History Main / NavalBlockade

!!Examples

[[folder: Anime And Manga ]]

[[folder: Fan Works ]]

* The Citadel Council tries this in ''[[FanFic/SovereignGFCOrigins Origins]]'', a ''MassEffect''[=/=]''StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''[=Borderlands=]''[=/=]''[=Halo=]'']] MassiveMultiplayerCrossover against the Terminus Systems (the source of an AlienInvasion), but it doesn't work. Also kind of inverted when the Council pulls the opposite of the trope, blocking everything ''in'' to try to keep an area safe as the war expands. Still doesn't work though.

[[folder: Film ]]

* In ''Film/{{Godzilla 2014}}'', the American Navy attempts to block Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'s approach to Hawaiis shore. Unfortunately, they didn't anticipate Godzilla swimming ''under'' their blockade and displacing so much water that the destroyers and aircraft carriers get tossed about in the waves that proceed to flood the city in a tsunami.

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live-Action TV ]]

[[folder: Role Playing Games ]]

* In ''Roleplay/DinoAttackRPG'', the entire planet Earth has been placed under quarantine by the Galactic Council to prevent the spreading of the Maelstrom's forces to other planets, and the quarantine is enforced by a fleet of SpacePolice ships blockading the planet. Unlike most examples, other ships ''are'' allowed to travel to Earth despite the blockade, but the Space Police are enforcing the rule that nothing is allowed to leave the planet until the threat of the Maelstrom has been dealt with.

[[folder: Theatre ]]

* In the first scene of ''Theatre/SeventeenSeventySix'' John Adams includes blockading the colonies' ports in his list of British atrocities while trying to spur Congress to action.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* One of the most effective large-scale blockades ever was during UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, where this was a key part of the Union's strategy to defeat the Confederacy; the blockade strategy came to be known as the Anaconda Plan. At full effect, approximately 95% of pre-war traffic in Confederate ports was cut off.
** It didn't help the Confederates that many of the blockade runners that managed to slip past the US Navy were carrying luxury goods rather then war supplies, since the former were worth a lot more.

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[[quoteright:350:[[Series/WhyWeFight http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/naval_blockade.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A lion surrounded by wolfpacks.]]

* Britain and Germany did this to each other simultaneously during both UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and UsefulNotes/WorldWarII as a way to choke off trade. Britain's surface fleet was unparalleled, so Germany had to resort to submarines in order to try to isolate the British Isles.

* As noted above, was also employed to deal with Soviet ships bearing missiles to Cuba during the UsefulNotes/CubanMissileCrisis. It was a compromise action between doing nothing (the missles did little to upset the military balance but would have been catastrophic for American diplomacy) and something more drastic like sudden air strikes (a much more aggressive action which would have destabilized the situation much more than the Crisis did historically).

* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' the Klingons mined the "entire" Bajoran system to prevent Dominion ships from entering the Alpha Quadrant. However because of TwoDSpace they only mined a circle around the system rather than the entire system, which would have taken centuries to do anyway.

* As noted above, was also employed to deal with Soviet ships bearing missiles to Cuba during the CubanMissileCrisis. It was a compromise action between doing nothing (the missles did little to upset the military balance but would have been catastrophic for American diplomacy) and something more drastic like sudden air strikes (a much more aggressive action which would have destabilized the situation much more than the Crisis did historically).

* Jerry Pournelle's Literature/CoDominium novel ''King David's Spaceship''. The port city of Jikar was blockaded by patrols of pirate ships. The pirates demanded not only tribute but also the heads of the Masters of each Guild in the city.

* In the ''Literature/AubreyMaturin'' series, the British blockade of France during UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars and North America during the WarOf1812 are shown, unusually, from the perspective of the blockaders. As the weather is terrible, the ships spend a long time at sea without any interesting port calls, there's little chance for loot and glory, and the hygiene and comfort of a sailing ship are what we would expect from WoodenShipsAndIronMen, the duty is understandably highly unpopular among both officers and crew.

* Napoleon tried to put this on the British with the Continental System, which was designed to starve Britain of the trade and resources needed for its burgeniong Industrial Revolution. While Britain did see a significant drop in exports, the Continent suffered at least as much; numerous smugglers evaded the ban (which Napoleonic France's land-based customs agents had a hard time policing), and some countries openly defied the blockade/embargo and traded with Britain. In particular, Russia continued its trade with the British; this brought about Napoleon's doomed invasion.

* ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' series. ''Hornblower and the Hotspur'' involves the British blockade of the French port of Brest and Hornblower's deeds during the blockade.

* In ''{{VideoGames/Dishonored}}'', the Empress briefly mentions such a blockade being deployed around Dunwall.

