Sea power is operational logistics

Across history there have been far fewer pure sea battles than land battles; most naval effort has gone to moving, supplying, and protecting shipping and to enabling operations that affect land campaigns. Modern navies spend the bulk of campaign planning on sustaining presence, logistics, and littoral operations rather than slugging it out in fleet engagements. — If navies are primarily logistical enablers, policy should prioritize sea‑lines protection, prepositioning, ports, and merchant‑navy resilience rather than only investing in large capital ships for decisive fleet fights.