Naval Integration through History: Five Case Studies

Naval integration has been an important element of US Marine Corps (USMC) efforts to evolve the force in recent years. However, navy and marine forces have long histories of working closely together. In this report, we seek to examine these historical relationships and draw out important themes for today’s naval integration efforts. As II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF), the study sponsor, works toward greater integration with its US Navy (USN) partners, examining the tactical employment of naval infantry throughout history affords helpful insights.

To study this history, we assembled and examined a series of case studies in naval integration to draw out useful lessons from history. The cases extend back as far as the US Civil War and include US and non-US examples.

The cases included in this report include the following:

1. The Battles for Fort Fisher, North Carolina (December 1864 and January 1865)
2. Royal Marine Operations in the Gallipoli Campaign (1915) and the Zeebrugge and Ostend Raids (1918)
3. Operation Ironclad, Madagascar (May 1942)
4. Operation Walfajr-8, Al Faw Peninsula Landings (1986)
5. Combat at Sea in the 19th and 20th century: The Marine gun turret on battleships and cruisers