In conjunction with the U.S. Naval Academy’s 14th Naval History Symposium, a biennial gathering of the world’s foremost naval historians, we solicited responses from potential participants in the 1999 program. Following are representative responses, along with a table outlining the results of our poll.
Captain Henry L. Allen, U.S. Navy (Retired)— Virginia Beach, Virginia
Century:
1. Development of the nuclear-powered submarine, which brought all parts of the world under possible missile attack from an undetectable undersea force
2. Establishment of secure radio transmissions: This afforded command and control almost instant information and guidance of each fleet unit.
3. Development of a satellite navigation and positioning system. This permitted fleet and commercial vessels to transit the waters of the world in almost complete safety from underwater hazards (excepting, of course, the idiot who drove the Exxon Valdez aground).
Millennium:
1. Use of sea power for the discovery of the Western world, its settlement, and its development. Without sea power, the “land bridge” to Alaska provided only a crude and very limited path to North and South America.
2. Use of ocean sailing ships to move materials and products by sea throughout the world. Replacement by steam-driven ships was just a refinement of sail-powered ships.
3. Detailed charts of the world’s coastlines, harbors, and bays. A navigator can plot his ship with confidence through unfamiliar waters safely.
Richard H. Bradford—West Virginia University Institute of Technology
Century:
1. Battle of Midway—turning point of the Pacific War
2. Battle of Jutland—World War I would go on; last day of the battleship
3. Battle of Manila Bay (Spanish-American War)—projected the United States into the Pacific
Millennium:
1. Battle of Midway—same as Manila Bay
2. Battle of Lepanto—European victory over the expansive Turkish Empire.
3. Defeat of the Spanish Armada—not the final threat to England from Spain, but a psychological turning point.
Most Significant Naval Events
Of the Century
1. Battle of Midway, 1942
2. Battle of Tsushima, 1905
3. Battle of Jutland, 1916
4. Battle of the Atlantic 1940s
5. Attack on Pearl Harbor 1941
Of the Millennium
1. Defeat of Spanish Armada, 1588
2. Battle of Trafalgar, 1805
3. Discovery of Western world, 1492
4. Battle of Lepanto, 1571
4. Battle of Midway, 1942
4. Norman Conquest of Britain, 1066
Most Significant Naval Technological Advances
Of the Century
1. Nuclear Power
2. Naval Aviation and Carriers
3. Nuclear Weapons
3. Submarines
4. Radio and Radar
Of the Millennium
1. Ocean-going ships
2. Submarines
3. Gunpowder
3. Mass-Production of ships
4. Nuclear Power
Alec Douglas—Carleton University, Canada
Century:
1. Application of the internal-combustion engine to ships and aircraft opened three- dimensional—air, surface, and subsurface— naval warfare.
2. The fall of British naval mastery because, although it marked the crippling effect of two wars on Britain’s economy, it opened up broad-based naval alliances with the rise of U.S. and other new navies, and unprecedented cooperation between these and European navies of long standing
3. The rise of Asian shipbuilding industries, which created new centers of naval technology that either could threaten the naval dominance of Western civilization—i.e., Europe and the Eurocentric world of America and parts of the Pacific—or provide opportunities for unprecedented world-wide naval cooperation
Millennium:
1. The rise of the West, which supplanted the ancient Eastern domination of ocean trade routes and opened the world to European political and economic competition
2. The rise of British naval mastery
3. The change from sail to steam, which edges out gunpowder, the electron, and the computer chip, because steam forced the creation of far-flung coaling stations and gave enormous leverage to oil-producing regions, thus creating a world-wide revolution in the balance of power
James C. Godwin II—University of Delaware
Century:
1. Tampico Incident of April 1914: Reduced the diplomatic role of naval officers; no longer could a naval officer start a war on his own.
2. William Sowden Sims convincing the Admiralty to adopt the convoy system saved Britain from surrendering to Germany and allowed the Allies to go on and win the war. (The peace, however, was a different matter.)
3. Battle of Midway: for what 1 believe are obvious reasons. And what did NOT happen: a Japanese carrier fleet in the Indian Ocean or, more important, as part of the Battle of Britain
Millennium:
1. “1066 & All That”: The Norman conquest of Britain eventually led to Britannia’s ruling the waves.
2. What did NOT happen: Napoleon’s decision not to press forward with shipbuilding after the Battle of Trafalgar enabled Britain to form the sixth coalition.
