This is from Carlton Meyer's new book:  The Spectrum of Future Warfare     

    Powerful, lightweight, precision munitions now allow naval commandos to destroy billion-dollar warships operating close to shore.  In past wars, commandos had to sneak up and attach explosives directly to warships.  The Italians were particularly successful with such tactics during World War II.  They severely damaged two British battleships docked in Alexandria.   Even today, Italy maintains one of the world's only naval commando units that trains to attack ships.  Most naval commandos units operate as marines and attack targets ashore.  A little known naval commando attack occurred in 1964 when a Vietnamese underwater demolition team sunk the old escort carrier USS Card while she was in shallow water in the Saigon River.  

     No Navy has fully grasped the value of anti-ship commandos in modern warfare.  In previous wars, anti-ship weapons like 5-inch guns and torpedoes weighed thousands of pounds and could not be moved by small groups of men.  However, modern, lightweight munitions allow small teams to sink ships from thousands of meters offshore.  They can covertly land near strategic naval straits by boat, submarine, or aircraft to provide intelligence and attack warships.  Although blue water navies prefer to avoid coastal areas, there are many ocean straits where this is impossible.  As a result, commandos can lie in wait on tiny islands, oil platforms, and waterways near ship homeports, to employ precision munitions and sink modern warships.  Naval commandos can also provide valuable naval intelligence, similar to that of World War II "coast watchers."

     Naval commandos can operate from fishing boats, pleasure yachts, and coastal barges.  There are thousands of such craft afloat around the world today.  If commandos wish to be official, they can fly their national flag from the craft, something a distant warship will ignore.  The Germans used a similar tactic in World War II when they hid deck guns on merchant ships to operate as "surface raiders."  When British warships pulled alongside to seize the ship, they were quickly sunk.  

     An ideal weapon is the MK-44 lightweight homing torpedo, which weighs 432 lbs and has a range of 5000 meters.  This was designed as an air-launched anti-submarine torpedo, but could be reprogrammed to attack ships.  This torpedo can be carried in a plastic firing tube with inflatable pontoons so it can float near shore until fired.  Commandos can muscle these into position and launch them to hit an unsuspecting ship with a 75 lb high-explosive warhead below the waterline.  Commandos can also use the newer MK-46 torpedo, which weighs 518 lbs and delivers a 98 lb warhead.   These torpedoes can also be air dropped from small seaplanes or fired from fishing boats or pleasure craft outfitted with torpedo tubes.

     Another anti-ship weapon is the versatile Hellfire laser-guided missile, which is now mounted on a tripod by the Norwegian military after successful tests.  (right)  This 100 lb supersonic missile can hit targets over 5000 meters away.  Commandos can fire several missiles in a few minutes and cause major damage, especially if they explode missiles stored in a ship's box launchers.  Commandos can also release sea mines in ship lanes and port entrances.  The explosion of just one mine may shut down all ship activity until minesweepers can check the area.  However, unarmed minesweepers are easy targets for commandos as well, so frigates must escort them, which become targets themselves.

      Warships rely heavily on expensive helicopters to search for submarines and coastal threats.  Therefore, commando teams may carry shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles like the Stinger system (below).  Large  .50 caliber rifles like the Barrett M82A1 have a range of 1800 meters and are useful against helicopters and ships.  A small bullet hole will not sink a ship, but the semi-automatic Barrett can quickly punch dozens of holes in a ship and cause fires with incendiary rounds. 

     Ideally, naval commandos employ several weapons at once from different locations.  These "ship ambushes" may involve up to a hundred men attacking several ships.  In most cases, the commandos will scatter and hide after an ambush, especially when firing from neutral waterways.  Inserting teams with heavy gear will take practice, and commandos must train in the employment of these weapons.   

     Small seaplanes are an ideal weapon for naval commandos.  They can drop off and resupply commandos, or conduct attacks themselves.  Even tiny seaplanes can carry and launch a 1000 lb Harpoon missile or lightweight torpedo.  These can hide along shore and dash out and launch a weapon within a minute before any aircraft can intercept them or a ship engage them.  If the attack is dangerous, the pilot can land immediately after launching his weapon and jump off and swim to shore.  These cheap seaplanes are expendable, cheaper than the missile they launch and cheaper than anti-aircraft missiles fired at them.

     Another role for naval commandos is to serve as anti-naval commandos.  After decades of plotting and executing attacks on ships, they will be experts on how to hunt enemy naval commandos.   If a friendly destroyer is ambushed and sunk in the straits of Malacca by commandos operating from a neutral nation, diplomats will urge that nation to take action.  Meanwhile, clandestine steps may be desired to hunt down and kill the team of enemy naval commandos before they sink another ship.  In such cases, naval commandos may be dispatched to hunt down their contemporaries lurking near maritime chokepoints or harbor entrances.

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