Amphibious operations share many characteristics with other maritime activities, including the administrative disembarkation of forces on a friendly shore and simple ferry activities between ports; indeed, specialist amphibious shipping is frequently employed on tasks like these.

The ability to deploy a military force across the seas to a chosen point has often been decisive in determining success in war.

Contrary to their expectations, amphibious forces became even more relevant in the 20th century. Despite the chastening experience at Gallipoli in 1915, where the Allied landing force incurred heavy losses in the face of determined Turkish defences, techniques and equipment developed rapidly. The Americans and, to a lesser extent, the British,

One of the key problems for amphibious forces was that the land and sea elements of the force had to provide mutual support. This was often difficult, as the naval and land force commanders had little understanding of, or sympathy for, the troubles of their sister service.

Historically weak on the land but strong at sea, England (and, from 1707, Britain) made good use of amphibious forces in a series of wars against both Spain and France. Francis Drake’s raid on Spanish possession in the Caribbean between 1585 and 1586 was a prelude to a series of successful amphibious operations that included the capture of

It is usually suggested that there are four general types of amphibious operations — assault, raid, withdrawal and demonstration.

An amphibious operation involves the projection of a military force from the sea onto a hostile, or a potentially hostile, shore.

Recently, some commentators have argued that there is a fifth type, described as ‘amphibious support to other operations’.