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What is the difference between sea denial and sea control in naval warfare?

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USS Nautilus — submarine The former USS *Nautilus*, launched in 1954, being towed to Groton, Connecticut, to become a museum, May 1985.

In naval warfare, sea control and sea denial represent two distinct strategic objectives regarding the use of the maritime environment.1

Sea Control
Sea control is the ability to maintain command of the seas, enabling a nation and its allies to conduct maritime commerce, amphibious assaults, and other essential seaborne operations. Achieving sea control allows a force to defend its own sea communications while simultaneously preventing the enemy from using those same waters. Historically, this was often established by a concentrated battle fleet capable of prevailing in a climactic engagement.213

Sea Denial
Sea denial is a defensive strategy aimed at depriving an opponent of the ability to safely navigate or use the seas. Rather than seeking to command the water, a force practicing sea denial focuses on making it prohibitively difficult or impossible for an adversary to achieve their objectives. Submarines are primary instruments of sea denial; they act as spoilers that rely on stealth and surprise to threaten enemy warships and merchant vessels, effectively isolating them or cutting off their lines of communication without needing to control the sea surface themselves.143