There aren't any cannons or anything, so what weapons would they put on ships? Stuff like Greek fire?

Yes, obviously they use boats.

Hmmm. Is this a trick question?

My guess would be with boats. But alas, I don't know much about Tamriel navies.

So I may be wrong!

Just outright wrong. They had no boats. Come on, it's common knowledge that they swam into the deep ocean and challenged each other to fisticuffs in the middle of the sea...

umm, where is it said they have no cannons?

I thought one of the boats in Redguard had some cannons... but I may be confusing that with some other game...

'Canons'? Yeah, they threw books about Vivec and Berenziah at their enemies.

fixed, sorry bout that, sometimes my mind moves quicker then my fingers haha

Fireballs...hence why the Altmer navy is one of the best.
If you don't have magic then fire arrows would work, pretty much anything to set a rival wooden ship on fire is a win.

Yeah, mages. I'd imagine ships would be used for transporting troops rather than as weapons.

I suppose they could ram ships into others, or too. But for the most part, I'd say spellcasters at work from onboard.

As someone said, the game Redguard mentioned cannons in Sentinel. But there was naval warfare since ancient times. Big factor in the Persian war with Greece, and the Punic Wars were essentially over control of the Mediterranean. Ramming, boarding with infantry, forcing ships into shallow water, fire bombs, archers, etc. Navies could also be a big factor in supply and moving troops.

They have oil so it's not a stretch to think that at least some of the ships have a catapult type of arrangement on board for flinging burning containers onto enemy ships for use by the naval crew in case there are no spellcasters aboard.

Edit: Now that I think of it I beleve one of the ships in

had a ballista on the bow. I'm going to have to check up on that the next time I go into the game on 360.

Storm mages. Nothing like a massive hurricane for sending your enemy's boats to the bottom.

Although it has been tremendously underplayed, magic probably plays an important role in the wars of Tamriel. What defenses might a ship have from fireball spells? How might illusion disguise the positions of ships? How might water-walking and water breathing come into play in piracy?

Magic works both ways. Defensive wards are probably common.

Early ships were susceptible to fire because of the pitch used. They used wicker shielding to make ships fire-resistant. Tamriel may have developed better technologies than RL ancient/ medieval societies, due to alchemy for instance. Fire is also risky because you can easily catch your own ship on fire, though I guess if you have battlemages they could put out the flames with frost spells.

They did have cannons if I recall correctly.

Pshhhh and here I though a Redguard fanatic such as yourself knew that.

With all the chemical and magical usage in Tamriel, you can be certain there are many ways to wage naval warfare.

Magic has always been a key worry in naval combat. The Imperial fleet was destroyed by (presumably) nature-related magic during the Akavir invasion, and the Summerset Isles’ biggest defense during the 2nd era had been the Psijic magics that prevented any fleet from coming near it. Tiber Septim even had to use a big stompy robot to overcome it.

I imagine that magic would be the primary means of fighting between two fleets. A fireball or lighting spell could cause a lot of chaos on a ship, but I also assume they have a contingent of soldiers ready to board the ship.

Maybe ships fly like in Jade Empire.

I just assumed they pulled up alongside each other and shouted insults like the French soldiers in Monty Python's Holy Grail.

Ummmm there are cannons? if you did the East Empire Company quest in Windhelm, you'd realise that cannons and naval warfare exist in skyrim.

Cannons or catapults but I think it's the latter because if they have cannons then they will have guns.

Spells.

A gap in my Redguard knowledge.

Where did it say anything about cannons. I did that quest around a two years ago so you'll have to remind me.

Its assumed when you exit the tower. You see bandits being blown to smithereens on the island when the cannons fire. Its either that or its catapults, but Im leaning towards cannons cos you don't even see the catapult shot coming, so its very rapid and in my argument, I'd say thats very characteristic of a cannonball.

Don't remember it myself but I'll take your word for it. I hope there aren't cannons in the next TES game though. I'm fine with catapults, ballistas, Greek fire, mages and arrows but cannons.....I'd rather not.