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#35
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Mike Burleson
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Jun 03, 2007 05:19 PDT
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Greetings and Welcome to your latest Navy Review Newsletter! How are
Land and Sea Power alike? What small privateer decided the fate of an
entire war? What is earth’s largest living creature? These questions and
more are answered in this edition, so let’s gets started. Enjoy!
FIRST SALVO
Parallels of Land and Sea power
Ancient naval warfare is often trivialized as merely land army tactics
applied to the sea battle. For instance, the ram equipped galley fleets
of the Greeks in a famous sea fight such as Salamis is often likened to
the unstoppable Athenian phalanx with its rows of tightly packed
spearmen. While this version may be accurate in many cases, it is
equally true that the history of war at sea always mimics theories of
land armies, and continues to do so to this day.
During the 1600s when the line of battle displaced the ancient galley
tactics in North European Navies, the land powers were also perfecting
their own tactics based on mass firepower. As the men of war of the
British and Dutch battle fleets pounded one another at short range with
ever advancing gunnery, revolutionary generals like Sweden’s Gustavus
Adolphus was transforming war on land. Taking advantage of more mobile
cannon, Army commanders transformed the gun into the Queen of Battles,
an era that lasted for centuries. Likewise, the battleships developed by
Europeans at this stage dominated naval thought until the 20th Century.
With mass firepower perfected on land and sea, stalemate was bound to
occur. To get around stagnating tactics, the idea of maneuver warfare
was reborn, again near simultaneously on land and sea. Such 18th Century
warriors as the Duke of Marlborough, Frederick the Great, and George
Washington used the new tactics to avoid strong defenses, seek out weak
points, and strike where their enemy least expected. At the same time,
British Admirals such as Anson, Rodney, and Nelson scrapped the rigid
tactics imposed by the Royal Navy’s Fighting Instructions. Their own
maneuver battles entailed breaking the enemy’s line and engaging
individual warships in a chaotic but decisive melee.
Skip ahead to the 20th Century where the Industrial Age again caused
stalemate in both environments. The machine gun and barbed wire slowed
fighting to crawl on the European Western Front. Likewise on the naval
front did mines, torpedoes, and submarines end Britain’s proven strategy
of close blockade and threatened its command of the sea. The answer was
of course, a return to maneuver and new technology. By the middle of the
century the new tactics had been well-proven.
The blitzkrieg strategies of World War 2, as well as the Air Land
battles of the Cold War made the bomber and tank team nearly invincible
on land. The strategy was applied to sea with the new aircraft carrier
task forces and amphibious groups. Just as the bomber/tank combination
broke through static ground defenses allowing the infantry to take
advantage of the breach, the carrier groups swept the seas of all
opposition to give the amphibious forces a free hand. Such tactics
allowed the conquest and reconquest of the African, Asian, and European
theaters, and greatly refined, made possible astounding victories over
well-armed but amateur Arab armies by Israel and the US.
The precision warfare of the 21st Century, personified by the invasions
of Iraq and Afghanistan finds its parallels at sea. Just as the new
laser and self-guided bombs are transforming the way armies and air
forces fight, so have cruise missiles, unmanned vehicles, and satellite
GPS given naval theorists new material for future sea battles. So, the
next time you hear ancient naval warfare flippantly dismissed as land
tactics at sea, remember that the 2 have always been closely
intertwined. Consider who the top commander is leading the land battles
in Iraq and Afghanistan today: a US Navy admiral!
*********
NAUTICAL NOTES:
At the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944, the US Navy deployed more
destroyers than the Imperial Japanese Navy had carrier aircraft.
Throughout the war, American industry out-produced Japan in naval
vessels by a margin of 16 to 1.
*********
NAVY NEWS
IRAN SEIZES BRITISH SAILORS-The top news since the last letter was the
shameless kidnapping of 15 British sailors from Iraqi waters by Iranian
naval vessels. The RN sailors and Marines were conducting a routine
anti-smuggling operation in 2 inflatable boats from HMS CORNWALL when
they were accosted by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Navy. After 13
days of intense negotiations, with Iran attempting to coerce the British
Government into an apology despite evidence the sailors were in Iraqi
waters, the hostages were released without conditions.
NAVY TERMINATES LCS #3-The next top navy story was the cancellation of
the littoral combat ship #3, under construction by Lockheed Martin. The
Secretary of the Navy issued a 90-day stop work order in January as cost
increases pushed the price per ship to $400 million. The Navy still has
confidence in the program and continues construction of the LCS-1 and 2,
being built by General Dynamics. The first LCS, USS FREEDOM was
christened in December 2006, and is expected to enter service later this
year.
SAN ANTONIO CLASS “RIFE WITH FLAWS”-The fleet’s newest amphibious
warfare ship, the USS SAN ANTONIO failed to meet specifications during
sea trials. During a 5-day test period, 140 naval inspectors discovered
numerous flaws in 14 categories, including failed steering systems, a
breakdown in the ventilation system, plus a critical communications
failure during air operations. The class has also been delayed for 2
years, causing a $400 million increase in cost of construction. Repairs
are expected to cost $36 million more.
