Horatio Nelson is famous for besting Napoleon at sea. But what did he mean by “Kiss me, Hardy”—his supposed last words?

The first moving naval “torpedo” was physically attached to the submarine that used it—with perhaps predictable results.

Naval combat seems complicated enough, but if torpedoes have to directly impact their target to do damage, it'd be even harder. Do they require accuracy?

For much of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, battleships represented the peak of naval power. These massive armored vessels carried the largest guns and symbolized national strength at sea. But ...