 14 September 1942 - Operation TorchOperation TorchOperation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....
— 8 November 1942 - Operation Husky — 10 July 1943
- Operation BaytownOperation BaytownOperation Baytown was a part of the Allied invasion of Italy during World War II on 3 September 1943.The operation consisted of the landing by sea of the British 13th Corps of British 8th Army at Reggio di Calabria...
— 3 September 1943 - Operation SlapstickOperation SlapstickOperation Slapstick was the code name for a British landing from the sea at the Italian port of Taranto during the Second World War. The operation, one of three landings during the Allied invasion of Italy, was undertaken by the British 1st Airborne Division in September 1943.Planned at short...
— 9 September 1943 - Operation Avalanche — 9 September 1943
- Operation ShingleOperation ShingleOperation Shingle , during the Italian Campaign of World War II, was an Allied amphibious landing against Axis forces in the area of Anzio and Nettuno, Italy. The operation was commanded by Major General John P. Lucas and was intended to outflank German forces of the Winter Line and enable an...
— 22 January 1944 - Operation DragoonOperation DragoonOperation Dragoon was the Allied invasion of southern France on August 15, 1944, during World War II. The invasion was initiated via a parachute drop by the 1st Airborne Task Force, followed by an amphibious assault by elements of the U.S. Seventh Army, followed a day later by a force made up...
— 15 August 1944
- Operation Abstention
- South East Asia TheatreSouth-East Asian theatre of World War IIThe South-East Asian Theatre of World War II was the name given to the campaigns of the Pacific War in Burma , Ceylon, India, Thailand, Indochina, Malaya and Singapore. Conflict in the theatre began when the Empire of Japan invaded Thailand and Malaya from bases located in Indochina on December 8,...
- Operation DraculaOperation DraculaDuring World War II, Operation Dracula was the name given to an airborne and amphibious attack on Rangoon by British and Indian forces, part of the Burma Campaign. When it was launched, the Imperial Japanese Army had already abandoned the city.-Background:...
— 2 May 1945 - Operation ZipperOperation ZipperDuring the Second World War, Operation Zipper was a British plan to capture either Port Swettenham or Port Dickson, Malaya as staging areas for the recapture of Singapore. However, due to the end of the war in the Pacific, it was never fully executed. Some of the proposed landings on Penang went...
- Operation Dracula
- South West Pacific AreaSouth West Pacific AreaSouth West Pacific Area was the name given to the Allied supreme military command in the South West Pacific Theatre of World War II. It was one of four major Allied commands in the Pacific theatres of World War II, during 1942–45...
- Operation ChronicleOperation ChronicleOperation Chronicle was the Allied invasion of Woodlark and Kiriwina Islands during World War II, in the South West Pacific as part of Operation Cartwheel. An early planning name for this operation was Operation Coronet...
— 30 June 1943 - Operation Toenails — 30 June 1943
- Borneo campaign (1945)Borneo campaign (1945)The Borneo Campaign of 1945 was the last major Allied campaign in the South West Pacific Area, during World War II. In a series of amphibious assaults between 1 May and 21 July, the Australian I Corps, under General Leslie Morshead, attacked Japanese forces occupying the island. Allied naval and...
- Operation Chronicle
- Pacific Ocean AreasPacific Ocean AreasPacific Ocean Areas was a major Allied military command in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II. It was one of four major Allied commands during the Pacific War, and one of two United States commands in the Pacific Theater of Operations. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz of the U.S...
- Operation Watchtower — 7 August 1942
- Operation CleanslateOperation CleanslateDuring World War II, Operation Cleanslate was the occupation of Russell Islands about sixty miles northwest of Guadalcanal by the United States in August, 1942. The Japanese had captured the island in January, 1942....
— 21 February 1943 - Operation Cherry Blossom — 1 November 1943
- Operation Galvanic — 20 November 1943
- Operation Flintlock — 31 January 1944
- Operation Catchpole — 17 February 1944
- Operation Forager — 15 June 1944
- Operation Detachment — 15 February 1945
- Operation Iceberg — 1 April 1945
- Operation OlympicOperation DownfallOperation Downfall was the Allied plan for the invasion of Japan near the end of World War II. The operation was cancelled when Japan surrendered after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet Union's declaration of war against Japan. The operation had two parts: Operation...
— planned for 1 November 1945 - Operation Coronet — planned for 1 March 1946
- European Theatre
- Chinese Civil WarChinese Civil WarThe Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
and its aftermath- Landing Operation on Hainan IslandLanding Operation on Hainan IslandLanding Operation on Hainan Island , also known as Hainan Island Campaign or Hainan Campaign for short, was a series of battles fought between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China during the Chinese Civil War in the post-World War II period, and resulted in a communist...
