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The aftermath of World War II saw naval gunnery supplanted by ship to ship missiles as the primary weapon of surface combatants. Two major naval battles have taken place since World War II.
The [[Indo-Pakistani Naval War of 1971]] was the first major naval war post World War II. It saw the dispatch of an Indian aircraft carrier group, heavy utilisation of [[missile boat]]s in naval operations, total naval blockade of Pakistan by the [[Indian Navy]] and the annihilation of almost half of [[Pakistan Navy|Pakistan's Navy]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Can Pakistan Survive? The Death of a State|last=Tariq Ali|publisher=Penguin Books|year=1983|isbn=978-0-14-02-2401-6|location=United Kingdom|pages=95|quote=In a two-week war, Pakistan lost half its navy.}}</ref> By the end of the war, the damage inflicted by the Indian Navy and [[Indian Air Force|Air Forces]] on Pakistan's Navy stood at two destroyers, one submarine, one minesweeper, three [[patrol craft|patrol vessels]], seven [[gunboat]]s, eighteen [[Cargo ship|cargo, supply and communication vessels]], as well as large-scale damage inflicted on the naval base and docks located in the major port city of Karachi.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.defencejournal.com/nov98/angrysea.htm|title=The Angry Sea|last=Tiwana|first=M.A. Hussain|date=November 1998|website=www.defencejournal.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090313073901/http://www.defencejournal.com/nov98/angrysea.htm|archive-date=13 March 2009|url-status=live|access-date=15 November 2016}}</ref> Three merchant navy ships, ''Anwar Baksh'', ''Pasni'', and ''Madhumathi'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.irfc-nausena.nic.in/irfc/ezine/Trans2Trimph/chapters/39_transfer%20of%20ships1.htm|title=Chapter-39|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301204938/http://www.irfc-nausena.nic.in/irfc/ezine/Trans2Trimph/chapters/39_transfer%20of%20ships1.htm|archive-date=1 March 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=24 December 2014}}</ref> and ten smaller vessels were captured.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.orbat.com/site/cimh/navy/kills(1971)-2.pdf|title=Damage Assessment – 1971 INDO-PAK Naval War|website=B. Harry|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051030235952/http://www.orbat.com/site/cimh/navy/kills(1971)-2.pdf|archive-date=30 October 2005|url-status=dead|access-date=16 May 2005}}</ref> Around 1,900 personnel were lost, while 1,413 servicemen (mostly officers) were captured by [[Indian Armed Forces|Indian forces]] in [[Dhaka]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aeronautics.ru/archive/vif2_project/indo_pak_war_1971.htm|title=Military Losses in the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War|website=Venik|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020225045411/http://www.aeronautics.ru/archive/vif2_project/indo_pak_war_1971.htm|archive-date=25 February 2002|url-status=dead|access-date=30 May 2005}}</ref> The Indian Navy lost 18 officers and 194 sailors
In the 1982 [[Falklands War]] between Argentina and the United Kingdom, a Royal Navy task force of approximately 100 ships was dispatched over {{convert|7000|mi}} from the British mainland to the [[South Atlantic]]. The British were outnumbered in theatre airpower with only 36 [[Sea Harrier|Harriers]] from their two aircraft carriers and a few helicopters, compared with at least 200 aircraft of the [[Argentine Air Force|Fuerza Aérea Argentina]], although London dispatched Vulcan bombers in [[Operation Black Buck|a display of long-distance strategic capacity]]. Most of the land-based aircraft of the [[Royal Air Force]] were not available due to the distance from air bases. This reliance on aircraft at sea showed the importance of the aircraft carrier. The Falklands War showed the vulnerability of modern ships to [[sea-skimming]] [[Anti-ship missile|missiles]] like the [[Exocet]]. One hit from an Exocet sank {{HMS|Sheffield|D80|6}}, a modern anti-air warfare destroyer. Over half of Argentine deaths in the war occurred when the nuclear submarine {{HMS|Conqueror|S48|2}} torpedoed and sank the light cruiser {{ship|ARA|General Belgrano}} with the loss of 323 lives. Important lessons about ship design, [[Damage control (maritime)|damage control]] and ship construction materials were learnt from the conflict.
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