Naval warfare is as old as sailing itself, but before the invention of gunpowder it mostly consisted of simply occupying or puncturing enemy ships. It was the spread of cannons, though, that decisively changed the face of naval warfare. Ships of the line first appeared, and then armored battleships with huge guns took over at the end of the 19th century. Unable to withstand new threats from the air however, battleships ultimately suffered their demise by the mid-20th century, with aircraft carriers replacing them as the masters of the sea.
