Quote Originally Posted by Sarcasm
Naval Blockades would probably be used in conjunction with a land encirclement to completely seal off a city.

The land element would also serve to secure places where a great part of the fleet would be beached, a common practice with ancient warships.

A few partrol groups would probably be organized (no more than a few ships), that would catch any ships that attempted to run the blockade (into or out of it). Any organized move out of the port by a sizable number of warships is a time consuming task, allowing the blockading fleet to man its vessels and get in formation.
Am I right in thinking that a smaller fleet could keep a lager fleet at bay by blockading ie not letter the enemy use its superior numbers due to a confined space??