CONGRESS PUSHES NUCLEAR CRUISER-Despite the high cost related to nuclear
powered reactors on warships, the US Congress seems to think the high
cost of fossil fuels is worse. The Navy has been directed to plan its
new CGX cruiser with the possibility of nuclear power. The last nuclear
powered surface vessel, other than carriers, was the VIRGINIA class
cruisers, which paid off in the 1990’s. The navy’s future cruiser plan,
to replace the 1980’s TICONDEROGA class, is for 19 ships to be
constructed starting in 2011.
CANADA TO ACQUIRE ARCTIC PATROL SHIPS-The Great White North is getting
enhanced security with new $300 million-6000 ton warships, instead of
the large armed ice breakers previously planned. These will replace
elderly ice ships already in service which reportedly are experiencing
severe “rust out”. As it stands, the older craft will not be replaced
before 2017.
INDIAN NAVY PLANS 3 AIRCRAFT CARRIERS-With a converted old Soviet CV set
to enter service in 2008, India also is building its own indigenous
carrier dubbed an Air Defense Ship. The new home-built ship will be
commissioned in 2012, about the time the old HERMES, bought from Britain
in 1986, will be paid off. According to the Indian Defense Minister, a
third carrier, the second to be constructed by India, will join the
fleet in 2017.
*********
5 MOST INFLUENTIAL NAVAL STRATEGISTS
Amazingly, the five most influential naval theorists in all modern times
lived and wrote in the same generation, during the late 19th and early
20th Century. It was an opportune era for all, with new navies being
born and older ones reaching their peak.
1. Captain John H. Colomb (1838-1909) a British Marine and early
advocate of littoral warfare, saw first hand the benefit of sea power in
imperial defense. His book included “Colonial Defense and Colonial
Opinions “ (1873), and “The Use and Application of Marine Forces”
(1883).
2. Vice Admiral Phillip Howard Colomb RN (1831-1899) older brother of
John, preceded Mahan in promoting battle fleet action over other naval
concerns, though with nowhere near the notoriety. His most popular work
was published in 1891 titled “Naval Warfare”.
3. Rear Admiral Theophile Aube (1826-1890) of France was a staunch
supporter though not the creator of the Jeune E’Cole School of naval
thought. As Minister of Marine in 1886 he pushed for greater reliance on
cheaper mines, torpedo boats, cruisers, and later submarines in contrast
to the more expensive battleships, which he claimed was obsolete. Though
the French quickly abandoned Aube’s concept, thought to be the strategy
of a weaker power, to an extent it was later adopted by the Germans in
both world wars, and by the Soviets in the Cold War.
4. Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan (1849-1914) of America was largely
influenced by Napoleonic strategist Jomini, and advocated the battle
fleet over other concepts. His seminal works “The Influence of Sea Power
upon History 1660-1738” and “The Influence of Sea Power upon the French
Revolution and Empire 1793-1812”, were hugely influential and spurred
naval reform and expansion around the globe. His principle of “command
of the seas” included concentrating forces at a decisive point, bringing
the enemy fleet to battle, and the blockade of enemy ports to assure
freedom of the seas.
5. Sir Julian Corbett (1854-1922), a British naval historian, expanded
on the best of all of the above in his primary work “Some Principles of
Maritime Strategy”. He downplayed the principle role of the battle fleet
and wrote that securing one’s line of communications was the main goal
of navies. He also advocated the protection of commerce, and pointed out
the interdependence of naval and land power. The later naval conflicts
of the 20th Century verified Corbett’s theories, after much disastrous
trial and error.
*********
NAUTICAL NOTES:
With steam power giving warships mobility independent of the wind in the
latter 19th Century, the ancient ram returned to prominence.
Rams were designed on warships not only during the Ironclad Age of the
late 19th Century, but well into the Dreadnought Era of the early 20th
Century.
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NAVY BIOGRAPHY
Sir John Forster “Sandy” Woodward
British Admiral who instituted one of the most astounding naval
victories in modern times, in the 1982 Falklands War.
The future sailor was born on May 1, 1932, joining the Royal Navy in
1946 at age 13. Woodward specialized in submarines and joined his first
command, the nuclear powered attack boat WARSPITE in 1969. He was
leading a flotilla at Gibraltar when news came of the Argentinean
invasion of the British controlled Falkland Islands in April 2-3, 1982.
Under orders from Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Woodward took
command of the Royal Navy Task Force, codenamed Operation Corporate.
Flying his flag on the carrier HMS HERMES, he prepared to retrieve the
Islands from the invaders.
Despite the brilliant British victory, ending on June 14, Woodward later
admitted the entire operation was a close call. In the last stages of
the conflict, his Task Force was nearly exhausted of rations and
ammunition. “We were on our last legs,” he wrote “If they (the
Argentines) had been able to hold on another week it might have been a
different story”.