3. Admiral George Dewey’s decision to blockade Manila. The United States, an ex-colony became an imperialist power and put the United States on the road, with some detours, to building a “Navy Second to None.”
Hill Goodspeed—National Museum of Naval Aviation, Pensacola, Florida
CENTURY:
1. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, was the opening salvo of open U.S. involvement in World War II, wherein the U.S. Navy played a pivotal role in achieving ultimate victory. Second, military history is replete with events that are harbingers of change, where tactics and technology of one era give way to those whose time has arrived. Though the aircraft carrier could trace its origins to World War 1, and the interwar years were marked by developments in naval aviation tactics and aircraft, the attack on Pearl Harbor proved symbolic of the rise of sea-based air power and represented naval aviation’s ascendancy to a position as a premier offensive weapon.
2. The around-the-world cruise of the Great White Fleet from 16 December 1908 to 22 February 1909 was significant in the fact that it was a tangible representation of the rebirth of the U.S. Navy in the image conceived by Alfred Thayer Mahan. It marks the beginning of a century in which the U.S. Navy played a significant role.
3. In 1955 the USS Nautilus (SSN-571) began her sea trials and the USS Forrestal (CVA-59) was placed in commission. The nuclear-powered submarine and the super carrier remain the focal points of U.S. naval operations to this day.
Millennium:
1. The voyage of discovery by Christopher Columbus disproved old notions of the world and represented the extension of civilization to the Western Hemisphere.
2. The defeat of the Spanish Armada by the British Royal Navy symbolized the ascendancy of Great Britain as the world’s greatest naval power, a position it held until the 20th century.
3. The Civil War battle between the Monitor and the Virginia foreshadowed a future in which the era of wood and sail gave way to iron and steel.
William Grover—Manotick, Ontario, Canada
CENTURY:
1. Battle of Jutland—only Jellicoe could have lost the war in an afternoon.
2. Battle of the Atlantic—a tremendous endeavor in so many areas, not least of which was science, technology, and tactical innovation
3. Battle of Midway—the coming of age of naval air power.
Millennium:
1. The unopposed amphibious assault (but who was the fleet commander?) on England in 1066—look what developed over the course of the millennium from the consequences of that event.
2. The naval career of James Cook—charting the St. Lawrence prior to assault on Quebec, charting Newfoundland, and various other voyages comprise his enormous contributions.
3. The writings of Alfred Thayer Mahan, the single most important analyst of naval thought.
*Cook and Mahan are a bit of a fudge, but they are naval men whose contributions are “millennium” scale.
R. E. Q. Harris—Society for Nautical Research, Portsmouth, England
Century:
1. Battle of Tsushima, 27 May 1905: The Japanese fleet annihilated the Russian fleet, whose Third Division surrendered to prevent further bloodshed. This victory determined the outcome of the Russo-Japanese War.
2. Battle of Jutland, 31 May 1916: The British Grand Fleet fought the German High Seas Fleet. Although the Royal Navy suffered greater losses in ships and men, the Germans retreated hastily to their bases, never to emerge, in force, until their final surrender in 1918. By contrast, the British fleet ships were ready for action again within 48 hours.
Millennium:
1. Battle of Sluys, 24 June 1340: An English Fleet led by King Edward III, after fierce close fighting, defeated Phillipe IVs French invasion fleet. As a result, Edward held command of the English Channel. In 1346, he invaded Normandy, bent on conquest, thereby starting the 100 Years War.
2. Battle of Lepanto, 7 October 1571: The Christian Fleet, under Don John of Austria, gained an outstanding victory over Ali Pasha’s Turkish Fleet, thereby, frustrating the aims of the vast Ottoman Empire, which threatened the whole Mediterranean Sea trade.
3. Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805: The English Fleet shattered the larger Franco/Spanish Fleet. As a result, Napoleon’s effective maritime opposition to England was eliminated. This victory at sea settled the six-centuries-old quarrel that had divided the French and the English.
Joseph Henrich—Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Century:
1. Naval Aviation—added fourth dimension to naval operations, including missiles, which constitute a different way of flight
2. Nuclear Power—allowed perfection of submarines, which were limited weapons before
3. Rise of the United States—changed world geopolitics and made possible survival of the United Kingdom in two world wars
Millennium:
1. Rise of Sail, or, depending on which author you read, the rise of the Caravel—changed world geopolitics in a way not seen since the Mongols and would not be seen again until the rise of the United States
2. Gunpowder—numbers 1 and 2 above are just sophisticated changes in numbers 1 and 2 here.
3. Exploration of the world—partly as a consequence of sail from the discovery of the Americas and the Pacific to polar and subpolar expeditions.
