The Key Article
The article to which he will naturally first turn isNavy and Navies(Vol. 19, p. 299), by David Hannay, author ofA Short History of the Royal Navy. This article is equivalent to 60 pages of this Guide in length. It contains:
Naval Personnel.
Sketches of theAdministrative History of navies:Athenian;Roman;Byzantine;Medieval;British, with special attention to the period since the Restoration, and the reforms under James II when Samuel Pepys was secretary;
French—modern navy dating from the time of Richelieu;
Spanish—a great navy without an organization before the 18th century;
Dutch—good seamen and well-fed, led by able admirals, but unorganized, and unimportant after the 17th century;
United States—the first great extra-European power on the sea;
Russian—dating from the reign of Peter the Great, when it was organized and led by foreigners.
The Balance of Navies in History: influence of sea-power—“when Napoleon fell, the navy of Great Britain was not merely the first in the world; it was the only powerful navy in existence.”Modern Rivalrybetween Italy and Germany (1871), United States (1890), Japan; England and the Dual Alliance—“naval scares” since 1874; British Naval Defence Act of 1889; Russia’s navy crushed (1904); new navies rivalling Great Britain and France,—Italy, Germany, United States, Japan.
Latest developments: “Dreadnoughts”; Building Programmes.
Bibliography(about 1800 words).
Naval Strategy and Tactics.
Historical evolution: inter-relation of the ship’s capacity and armament.
Early history: ramming demanded oars for propulsion; small warships, large fighting crews,—no blockade, short cruises;
Greek and Roman methods: boarding introduced by Romans; “bearding,” that is, fortifying with iron bands across the bows, an early form of armor plate.
Sailing ships: ramming discarded; “line ahead” formation displaces “line abreast”; principles of fighting tactics—order at beginning to be kept throughout, thus no advantage taken of enemy’s disorder; Clerk’s theories (1790–97)—not maximum safety but immediate mêlée thedesideratum; Suffren, Rodney and Howe and their disregard of accepted tactics.
Improved shipbuilding and modern times: New problems—steam propulsion, its gain in speed, but its dependence on fuel; fleet in being; risk of transporting troops while enemy is unbeaten; ramming and pell-mell battles forbidden by torpedoes; searchlight as check to torpedoes; failure of attempts to “bottle up” harbours; gun-fire still the great factor; position; speed; submarines still an unknown factor.
Bibliography.
Naval Administration
The first part of this articleNavy and Naviesshould be supplemented by the articleAdmiralty Administration(Vol. 1, p. 195), by Admiral Sir R. Vesey Hamilton, and, for the United States, the late Admiral W. T. Sampson. The American part of this article describes the divisions and the working of the Navy Department, its bureaus, judge advocate-general, office of naval intelligence, boards etc.; and there is additional information on the subject in such articles asDockyards, andUnited States Naval Academy.
For the legal side of naval administration the reader should study the articleAdmiralty Jurisdiction(Vol. 1, p. 205), by Sir Walter Phillimore, former president of the International Law Association (and author of the Britannica articleAdmiralty, High Court of), and, for the United States, by J. Arthur Barrett; and also the general articlesInternational Law(Vol. 14, p. 694), by Sir Thomas Barclay, author ofProblems of International Practice and Diplomacy, andInternational Law, Private(Vol. 14, p. 701), by Dr. John Westlake, formerly professor of international law, Cambridge University, and member for the United Kingdomof the International (Hague) Court of Arbitration; as well as such special articles asSearch(Vol. 24, p. 560), by Sir Thomas Barclay, andSea Laws(Vol. 24, p. 535), by Sir Travers Twiss.
Policy, Strategy, Tactics
It has already been noticed that the closing part of the articleNavy and Naviesdealt with strategy and tactics in a general way. This subject is treated in fuller detail by Admiral Sir Cyprian Bridge, G.C.B. (former Director of Naval Intelligence, British Navy, author ofSea-Power and other Studies) in two articlesSea-Power(Vol. 24, p. 548) andSea, Command of the(Vol. 24, p. 529). Each of these articles will be of great value and interest to the naval officer as a summary and criticism of the theories of Captain A. T. Mahan and Vice-Admiral P. H. Colomb; and this will be made evident by the brief outline of the two articles which follows.
Article,Sea-Power—Use of the term to mean (1) a state pre-eminently strong at sea; and (2)—as in this article—the various factors in a state’s naval strength. Thucydides as a forerunner of Mahan; he makes Pericles in comparing Athenian resources with those of her enemies comment on the importance of “sea-power.”
The meaning of sea-power can only be learned historically. Although there have been more land-wars, “the course of history has been profoundly changed more often by contests on the water.” Salamis saved Greece and held back Oriental invasion. The loss of the Peloponnesian War by Athens was due to her weakening sea-power. The First Punic War, Roman rather than Carthaginian control of the Mediterranean, was won by Roman naval predominance. Mahommedan conquest spread west in Africa only with the creation of a navy. The crusades could not have continued had not Mahommedan naval power sunk as the Venetian, Pisan, and Genoese grew. The defeat of Genoa by Venice gave the latter a right to perform the ceremony of “wedding the sea” with a ring as token of “perpetual sway.” Lepanto (1571) the end of Turkish sea-power.
