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MARITIME DOCTRINE IN CONTEXT1The Type 23 frigate HMS NORTHUMBERLAND escorts aTRAFALGAR Class nuclear powered submarineThe Fighting Instructions and other national publications, with muchadditional tactical doctrine contained in NATO publications.At each level, consideration has to be given to the types of operations thatare to be conducted and the extent to which force needs to be applied toachieve political and military objectives. Ultimately, the UK’s maritimeforces must be capable of operating within the extremes of violence typicalof those associated with general war. While general war is currently7
BRITISH MARITIME DOCTRINE / THIRD EDITIONconsidered to be an unlikely eventuality, the intensity of violence associatedwith it cannot be dismissed to the same extent. High intensity operationsmay be required to achieve success in conditions falling well short ofgeneral war. Maritime forces must be able to function in high intensitysituations and survive them in order to ensure success. The tendency forlower intensity operations to escalate, and for original limited objectives toexpand, means that reserves of combat capability will be necessary toprovide higher level decision-makers with an adequate range of options.Maritime forces must, therefore, be equipped and trained to allow forescalation to a higher intensity of operations than those for which they mayoriginally have been deployed, consistent with the central philosophy ofthe British approach to military operations in the round; namely thatretention of a warfighting ethos is central, ready to be applied if thecircumstances demand it.The Influence of Law on Maritime OperationsRegardless of the level, intensity and type of maritime operations beingconducted, including routine peacetime activities, they must be carried outwithin the limits imposed by international law and, where appropriate,within the limits imposed by either UK domestic law or that applying inother jurisdictions. Notwithstanding the inherent right of self defence,legal restraints on all maritime operations will be reflected in the Rules ofEngagement (ROE). Royal Navy warships invariably operate withpromulgated ROE, including during the conduct of routine peacetimeactivities.1/1. The Principles of WarEssential to the art of military leadership and command is the ability tolearn from one’s own experience and that of others. The Principles ofWar are a distillation of experience and a simplification of complex andsometimes contradictory ideas. They are broad precepts for theconduct of armed conflict. They should be used to inform all militarystrategic and operational decisions rather than as a planning checklist.The ten Principles recognised by the armed forces of the UK are8
Page 1 and 2: HMS OCEAN, with Support Helicopters
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