Marc Richard—Associate Librarian/History Cataloguer, McQill University Libraries, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Century:
1. Battle of the Atlantic (1939-1945). By holding out against and eventually defeating Germany’s campaign against the convoys, the Allies saved Great Britain from capitulation during the early stages of World War II and subsequently were able to build the British Isles into the springboard for the Allied invasion of Western Europe in 1944 and the subsequent two-front defeat of Germany.
2. Battle of Midway (June 1942). The destruction of four front-line Japanese fleet carriers, along with their highly trained air crews and aircraft, against modest losses on the U.S. side, marked the strategic turning point of World War II in the Pacific, with Japan essentially moving from the offensive to the defensive from that date onward.
3. The Battle of Tsushima (May 1905). The virtual annihilation of the Russian fleet at relatively little cost to the Japanese fleet catapulted Japan to world-power status, crippled Russian naval strength, contributed to the outbreak of the first Russian Revolution, and helped to initiate the dreadnought era by demonstrating the usefulness of heavy-caliber naval gunfire at ranges in excess of those at which capital ships had been expected to engage one another
Millennium:
1. Invention of the hinged gunport (circa 1500): By permitting large numbers of heavy guns to be carried in a low, stable position within the hull of large ocean-going sailing ships, this invention enabled stand-off gunnery to replace ramming and boarding as the primary tactic of combat at sea and led to the displacement of the oared galley by the sailing ship-of-the-line.
2. The Crimean War (1853-1856): Demonstrated the effectiveness of shell-firing naval guns (at Sinope in 1853 and at Constantinople in 1854) and of ship armor (at Fort Kinburn in 1855), and thus initiated the first wave of armored screw-driven heavy warship construction by France and Britain that helped bring about the final demise of the sail-powered wooden man-of-war.
3. Completion of the first nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine, the Nautilus (SSN-571) in 1954: The first nuclear- powered naval vessel marked the beginning of the era in which ships could benefit from the advantages of mechanical propulsion (the tactical advantage that steam held over sails) without having to depend on bases or underway refueling (the strategic advantage that sails held over steam)
John W. Rieken—Georgia State University
Century:
1. Hampton Roads—naval warfare leaped ahead from sail to steam, wood to iron, open deck to enclosed turret, and sniper on mast arm to gunner by cannon.
2. Development of surface-effective radar—the perfection of surface radar for naval gunfire recast the way sea battles were fought. Every ship was visible. One could not hide in a squall, fog bank, or by hugging the coast. Radar begat the long-range missile: “I see you, you see me, let’s see who has the long-range ordnance to fire first.”
3. Battle of Midway—because of its immense scope and effect on the outcome of world history.
Millennium:
1. Development of the ship-mounted cannon—this changed the way battles at sea were fought. In one sense, it brought sanity to battles and took away the intimacy; in another sense, it brought more horror to warfare and the whole notion of sea battle.
2. Submarine warfare—ditto the last lines above, with a slight alteration: “In one sense, it brought insanity to battles and further took away the intimacy; in another sense, it brought more horror to warfare and the whole notion of sea battle.”
3. Development of effective surface radar—ditto the remarks above.
J. D. Shutler—Amphot Research, Bideford, England
Century:
1. Submarines: For more than 100 years the undersea threat to surface vessels developed, peaking during the two world wars, with German U-boat packs strangling food and munition supplies to Britain. Present developments include nuclear power, and killer-sub modes.
2. Air Power: Frail aircraft and kites launched from warships for observation led to flat-top carriers, so well employed in the pre-emptive Japanese Pearl Harbor attack. Now the U.S. carrier fleet is limited only by the size of the national budget.
3. Amphibious Operations: Early conquests of foreign shores were made by rowing boats of Marines, mostly unopposed. The World War I Gallipoli operation, badly conceived though bravely attempted, led to the large scale of World War II, with purpose-built landing craft and present day ships carrying armored fighting vehicles and supporting helicopters.
Millennium:
1. Sail Power to Nuclear Power: Important progression from sail, through steam power, to nuclear-powered warships, affording unlimited ranges.