Spanish and Portuguese sea-power crushed by English growth and the loss of the Armada. Early English naval history: the importance of the battle of Dover in 1217. Appearance of standing navies. The New World and its influence on sea-power. The sea-power of the Dutch; its sudden rise; its basis in foreign trade; the Dutch wars with England resulted in England’s becoming the first great naval power, but did not crush the United Provinces because of their sea-power. Torrington and the “Fleet in Being” in 1690. Change in naval operations in 17th century—the scene thereafter in the enemy’s waters, not near the coast of England.
The 18th century. Rise of Russia’s sea-power—an artificial creation. Seven Years’ War and its gains to Great Britain. War of American Independence: British mistakes—the enemy’s coastnotconsidered the frontier. Wars of the French Revolution and Empire: Great Britain’s advantage not in organization, discipline or “science,” but in sea-experience.
The War of 1812. “The British had now to meet theéliteof one of the finest communities of seamen ever known.... In any future war British sea-power, great as it may be, should not receive shocks like those that it unquestionably did suffer in 1812.”
Later Manifestations of Sea-Power. American Civil War—“By dominating the rivers the Federals cut the Confederacy asunder; and, by the power they possessed of moving troops by sea at will, perplexed and harassed the defence, and facilitated the occupation of important points.” Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78—Turkish control of Black Sea forced Russians to invade by land through the difficult Balkans. Chilean Civil War of 1891—an army defeated by a navy. Chino-Japanese War of 1894–95—Japanese navy in transport work and in crushing last resistance. Spanish-American War: “Spaniardswere defeated by the superiority of the American sea-power.”
Article,Sea, Command of the—Sketch of Sovereignty of the Sea; Command different from Sovereignty or Dominion.
Attempts to gain Command: Dutch Wars.
Strategic Command or Control—largely the power of carrying out considerable over-sea expeditions at will. Seeking the enemy’s fleet. Temporary command in smaller operations.
Special Historical Articles
As for the army officer, so the Britannica has for the naval officer many separate articles on wars, campaigns, battles, generals, commanders. The following list of articles will serve as a guide to a course of reading constituting a history of naval warfare, furnishing the concrete separate facts on which are based the articles already described.
Ancient History.
Greece: articlesSalamis,Themistocles,Xerxes I,Peloponnesian War,Pericles.
Rome: articlesPunic Wars,Carthage,Pompey,Actium.
Medieval History.
Crusades;Swold;Dover, Battle of;Sluys, Battle of;Espagnols sur Mer(and articleEdward III),Chioggia(and articlesVeniceandGenoa).
16th Century.
Lepanto(and articleDon John of Austria).
Armada(and articles onHoward,Hawkins,Drake,Frobisher,Raleigh,Richard Grenville, and the other heroes of this first bright glow of England’s naval glory).
The Era of Sailing Vessels.
Dutch Wars(and articlesTromp,Robert Blake,Ayscue,De Ruyter,Cornelius De Witt,William Penn,George Monk,Sir John Lawson,James II,Prince Rupert,First Earl of Sandwich,Abraham Duquesne).
Grand Alliance, Naval Operations(and articlesEarl of Torrington, andBeachy Head, Battle of;La Hogue,Earl of Oxford[Edward Russell] andTourville).
Spanish Succession, Naval Operations(andChâteau-Renault,Benbow,Rooke,Cloudesley Shovel,Duguay-Trouin,Forbin).
Austrian Succession, Naval Operations(and the articlesEdward Vernon,Lord Anson,Toulon, Battle of, andThomas Mathews, marking the official sanction in England of an absurd formal system of tactics).
Seven Years’ War, Naval Operations(andBoscawen,Byng,Hawke,Pocock,Quiberon).
American War of Independence, Naval Operations(andEsek Hopkins,John Paul Jones,Comte d’Estaing,Suffren St. Tropez,Thomas Truxtun,Lord Howe,John Byron,Hotham,Hyde Parker,Rodney,Guichen,Comte de Grasse).
French Revolutionary Wars, Naval Operations(andFirst of June, Battle of,Howe,Villaret de Joyeuse,Lord Bridport,Lord Hood,Earl of St. Vincent[John Jervis],St. Vincent, Battle of,Lord Keith,Lord Duncan,Nile,Nelson,Sir Thomas Troubridge).
Napoleonic Campaigns, Naval Operations(andBaron de Saumarez,Copenhagen, Battle of,Sir Hyde Parker,Sir Robert Calder,Villeneuve,Trafalgar,Lord Collingwood).
American War of1812 (andJohn Rodgers,Isaac Hull,William Bainbridge,Stephen Decatur,David Porter,Oliver Hazard Perry,Sir Philip Broke,Thomas Macdonough).
AndLissa(1811), closely resembling Trafalgar, andNavarino, decisive for Greek Independence.
The Era of Steam.
American Civil War(andHampton Roads,Andrew Hull Foote,New Madrid,D. G. Farragut,D. D. Porter,W. B. Cushing).
Chile-Peruvian War.
Chilean Civil War.
Chino-Japanese War(and seeIto).
Spanish-American War(and see the articlesW. T. Sampson,W. S. Schley,George Dewey,Pascual Cervera y Topete Cervera).
Russo-Japanese War(andTogo,Dogger Bank,Tsushima).
Armaments
The subject ofarmamentsis treated in the articlesShipandShipbuilding(see chapterFor Marine Transportation Men),Armour Plates, with illustrations, by Major William Egerton Edwards, late lecturer at the Royal Naval War College, Greenwich,Ordnance,Ammunition,Torpedo, etc.
The following is an alphabetical list of articles in the Britannica of especial interest to naval officers or other students of naval warfare.