This list of naval battles is a chronological list delineating important naval fleet battles. Note: If a battle's name isn't known it's just referred to as "Action of (date)".
| Year | Battle | |
|---|---|---|
| 1210 BC | Hittites defeat Cypriots near Cyprus | |
| c.1190 BC | Battle of the Delta | Ramses III defeats the "Sea Peoples" in the Nile delta |
| 664 BC | Corinth battles Corfu | |
| c.535 BC | Alalia | Carthaginians and Etruscans defeat Greeks near Alalia (now Aléria), Corsica |
| 497 BC | Ionians defeat Phoenicians near Cyprus | |
| 494 BC | Lade | Persians defeat Ionians |
| 480 BC | Artemisium | Greeks defeat Persians but retreat |
| Salamis | The Athenian navy defeats Persians | |
| 474 BC | Cumae | Syracuse and Cumae defeat Etruscans |
| 460s BC | Eurymedon | Delian League defeats Persians |
| 450s BC | Salamis (in Cyprus) | Delian League defeats Phoenicians and Cilicians |
| 433 BC | Sybota | Corcyra and Athens defeat Corinthians |
| 429 BC | Battles of Naupactus | Athenians defeat Spartans and Corinthians |
| 425 BC | Pylos | Athenians defeat Spartans |
| 411 BC | Cynossema | Athenians defeat Spartans |
| Eretria | Spartans defeat Athenians during September | |
| 410 BC | Cyzicus | Athenians defeat Spartans and Peloponnesians |
| 406 BC | Arginusae | Athenians defeat Peloponnesians |
| 405 BC | Aegospotami | Spartans destroy the Athenian navy |
| 394 BC | Cnidus | Persians defeat Spartans |
| 376 BC | Naxos | Athenians defeat Spartans |
| 323 BC | Crispus defeats Amandus (at the Hellespont) | |
| 306 BC | Salamis (in Cyprus) | Demetrius I Poliorcetes defeats the fleet of Menelaeus, brother of Ptolemy I of Egypt |
| 260 BC | Lipara Islands | Carthaginians defeat Romans |
| Battle of Mylae | Romans under Duilius defeat Carthaginians near Sicily | |
| 258 BC | Cos | Antigonus II Gonatas defeats Ptolemy II |
| 256 BC | Cape Ecnomus | Romans defeat Carthaginians |
| 249 BC | Drepana | Carthaginians defeat Romans |
| Ancient Macedonians defeat Egyptians at Andros | ||
| 10 March 241 BC | Aegates Islands | Roman victory over the Carthaginians, ending the First Punic War |
| 218 BC | Romans under Cornelius Scipio defeat Carthaginians near the mouth of the Ebro River (Italy) | |
| 201 BC | Chios | Philip V of Macedon defeated by the Egyptians, Rhodians, and Pergamese |
| 190 BC | Eurymedon | Roman forces under Lucius Aemilius Regillus defeat a Seleucid fleet commanded by Hannibal |
| Myonessus | Romans under Regillus and Rhodians under Eudoras defeat Seleucids under Polyxenidas | |
| 56 BC | Romans under Decius Brutus defeat Veneti near Bretagne | |
| 49 BC | Ile du Levant | Romans under Decius Brutus defeat [] |
| Romans under Decius Brutus defeat [] at Tauroentum | ||
| 3 September 36 BC | Naulochus | Agrippus defeats Pompeius |
| 2 September 31 BC | Actium | Octavian decisively defeats Antony and Cleopatra |
| 70 | Rome vs Batavi in the Maas | |
| 199 | Shaxian | Wu forces under Sun Ce defeat Liu Biao and Huang Zu |
| 208 | Red Cliffs | Combined forces of Liu Bei and Sun Quan defeat fleet under Cao Cao |
| 221 | Yiling | Sun Quan defeats the fleet under Liu Bei and successfully defends Jingzhou |
| 222 | Dongkou | Eastern Wu general Lü Fan manages to defeat Cao Xiu |
| 272 | Xiling | Lu Kang defeats Jin general Bu Chan and retakes Xiling |
| Year | Date | Battle | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1563 | Action of 30 May | Swedes capture three Danes before war is declared. | |
| Action of 11 Sep | Inconclusive [skirmish?] between Danes/Lübeckers and Swedes. | ||
| 1564 | Action of 30 May | Swedes under Bagge [clash with?] Danes/Lübeckers under Trolle. | |
| Action of 12 Jul | A Swedish captain blows up his ship after a Danish attack. | ||
| Action of 12 Aug | Swedes under Klas Horn defeat Danes under Herluf Trolle, southeast of Öland. | ||
| 1565 | Action of 4 Jun | Danes/Lübeckers defeat Swedes near Buchow. | |
| Action of 7 Jul | Swedes defeat Danes/Lübeckers between Bornholm and Rügen. | ||
| 1566 | Action of 26 Jul | Swedes defeat Danes/Lübeckers between Öland and Gotland. | |
| 1568 | Swedish fleet captures several Polish corsairs and drives off remainder. | ||

| Year | Date | Battle | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1914-1918 | First Battle of the Atlantic | ||
| 1914 | August 28 | Battle of Heligoland Bight | |
| November 1 | Battle of Coronel | German cruisers under von Spee defeat a British cruiser force off Chile. | |
| December 8 | Battle of the Falkland Islands | British battlecruiser force virtually wipes out von Spee's squadron. | |
| 1915 | January 24 | Battle of Dogger Bank | Blucher sunk by British battlecruisers in the North Sea. |
| July 2 | Russian raid on Gotland | Russian cruiser squadron intercepts German cruiser force laying mines off the Åland Islands. German mine-laying cruiser Albatross sunk and cruisers Roon and Prinz Adalbert damaged. | |
| 1916 | May 31 | Battle of Jutland | A two-day engagement between the main British and German fleets, the only such engagement during World War I. |
| 1917 | April 21 | Battle of Dover Strait | Destroyer battle. |
| 15 May | Raid on the Otranto Barrage | ||
| 17 October | Battle of Moon Sound | German and Russian forces clash in the Baltic Sea. | |
| November 17 | Second Battle of Heligoland Bight |