Naval Blockade

Naval blockade is the use of naval forces to seal an enemy's ports and coastline, cutting off trade, supply and reinforcement so as to strangle its war-making capacity without engaging its army directly. The tactic is ancient, used in conflicts including the Peloponnesian War, but one of its most extensively documented executions is the Union's blockade of the Confederacy in the American Civil War from 1861, known as the Anaconda Plan, which combined with land operations to cut the Confederacy off from overseas trade over the following four years. Naval blockade was also central to twentieth-century conflicts, including the Allied blockade of Germany in the First World War and the German U-boat campaign against Allied shipping.