Harman Patil (Editor)I love reading books and watching sci fi flicks Maritime timelineUpdated on Dec 26, 2024EditLikeCommentShareShare on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on RedditSign inThis is a timeline of events in maritime history.ContentsPrehistoryAntiquityMiddle AgesAge of DiscoveryRise of steamboats and motorshipsReferencesPrehistoryAbout 45,000 BC: first humans arrive in Australia, presumably by boatAntiquityAbout 6,000 BC: earliest evidence of dugout canoes5th millennium BC: earliest known depiction of a sailing boatAbout 2,000 BC:Hannu dispatches a fleet to the Land of PuntAustronesian people migrate from Taiwan to Indonesia, preceding the colonization of Polynesia1575-1520 BC Dover Bronze Age Boat, oldest known plank vessel, was builtabout 1175 BC: Battle of the Delta, one of the first recorded naval battles1194-1174 BC: supposed timespan for the events of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.Around 600 BC: according to Herodotus, Necho II sends Phoenician expedition to circumnavigate Africa542 BC: first written record of a trireme5th century BC: Hanno the Navigator explores the coast of West Africa480 BC: Battle of Salamis, arguably the largest naval battle in ancient times247 BC: Lighthouse of Alexandria completed214 BC: Lingqu Canal built31 BC: Battle of Actium decides the Final War of the Roman RepublicAbout 200: Junks are developed in China.Middle Ages793: The raid of Lindisfarne, first recorded Viking raid984: Pound locks used in China; See Technology of the Song DynastyAbout 1000: Leif Ericson reaches North America, first recorded crossing of the Atlantic Ocean.1025: Chola invasion of Srivijaya1088: Dream Pool Essays by Shen Kuo, first description of a magnetic compass1159: Lübeck is rebuilt, and the Hanseatic League is founded.About 1190: Alexander Neckam writes the first European description of a magnetic compass.13th century: Portolan charts are introduced in the Mediterranean.About 1280: Polynesian settlers arrive at New Zealand, the last major landmass to be populated.1274: First Mongol invasion of Japan1325-1354: Ibn Batuta visits much of Africa and Asia.1405: Zheng He's expeditions begins.Age of Discovery1488: Bartolomeu Dias reaches the Cape of Good Hope.1492: Christopher Columbus' first voyage, first recorded non-Arctic crossing of the Atlantic1497: John Cabot reaches North American mainland, as first European since the Vikings.1498Vasco da Gama completes the first voyage from Europe to India.Columbus reaches continental South America.1513: Jorge Álvares completes the first voyage from Europe to China.1522: Ferdinand Magellan's last ship arrives in Europe, first recorded circumnavigation, and crossing of the Pacific Ocean1571: Battle of Lepanto, last major naval battle fought entirely between galleys.1580: Francis Drake returns home from Nehalem Bay, Oregon to become the 1st circumnavigation by an Englishman.1588: The Spanish Armada is destroyed, shifting naval superiority to England.1602: The Dutch East India Company is founded.1606: Willem Janszoon becomes the first European to reach Australia.1620: Cornelis Drebbel constructs the first submarine.1628: The Vasa sinks in Stockholm harbour on its maiden voyage.1736: John Harrison tests the first successful marine chronometer.1757: First sextant constructed1771: James Cook completes the first circumnavigation without casualties to scurvy.1790: Battle of Svensksund, the last major battle with participation of galleys.Rise of steamboats and motorships1783: Claude de Jouffroy constructs the first recorded steamboat.1805: The battle of Trafalgar marks the rise of the Royal Navy to a century of world domination.1807: North River Steamboat, the first commercially successful steamboat, is launched.1820: Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen discovers mainland Antarctica.1845: SS Great Britain becomes first iron steamer to cross the Atlantic.1853: American commodore Matthew C. Perry arrives in Tokyo Bay, enforcing the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854.1856: Paris Declaration Respecting Maritime Law outlaws privateering.1859: The first ironclad warship, the Gloire, is launched.1861: USS Ice Boat (1861), the first purpose-built icebreaker, is launched.1862: The Battle of Hampton Roads becomes the first battle between ironclads.1864: Ictineo II, the first submarine powered by an internal-combustion engine.1869: The Suez Canal opens1871: Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld braves the Northeast Passage on the Vega1880: The American passenger steamship Columbia becomes the first outside usage of Thomas Edison's incandescent light bulb.1894: The Turbinia, the world's first turbine-powered ship, is launched.1895: The Kiel Canal opens.1903: The Vandal, the world's first diesel-electric ship, is launched.1906Roald Amundsen conquers the Northwest Passage on the Gjøa.HMS Dreadnought launched, commencing the era of battleships.1912: The Titanic sinks in the North Atlantic.1914: The Panama Canal opens.1916: Battle of Jutland, claimed to be the largest naval battle in history, counting tonnage of engaged ships.1918: HMS Furious (47) becomes the first aircraft carrier used in warfare.1937: USS Leary (DD-158) becomes the first American vessel to be equipped with radar.1941: The attack on Pearl Harbor starts the Pacific War.1942: The battle of Midway marks the demise of battleships and the domination of aircraft carriers.1944: Normandy landings, the largest amphibious invasion in history.1951: The first purpose-built container ships enter operation.1955: USS Nautilus (SSN-571), the world's first nuclear-powered vessel, is launched.1959The USS Skate (SSN-578) surfaces at the North Pole.The SR.N1, the first practical hovercraft, is launched.1960: The Trieste descends to the Challenger Deep.1962: The Cuban Missile Crisis; a major naval confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union.1977: Russian icebreaker Arktika makes the first surface voyage to the North Pole.1982: Falklands War, one of the largest naval campaigns since World War II.1985: The Sea Shadow (IX-529), an early stealth ship, is launched.1987: The MV Doña Paz is lost, claiming 4,375 lives, the worst peacetime maritime disaster in history.1994:2005: Piracy in Somalia becomes an international concern.2007: Arktika 2007 becomes the first manned expedition to the North Pole seabed.2012:More Alchetron TopicsReferencesMaritime timeline Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SASimilar Topics