2. Academic Naval Teaching: Criss-crossing the oceans, near brigands of captains in wooden-hulled ships, at the whims of their sovereign states, after the mid-century led to naval colleges producing more directed captains and discipline in the cadets to crew ships with more success.
3. Gunpowder: Early vessels armed by bowmen or spear-carrying crew sometime with catapult devices, gunpowder soon provided muzzle-loading cannon, then breech-loading smooth and rifled barrels. Next came longer accurate barreled, larger caliber, and finally, guided missiles.
Colonel John P. Sinnott, Army of the United States (Retired)—Valdosta, Georgia
Century:
1. The Battle of Tsushima Strait, a victory that gave Japan its first foothold on the mainland of Asia, feeding Japanese territorial ambitions without Western objection, and leading with the logic of an algebraic equation to 7 December 1941
2. The Battle of Midway, which ended Japanese territorial ambitions, exposed the cowardice of politicians who continued a cost war for three more years, and treated us to that rare and satisfying event of David beating Goliath
3. Nuclear propulsion, which frees the fleet from the for a world-wide base structure and enables submarines to operate underwater at all times
Millennium:
1. The development of the ocean-going caravel that transported Western culture over the entire world, making Western thought the dominant feature in every society today
2. Unrestricted submarine warfare, which forced the United States to intervene directly and permanently in the defense of Europe
3. The defeat of the Spanish Armada: Had England lost that battle, who could guess what course European and world history might have taken?
David Skaggs—Bowling Green State University
Century:
1. Development of naval aviation, which added new depth and lethality to naval warfare
2. Changing forms of sea propulsion from coal to oil to nuclear, each adding new power and range to naval warfare and making it less dependent on control of land mass for refueling
3. Development of submarine warfare, which added a new dimension to warfare, revising the guerre de course and eventually harboring the most potent and elusive weapons system of the Cold War
Millennium:
1. Development of the ocean-going sailing vessel, which contributed to the demise of the Mediterranean as the center of naval warfare and commerce, to the emergence of Western European exploration and colonization and to the dominance of Western values and culture.
2. Evolution of naval weaponry and tactics, from ramming and boarding to the line-of-battle in the age of fighting sail, to huge artillery pieces and torpedoes, and finally to aircraft and missiles
3. The impact of technology on ship design and propulsion, shifting from galleys to sailing vessels, to armored surface fleets, to naval aviation and submarines, and eventually the development of steam and nuclear power.
Commander N. L. Stewart, Royal Navy (Retired)— Naval Historical Branch, U.K., Southampton, England
Century:
1. Battle of Jutland: Inconclusive outcome to the Battle of Jutland, where superior in strength grand fleet failed to inflict resounding defeat. It extended the 1914-1918 war by one year, leading to the Russian Revolution, entry of the United States into the war, and hence, the Versailles Treaty, which in turn led to World War II (not forgetting the Pacific element), the Cold War, and troubles in Yugoslavia causing so much difficulty in the present decade. This is not to mention the post-World War 1 British cabinet’s reluctance to fund the British fleet and its consequences.
2. Development of replenishment at sea restored to steam and mechanically powered ships the endurance of sailing ships and more.
3. Invention of wireless telegraphy and extension into radar provided means whereby control of warships and the range of their detection and weapon ability extended far beyond the sea horizon.
Millennium:
1. Advent of the large-gunned warship, which provided means whereby European favor was extended to colonize North and South America and dominate Africa and the East.
2. Advent of submarine removed from surface warship its ability to see assailants.
3. Advent of aircraft not only changed the tone of war at sea but extended sea power’s direct striking ability far into land masses.
Naval Milestones
With the 21st Century and the Third Millennium on the horizon, Naval History polled naval historians on what naval events and technological advances had the most profound impact over the past 100 and 1,000 years. In conjunction with the U.S. Naval Academy’s 14th Naval History Symposium, a biennial gathering of the world’s foremost naval historians, we solicited responses from potential participants in the 1999 program. Following are representative responses, along with a table outlining the results of our poll.
Captain Henry L. Allen, U.S. Navy (Retired)— Virginia Beach, Virginia
Century:
1. Development of the nuclear-powered submarine, which brought all parts of the world under possible missile attack from an undetectable undersea force
2. Establishment of secure radio transmissions: This afforded command and control almost instant information and guidance of each fleet unit.