In 1983, Woodward was appointed Flag Officer Submarines and commanded
NATO subs in the East Atlantic. Later he was Commander in Chief Naval
Home Command and a naval aide-de-camp to Queen Elizabeth II. He retired
from active duty in 1989, and has written a highly readable account of
the war titled “One Hundred Days: The Memoirs of the Falklands Battle
Group Commander”.
*********
NAUTICAL NOTES:
Ancient Greek divers would plant pointed stakes in shallow harbors to
rip out the hulls of enemy galleys. This was the ancestor of the
explosive naval mine.
Likewise the direct descendant of the “minesweeper” was a galley
equipped with a crane to pull obstacles from the bottom of the harbor.
*********
SEA FIGHTS ON A SHOE STRING
The GENERAL ARMSTRONG Incident
The powerful Royal Navy squadron had little to fear from the tiny
American privateer lying in the neutral harbor of Fajal in the Azores.
On September 25, 1814, the three British warships PLANTAGENET (74 guns),
ROTA (38), and CARNATION (18) were under orders to rendezvous with the
frigates THAIS and CALYPSO, and speed directly to General Edward
Pakenham’s invasion force assembling off New Orleans. Yet, Captain Lloyd
held a special hatred for American privateers which had wrought havoc
among British merchant shipping throughout the War of 1812.
The vessel in question was the schooner GENERAL ARMSTRONG (14) under the
command of Captain Samuel Reid. Four boats sent by Lloyd thought to take
the Americans by surprise, but Reid repulsed this initial assault with
his single 24 pounder “Long Tom”. Next 12 gun-armed barges were launched
from ROTA and PLANTAGENET, which actually reached the privateer, with a
desperate battle on deck ensuing. The Americans fought back frantically
to save their ship and the boarders were finally driven off with 34
dead.
The stubborn Captain Lloyd refused to admit defeat, however. This time
one of his warships, the shallow draft CARNATION, was directed to seize
the defiant America. Three hour later the British ship limped out of the
fight in defeat. The Long Tom claimed another victim. Reid’s luck
eventually ran out when the entire Royal Navy squadron sailed against
him.
It was now just a matter of time and even the brave Captain Reid could
see the futility of further resistance. The GENERAL ARMSTRONG was
scuttled, with her Captain and crew escaping to shore where they
expected further attacks. Now though, the British were finished and
Captain Lloyd and his ships sailed away to destiny at the Battle of New
Orleans, where the Americans, under General Jackson achieved an historic
victory. As Theodore Roosevelt explains in his classic work “The Naval
War of 1812”:
“Captain Lloyd had made a serious mistake. He had lost 65 men killed and
117 wounded. CARNATION was so badly damaged that she could not proceed.
THAIS and CALYPSO, when they arrived, had to be used for transporting
the wounded to British bases. The invasion had been delayed nearly a
month.”
*********
NAUTICAL NOTES:
In all of the First World War, only 6 battleships and battle cruisers
were lost to enemy action. In the next World War, with the number of
capital ships greatly reduced, a total of 23 were lost.
In WW 2, seven battleships and battle cruisers were lost in ship versus
ship combat, still larger than the total losses in WW 1.
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STRANGE SEA TALES
Earth’s Largest Living Creature
The largest known living thing ever to roam the planet is still with us
today. The biggest dinosaur was thought to weigh up to 90 tons. Some
African elephants have been recorded at 12 tons, but by far the most
massive of all is the Blue Whale. This greatest of all God’s creations
has been described as “huge, immense, enormous, titanic, mighty, vast,
stupendous, monstrous, gigantic, elephantine, mammoth, giant, colossal,
Cyclopean, Gargantuan, “and this accurate depiction only scratches the
surface.
A blue whale’s tongue is about the size of an elephant, its heart the
size of a small car. 50 humans could stand inside its mouth and the baby
whale is the size of a full grown hippopotamus. It spite of this massive
girt, they are very swift, able to reach 30 knots for short spurts. It
can keep pace with a whaler sailing 10 knots all day.
Just how big is the blue whale? The largest ever recorded is unknown for
sure as accounts vary and are hard to confirm. Stories by whalers range
from a 66 footer weighing 53 tons recorded in the Antarctic, to another
measuring 100 feet and estimated at 119 tons. The largest ever
accurately weighed by scientists at the National Marine Mammal
Laboratory was 98 feet long, or the length of 3 double-decker buses
placed end-to-end. Its total weight was an astounding 196 short tons!
*********
NAUTICAL NOTES:
The first use of ironclad warships was against Russian forts at the
Battle of Kinburn, October 17, 1855, by the French.
The three French “floating batteries” were named DEVASTATION, LAVE, and
TONNANTE.
*********
SEA LINKS:
Remembering the SMS LUSITANIA:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShOHb67h4Qc
Battle of Midway Footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2jzE5k13Mw
American Predreadnought Battleships:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y12kUzhSXuQ
White Star Line in Its Prime:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYZTx5yEuog
*********
That’s all for this summer edition of Navy Review. Until next time, God
Bless and remember Our Troops fighting for Freedom!
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