Raiding by sea was known at the time of the
Pharaohs, when the shipborne forces of the
Sea Peoples caused serious disruption to the economies of the eastern
Mediterranean. '', a large pre-colonial
Visayan warship used for seaborne raids in the
Philippines () In pre-colonial
thalassocracies in the islands of the
Philippines, sea raids (
mangayaw) and land wars (
mangubat), were regular seasonal activities by warring polities, particularly among the
Visayans. Participating in or defending against these raids were part of the duties of the noble (
maginoo) and warrior castes (like the
timawa and
maharlika). The main purpose of the raids were to gain prestige in combat, to
pillage, and to capture hostages. Participation and prowess in these raids were recorded in the widespread practice of full-body tattooing (
batok). Raids were usually seaborne, and coastal communities had sentinels that watch for possible raids. When spotted, it was preferable for the defenders to meet the attackers at sea in ship-to-ship combat (
bangga) rather than engage them on land. The raids had strict codes of conduct on the treatment of captives. People who surrendered were spared, to be ransomed or to work under temporary
indentured servitude as
alipin then set free. Anyone who kills a captive is required to pay their value, or risk becoming an
alipin themselves. Higher-ranked captives were treated well and were usually ransomed by relatives.
, an Iranun warship used for piracy and raids in the Sulu Sea, mainly for slaves () , a Viking karve'' longship In the early
Middle Ages,
Viking raiders from Scandinavia attacked the
British Isles,
France and
Spain, attacking coastal and riverside targets. Much Viking raiding was carried out as a private initiative with a few ships, usually to gain loot, but much larger fleets were also involved, often as intent on extorting protection money (English:
Danegeld) as looting and pillaging. Raiding did not cease with the decline of the Viking threat in the 11th century. It remained a common element of the medieval naval warfare. Extensive naval raiding was carried out by all sides during the
Hundred Years War, often involving privateers such as
John Hawley of
Dartmouth or the
Castilian Pero Niño. In the Mediterranean, raiding using oared
galleys was common throughout the Middle Ages and into the
Renaissance and was particularly a feature of the wars between the Christian powers and the
Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. Raiding formed a major component of English naval strategy in the
Elizabethan era, with attacks on the Spanish possessions in the
New World. A
major raid on
Cádiz to destroy shipping being assembled for the
Spanish Armada was carried out by
Sir Francis Drake in 1587. Similarly the Dutch executed the
Raid on the Medway during the
Second Anglo-Dutch War and the
Dutch Raid on North America during the
Third Anglo-Dutch War. During the Second World War, the British set up the
Combined Operations Headquarters to organise harassing
raids against the Germans in Europe. The first operation conducted by a "commando" formation, known as
Operation Ambassador, took place in July 1940, but it was a small-scale operation that resulted in negligible success. The next major raid was
Operation Claymore, which was launched in March 1941 against the
Lofoten Islands. Throughout the war there were many other operations of varied size, ranging from small scale operations like those undertaken by
Z Special Unit against the Japanese in the Pacific, such as
Project Opossum, to
Operation Chariot – a raid on
Saint-Nazaire – and the
Dieppe Raid, which was a large scale raid employing about 6,000 soldiers, over 200 ships and 74 squadrons of aircraft intended to take and hold
Dieppe sufficiently to cause sufficient destruction to the port. == Air ==