3. Development of a satellite navigation and positioning system. This permitted fleet and commercial vessels to transit the waters of the world in almost complete safety from underwater hazards (excepting, of course, the idiot who drove the Exxon Valdez aground).
Millennium:
1. Use of sea power for the discovery of the Western world, its settlement, and its development. Without sea power, the “land bridge” to Alaska provided only a crude and very limited path to North and South America.
2. Use of ocean sailing ships to move materials and products by sea throughout the world. Replacement by steam-driven ships was just a refinement of sail-powered ships.
3. Detailed charts of the world’s coastlines, harbors, and bays. A navigator can plot his ship with confidence through unfamiliar waters safely.
Richard H. Bradford—West Virginia University Institute of Technology
Century:
1. Battle of Midway—turning point of the Pacific War
2. Battle of Jutland—World War I would go on; last day of the battleship
3. Battle of Manila Bay (Spanish-American War)—projected the United States into the Pacific
Millennium:
1. Battle of Midway—same as Manila Bay
2. Battle of Lepanto—European victory over the expansive Turkish Empire.
3. Defeat of the Spanish Armada—not the final threat to England from Spain, but a psychological turning point.
Most Significant Naval Events
Of the Century
1. Battle of Midway, 1942
2. Battle of Tsushima, 1905
3. Battle of Jutland, 1916
4. Battle of the Atlantic 1940s
5. Attack on Pearl Harbor 1941
Of the Millennium
1. Defeat of Spanish Armada, 1588
2. Battle of Trafalgar, 1805
3. Discovery of Western world, 1492
4. Battle of Lepanto, 1571
4. Battle of Midway, 1942
4. Norman Conquest of Britain, 1066
Most Significant Naval Technological Advances
Of the Century
1. Nuclear Power
2. Naval Aviation and Carriers
3. Nuclear Weapons
3. Submarines
4. Radio and Radar
Of the Millennium
1. Ocean-going ships
2. Submarines
3. Gunpowder
3. Mass-Production of ships
4. Nuclear Power
Alec Douglas—Carleton University, Canada
Century:
1. Application of the internal-combustion engine to ships and aircraft opened three- dimensional—air, surface, and subsurface— naval warfare.
2. The fall of British naval mastery because, although it marked the crippling effect of two wars on Britain’s economy, it opened up broad-based naval alliances with the rise of U.S. and other new navies, and unprecedented cooperation between these and European navies of long standing
3. The rise of Asian shipbuilding industries, which created new centers of naval technology that either could threaten the naval dominance of Western civilization—i.e., Europe and the Eurocentric world of America and parts of the Pacific—or provide opportunities for unprecedented world-wide naval cooperation
Millennium:
1. The rise of the West, which supplanted the ancient Eastern domination of ocean trade routes and opened the world to European political and economic competition
2. The rise of British naval mastery
3. The change from sail to steam, which edges out gunpowder, the electron, and the computer chip, because steam forced the creation of far-flung coaling stations and gave enormous leverage to oil-producing regions, thus creating a world-wide revolution in the balance of power
James C. Godwin II—University of Delaware
Century:
1. Tampico Incident of April 1914: Reduced the diplomatic role of naval officers; no longer could a naval officer start a war on his own.
2. William Sowden Sims convincing the Admiralty to adopt the convoy system saved Britain from surrendering to Germany and allowed the Allies to go on and win the war. (The peace, however, was a different matter.)
3. Battle of Midway: for what 1 believe are obvious reasons. And what did NOT happen: a Japanese carrier fleet in the Indian Ocean or, more important, as part of the Battle of Britain
Millennium:
1. “1066 & All That”: The Norman conquest of Britain eventually led to Britannia’s ruling the waves.
2. What did NOT happen: Napoleon’s decision not to press forward with shipbuilding after the Battle of Trafalgar enabled Britain to form the sixth coalition.
3. Admiral George Dewey’s decision to blockade Manila. The United States, an ex-colony became an imperialist power and put the United States on the road, with some detours, to building a “Navy Second to None.”
Hill Goodspeed—National Museum of Naval Aviation, Pensacola, Florida
CENTURY:
1. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, was the opening salvo of open U.S. involvement in World War II, wherein the U.S. Navy played a pivotal role in achieving ultimate victory. Second, military history is replete with events that are harbingers of change, where tactics and technology of one era give way to those whose time has arrived. Though the aircraft carrier could trace its origins to World War 1, and the interwar years were marked by developments in naval aviation tactics and aircraft, the attack on Pearl Harbor proved symbolic of the rise of sea-based air power and represented naval aviation’s ascendancy to a position as a premier offensive weapon.
