Postby Djoser » Fri Feb 03, 2006 5:30 pm
I voted Salamis--on the basis of consequences.
It was probably the closest to altering history radically. And more was at stake than the others--in my opinion.
I have read differing opinions of Lepanto--certainly decisive, but I believe the Turks did rebuild their forces rapidly afterwards. Though of course they might have been so intimidated they never tried so hard again to do what they were trying to do at Lepanto.
Trafalgar was decisive of course, but the French and Spanish were so inferior in the crew and leadership quality as to make an alternative victory over the British navy unlikely, and a successful invasion even more so.
Tsushima was pretty close as well. Certainly the Russians never tried to become a serious naval power after that--until after WW II, that is.
Midway certainly turned the war in the Pacific around, but the Japanese never really stood a chance to win it anyway.
Jutland, in terms of massed firepower, yes--and if the Germans had done substantial damage it could have had disastrous consequences. But that would have been difficult to pull off.
A far more dangerous situation for the British was during one of the raids on the coast--when a substantial but not nearly powerful enough segment of the British fleet came close to being overwhelmed by the Germans. But that's a what-if scenario. Furthermore I believe the Germans came close to having their battlecruisers similarly overwhelmed in the same raid. There were two very close calls, for each side respectively. Sorry to digress, though...