Naval gunfire support (NGFS), also known as naval surface fire support (NSFS), or shore bombardment, is the use of naval artillery to provide fire support for amphibious assault and other troops operating within their range. NGFS is one of several disciplines encompassed by the term naval fires. Modern naval gunfire support is one of the three main components of amphibious warfare assault operations support, along with aircraft and ship-launched land-attack missiles. Shipborne guns have been used against shore defences since medieval naval warfare.
USS Iowa fires a full broadside of nine 16 in/50 and six 5 in/38 guns during a target exercise near Vieques Island, Puerto Rico, 1 July 1984.
The monitor HMS Marshal Ney, with her single turret trained to starboard (1915)
Stern view of HMS Lord Clive, her 18-inch gun is fitted on a fixed mounting on her quarterdeck, pointing to starboard (November 1918)
The WWI-era (launched 30 June 1917) United States Navy battleship USS Idaho shells Japanese defenses on Okinawa on 1 April 1945.
Naval artillery is artillery mounted on a warship, originally used only for naval warfare and then subsequently used for more specialized roles in surface warfare such as naval gunfire support (NGFS) and anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) engagements. The term generally refers to powder-launched projectile-firing weapons and excludes self-propelled projectiles such as torpedoes, rockets, and missiles and those simply dropped overboard such as depth charges and naval mines.
USS Iowa fires a broadside of nine 16"/50 and six 5"/38 guns during an exercise
The cannon shot (c. 1680), by Willem van de Velde the Younger
The line of battle was used from the beginning of the 16th century by the Portuguese, especially in the Indian Ocean, and from the 17th century, by the other Europeans in general, beginning with the Dutch and the English, in the English Channel and the North Sea. Pictured, the battle of Ă–land between an allied Danish-Dutch fleet under Cornelis Tromp and the Swedish navy.
Firing of an 18-pounder aboard a French ship.