2. The around-the-world cruise of the Great White Fleet from 16 December 1908 to 22 February 1909 was significant in the fact that it was a tangible representation of the rebirth of the U.S. Navy in the image conceived by Alfred Thayer Mahan. It marks the beginning of a century in which the U.S. Navy played a significant role.
3. In 1955 the USS Nautilus (SSN-571) began her sea trials and the USS Forrestal (CVA-59) was placed in commission. The nuclear-powered submarine and the super carrier remain the focal points of U.S. naval operations to this day.
Millennium:
1. The voyage of discovery by Christopher Columbus disproved old notions of the world and represented the extension of civilization to the Western Hemisphere.
2. The defeat of the Spanish Armada by the British Royal Navy symbolized the ascendancy of Great Britain as the world’s greatest naval power, a position it held until the 20th century.
3. The Civil War battle between the Monitor and the Virginia foreshadowed a future in which the era of wood and sail gave way to iron and steel.
William Grover—Manotick, Ontario, Canada
CENTURY:
1. Battle of Jutland—only Jellicoe could have lost the war in an afternoon.
2. Battle of the Atlantic—a tremendous endeavor in so many areas, not least of which was science, technology, and tactical innovation
3. Battle of Midway—the coming of age of naval air power.
Millennium:
1. The unopposed amphibious assault (but who was the fleet commander?) on England in 1066—look what developed over the course of the millennium from the consequences of that event.
2. The naval career of James Cook—charting the St. Lawrence prior to assault on Quebec, charting Newfoundland, and various other voyages comprise his enormous contributions.
3. The writings of Alfred Thayer Mahan, the single most important analyst of naval thought.
*Cook and Mahan are a bit of a fudge, but they are naval men whose contributions are “millennium” scale.
R. E. Q. Harris—Society for Nautical Research, Portsmouth, England
Century:
1. Battle of Tsushima, 27 May 1905: The Japanese fleet annihilated the Russian fleet, whose Third Division surrendered to prevent further bloodshed. This victory determined the outcome of the Russo-Japanese War.
2. Battle of Jutland, 31 May 1916: The British Grand Fleet fought the German High Seas Fleet. Although the Royal Navy suffered greater losses in ships and men, the Germans retreated hastily to their bases, never to emerge, in force, until their final surrender in 1918. By contrast, the British fleet ships were ready for action again within 48 hours.
Millennium:
1. Battle of Sluys, 24 June 1340: An English Fleet led by King Edward III, after fierce close fighting, defeated Phillipe IVs French invasion fleet. As a result, Edward held command of the English Channel. In 1346, he invaded Normandy, bent on conquest, thereby starting the 100 Years War.
2. Battle of Lepanto, 7 October 1571: The Christian Fleet, under Don John of Austria, gained an outstanding victory over Ali Pasha’s Turkish Fleet, thereby, frustrating the aims of the vast Ottoman Empire, which threatened the whole Mediterranean Sea trade.
3. Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805: The English Fleet shattered the larger Franco/Spanish Fleet. As a result, Napoleon’s effective maritime opposition to England was eliminated. This victory at sea settled the six-centuries-old quarrel that had divided the French and the English.
Joseph Henrich—Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Century:
1. Naval Aviation—added fourth dimension to naval operations, including missiles, which constitute a different way of flight
2. Nuclear Power—allowed perfection of submarines, which were limited weapons before
3. Rise of the United States—changed world geopolitics and made possible survival of the United Kingdom in two world wars
Millennium:
1. Rise of Sail, or, depending on which author you read, the rise of the Caravel—changed world geopolitics in a way not seen since the Mongols and would not be seen again until the rise of the United States
2. Gunpowder—numbers 1 and 2 above are just sophisticated changes in numbers 1 and 2 here.
3. Exploration of the world—partly as a consequence of sail from the discovery of the Americas and the Pacific to polar and subpolar expeditions.
Marc Richard—Associate Librarian/History Cataloguer, McQill University Libraries, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Century:
1. Battle of the Atlantic (1939-1945). By holding out against and eventually defeating Germany’s campaign against the convoys, the Allies saved Great Britain from capitulation during the early stages of World War II and subsequently were able to build the British Isles into the springboard for the Allied invasion of Western Europe in 1944 and the subsequent two-front defeat of Germany.
