The Spanish Navy or officially, the Armada, is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation, the most famous being the discovery of America and the first global circumnavigation by Elcano. For several centuries, it played a crucial logistical role in the expansion and consolidation of the Spanish Empire, and defended a vast trade network across the Atlantic Ocean between the Americas and Europe, and the Manila Galleon across the Pacific Ocean between the Philippines and the Americas.
The Battle of La Rochelle, 1372
Commemorative plaque at San Fernando's Panteón de los Marinos Ilustres, depicting a list of victories of the Armadas of Spain List of Victories Conquest of Majorca 1229 Conquest of Menorca 1232 Conquest of Ibiza 1234 Conquest of Seville 1248 Battle of Malta 1283 Combat of Sorrento 1284 Battle of Castellamare 1287 Battle of Cape St. Vincent 1337 Battle of La Rochelle 1371 Combat of Gibraltar 1407 Battle of La Rochelle 1419
The Battle of Lepanto, 1571
A 17th-century Spanish galleon
A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It includes anything conducted by surface ships, amphibious ships, submarines, and seaborne aviation, as well as ancillary support, communications, training, and other fields.
The Spanish Armada fighting the English navy at the Battle of Gravelines in 1588
British and Danish navies in the line of battle at the Battle of Copenhagen (1801)
A flotilla from the Indian Navy's Western Fleet escorts the aircraft carriers INS Viraat and INS Vikramaditya through the Arabian Sea in 2014
Fourth Style wall painting with naumachia (triremes), a detail from a panel from the portico of the Temple of Isis in Pompeii, Naples National Archaeological Museum