(March-April 1950)
- Landing Operation on Hainan Island
- Korean WarKorean WarThe Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
- Operation Chromite — 15 September 1950
- Suez CrisisSuez CrisisThe Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
- Operation MusketeerOperation Musketeer (1956)Operation Musketeer was the Anglo-French-Israeli plan for the invasion of Egypt to capture the Suez Canal during the Suez Crisis. Israel had the additional objective to open the Straits of Tiran.-The operation:...
— 6 November 1956
- Operation Musketeer
- Vietnam WarVietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
- Operation StarliteOperation StarliteOperation Starlite was the first offensive military action conducted by a purely U.S. military unit during the Vietnam War. The operation was launched based on intelligence provided by Major General Nguyen Chanh Thi, the commander of the South Vietnamese forces in northern I Corps area. Lieutenant...
— 21 August 1965
- Operation Starlite
- Indo-Pakistani War of 1971Indo-Pakistani War of 1971The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military conflict between India and Pakistan. Indian, Bangladeshi and international sources consider the beginning of the war to be Operation Chengiz Khan, Pakistan's December 3, 1971 pre-emptive strike on 11 Indian airbases...
- Operation TridentOperation Trident (Indo-Pakistani War)Operation Trident and its follow-up Operation Python were naval offensive operations launched on Pakistan's port city of Karachi by the Indian Navy during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Operation Trident resulted in the first use of anti-ship missiles in the region, as well as the first sinking of...
- Operation PythonOperation PythonOperation Python, a follow up to Operation Trident, was a code name of a naval attack launched on West Pakistan's port city of Karachi by the Indian Navy during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971...
- Operation Trident
- The TroublesThe TroublesThe Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
- Operation MotormanOperation MotormanOperation Motorman was a large operation carried out by the British Army in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. The operation took place in the early hours of 31 July 1972 with the aim of retaking the "no-go areas" that had been established in Belfast, Derry and other large towns.-Background:The...
— 31 July 1972
- Operation Motorman
- Falklands WarFalklands WarThe Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
- Operation Rosario — 2 April 1982
- Operation CorporateOperation CorporateOperation Corporate was the codename given to the 1982 British military involvement in the Falkland Islands during the Falklands War. The commander of task force operations was Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse. Operations lasted from 1 April 1982 to 20 June 1982....
- San CarlosBattle of San Carlos (1982)The Battle of San Carlos was a major battle between aircraft and ships that lasted from 21 to 25 May 1982 during the British landings on the shores of San Carlos Water in the 1982 Falklands War . Low-flying land-based Argentine jet aircraft made repeated attacks on ships of the British Task Force...
— 28 May 1982 - Bluff CoveBluff Cove Air AttacksThe Bluff Cove Air Attacks occurred 8 June 1982, during the Falklands War. British troop transport ships were bombed by the Argentine Air Force whilst unloading, with significant damage and casualties.-Background:...
— 8 June 1982
- San Carlos
- Sri Lankan Civil WarSri Lankan civil warThe Sri Lankan Civil War was a conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka. Beginning on July 23, 1983, there was an on-and-off insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a separatist militant organization which fought to create an independent Tamil state named Tamil...
- Operation BalavegayaOperation BalavegayaOperation Balavegaya was a combined military operation launched by the Sri Lankan Military in Jaffna. It was the largest amphibious assault launched by the Sri Lankan Military in its history. Operation Balavegaya was launched in response to siege of Elephant Pass by the LTTE terrorists...
- Operation Sea Breeze
- Operation Balavegaya
- Gulf WarGulf WarThe Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
- Ad-DawrahBattle of Ad-DawrahThe Battle of Ad-Dawrah was a naval engagement fought on the night of the 18th January and into the 19th January in 1991 during the Gulf War. In the battle, Coalition forces captured an Iraqi offshore oil field forty miles from the Kuwaiti shore. The 29 POWs captured were the first POWs of the war...
- Ad-Dawrah
- Iraq War
- Al-Faw peninsulaAl-Faw PeninsulaThe Faw peninsula is a marshy region adjoining the Persian Gulf in the extreme south-east of Iraq, between and to the south-east of the cities of Basra and Abadan ....
— Royal MarinesRoyal MarinesThe Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
amphibious assault, supported by British Royal NavyRoyal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
and Royal Australian NavyRoyal Australian NavyThe Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
- Al-Faw peninsula