Here is your geography lesson for the day! Pay attention and learn something new! Slightly different from what I had thought was the accepted orthodoxy!
Maritime geography. Classification of "waters" as seen by the navies of the world [US Navy at least?]!
My thoughts were that there existed only three classifications of "waters"! Brown, green, and blue!
Brown being those of rivers, green being coastal, and blue being all else. Current teachings say this is not totally correct. Defined slightly differently.
From the wiki entry on maritime geography.
"Maritime geography is often discussed in terms of four loosely-defined regions: Riverine, brown water, green water, and blue water."
* Riverine - - "The riverine environment consists of all navigable rivers of interest."
* Brown water - - "The brown water environment consists of the littoral areas, from the coast and estuarial areas to perhaps a hundred miles from shore . . . A 'brown-water navy' focuses on coastal operations and primarily takes a defensive role."
* Green water - - "The green water environment extends from the outer edge of the brown-water zone past any continental shelves, archipelagos and islands; perhaps a thousand miles from shore."
* Blue water - - "The blue water environment extends from the outer edge of the green-water zone through the global deep ocean."
The global deep ocean! The great abysmal depths. Usually around 10,000 feet [3,000 meters] deep or so. Pelagic waters, international, beyond the range of national jurisdictions!
Few navies of the world can AFFORD blue water fleets. Naval warfare of the future will be almost totally confined to combat within the "brown" and "green" regions? Combat vessels must be designed from the start to operate with effectiveness in any type of "waters", but particularly close to shore!
coolbert.
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