** Also during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, Italy and Britain blockaded each other in the Mediterranean Sea. Between Italy being very close to the blockaded North Africa and having extremely GenreSavvy merchant captains (who noticed very quickly that the Royal Navy could somehow find out their pre-programmed routes and tended to stay away from them) and British naval superiority (and having another way to resupply Egypt through the Red Sea. In fact, Italy's goal was to ''slow down'' the resupplying by denying the shorter route through the Mediterranean Sea), ''both'' blockades were mostly ineffective on the short run, but in the end their inability to replace the ships sunk by the Royal Navy meant that in the end Italy ran out of ships with which to run the blockade.
*** A more effective one was the one placed by the Royal Navy on the Italian East Africa, as Italy had no meaningful fleet (merchant or military) south of the Suez Canal while Britain could use both the ships of the East India Station and those of the Mediterranean Fleet based in Alexandria.
* Napoleon tried to put this on the British with the Continental System, which was designed to starve Britain of the trade and resources needed for its burgeniong Industrial Revolution. While Britain did see a significant drop in exports, the problem was that many countries on the Continent not called France suffered significantly as well - smugglers all around evaded the ban (which Napoleonic France's land-based customs agents had a hard time policing) and several openly defied the call and traded with Britain, most notably Russia (which spurred Napoleon's doomed invasion).
* French and British attempts at intercepting merchant ships carrying goods destined for (or coming from) each others' countries resulted in two wars with the United States. The Quasi-War in 1798 against France and the War of 1812 against Britain. The War of 1812, incidentally, also included a British blockade of American ports, which basically shut down inter-state US domestic trade and devastated the country's (unusually trade-centric on account of its good access to the sea) economy since their merchant ships could no longer take to the sea. The US Navy was too weak to try to lift it, hence the lack of important naval battles during a three-year war involving two trade-oriented countries. The few times that American light-warships did manage to sneak past the blockade they were able to cause disproportionate damage to British merchant shipping, with USS ''Essex'' being probably the most successful example and USS ''Constitution'' being the most iconic.

* ''Series/HoratioHornblower'' series. ''Hornblower and the Hotspur'' involves the British blockade of the French port of Brest and Hornblower's deeds during the blockade.
* In the AubreyMaturin series, the British blockade of France during UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars and North America during the WarOf1812 are shown, unusually, from the perspective of the blockaders. As the weather is terrible, the ships spend a long time at sea without any interesting port calls, there's little chance for loot and glory, and the hygiene and comfort of a sailing ship are what we would expect from WoodenShipsAndIronMen, the duty is understandably highly unpopular among both officers and crew.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* In the first scene of ''SeventeenSeventySix'' John Adams includes blockading the colonies' ports in his list of British atrocities while trying to spur Congress to action.

->''"Everywhere wood can swim, I find [[BritsWithBattleships this flag of England]]."''

** It didn't help the confederates that many of the blockade runners that managed to slip past the US Navy were carrying luxuries(which sold for a lot more) rather then war supplies.

-->--'''UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte'''

!Examples
[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]

[[AC:Fan Works]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:RolePlayingGames]]

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[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' episode "Avatar Roku" the Gaang has to get to a temple inside the Fire Nation, the border of which is blockaded by the Fire Navy.

[[AC:RealLife]]

* Britain and Germany did this to each other simultaneously during both WorldWarOne and WorldWarTwo as a way to choke off trade. Britain's surface fleet was unparalleled, so Germany had to resort to submarines in order to try to isolate the British Isles.
** Also during WorldWarII, Italy and Britain blockaded each other in the Mediterranean Sea. Between Italy being very close to the blockaded North Africa and having extremely GenreSavvy merchant captains (who noticed very quickly that the Royal Navy could somehow find out their pre-programmed routes and tended to stay away from them) and British naval superiority (and having another way to resupply Egypt through the Red Sea. In fact, Italy's goal was to ''slow down'' the resupplying by denying the shorter route through the Mediterranean Sea), ''both'' blockades were mostly ineffective on the short run, but in the end their inability to replace the ships sunk by the Royal Navy meant that in the end Italy ran out of ships with which to run the blockade.

->''"Everywhere wood can swim, I find [[BritsWithBattleships this flag of England.]]"''

A naval blockade is a [[StrategyVersusTactics tactic and/or strategy]] that prevents the movement of goods, supplies, and forces by sea. The greater the volume of traffic to be prevented, the greater the blockade - and the greater the resources needed to maintain it.

* In the AubreyMaturin series, the British blockade of France during the NapoleonicWars and North America during the WarOf1812 are shown, unusually, from the perspective of the blockaders. As the weather is terrible, the ships spend a long time at sea without any interesting port calls, there's little chance for loot and glory, and the hygiene and comfort of a sailing ship are what we would expect from WoodenShipsAndIronMen, the duty is understandably highly unpopular among both officers and crew.

** Done by the British towards Norway during the NapoleonicWars. The blockade was not entirely safe, and Norwegian boats made quite a few runs. Some of them also resorted to capering.