2. Battle of Midway (June 1942). The destruction of four front-line Japanese fleet carriers, along with their highly trained air crews and aircraft, against modest losses on the U.S. side, marked the strategic turning point of World War II in the Pacific, with Japan essentially moving from the offensive to the defensive from that date onward.
3. The Battle of Tsushima (May 1905). The virtual annihilation of the Russian fleet at relatively little cost to the Japanese fleet catapulted Japan to world-power status, crippled Russian naval strength, contributed to the outbreak of the first Russian Revolution, and helped to initiate the dreadnought era by demonstrating the usefulness of heavy-caliber naval gunfire at ranges in excess of those at which capital ships had been expected to engage one another
Millennium:
1. Invention of the hinged gunport (circa 1500): By permitting large numbers of heavy guns to be carried in a low, stable position within the hull of large ocean-going sailing ships, this invention enabled stand-off gunnery to replace ramming and boarding as the primary tactic of combat at sea and led to the displacement of the oared galley by the sailing ship-of-the-line.
2. The Crimean War (1853-1856): Demonstrated the effectiveness of shell-firing naval guns (at Sinope in 1853 and at Constantinople in 1854) and of ship armor (at Fort Kinburn in 1855), and thus initiated the first wave of armored screw-driven heavy warship construction by France and Britain that helped bring about the final demise of the sail-powered wooden man-of-war.
3. Completion of the first nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine, the Nautilus (SSN-571) in 1954: The first nuclear- powered naval vessel marked the beginning of the era in which ships could benefit from the advantages of mechanical propulsion (the tactical advantage that steam held over sails) without having to depend on bases or underway refueling (the strategic advantage that sails held over steam)
John W. Rieken—Georgia State University
Century:
1. Hampton Roads—naval warfare leaped ahead from sail to steam, wood to iron, open deck to enclosed turret, and sniper on mast arm to gunner by cannon.
2. Development of surface-effective radar—the perfection of surface radar for naval gunfire recast the way sea battles were fought. Every ship was visible. One could not hide in a squall, fog bank, or by hugging the coast. Radar begat the long-range missile: “I see you, you see me, let’s see who has the long-range ordnance to fire first.”
3. Battle of Midway—because of its immense scope and effect on the outcome of world history.
Millennium:
1. Development of the ship-mounted cannon—this changed the way battles at sea were fought. In one sense, it brought sanity to battles and took away the intimacy; in another sense, it brought more horror to warfare and the whole notion of sea battle.
2. Submarine warfare—ditto the last lines above, with a slight alteration: “In one sense, it brought insanity to battles and further took away the intimacy; in another sense, it brought more horror to warfare and the whole notion of sea battle.”
3. Development of effective surface radar—ditto the remarks above.
J. D. Shutler—Amphot Research, Bideford, England
Century:
1. Submarines: For more than 100 years the undersea threat to surface vessels developed, peaking during the two world wars, with German U-boat packs strangling food and munition supplies to Britain. Present developments include nuclear power, and killer-sub modes.
2. Air Power: Frail aircraft and kites launched from warships for observation led to flat-top carriers, so well employed in the pre-emptive Japanese Pearl Harbor attack. Now the U.S. carrier fleet is limited only by the size of the national budget.
3. Amphibious Operations: Early conquests of foreign shores were made by rowing boats of Marines, mostly unopposed. The World War I Gallipoli operation, badly conceived though bravely attempted, led to the large scale of World War II, with purpose-built landing craft and present day ships carrying armored fighting vehicles and supporting helicopters.
Millennium:
1. Sail Power to Nuclear Power: Important progression from sail, through steam power, to nuclear-powered warships, affording unlimited ranges.
2. Academic Naval Teaching: Criss-crossing the oceans, near brigands of captains in wooden-hulled ships, at the whims of their sovereign states, after the mid-century led to naval colleges producing more directed captains and discipline in the cadets to crew ships with more success.
3. Gunpowder: Early vessels armed by bowmen or spear-carrying crew sometime with catapult devices, gunpowder soon provided muzzle-loading cannon, then breech-loading smooth and rifled barrels. Next came longer accurate barreled, larger caliber, and finally, guided missiles.
Colonel John P. Sinnott, Army of the United States (Retired)—Valdosta, Georgia
Century:
1. The Battle of Tsushima Strait, a victory that gave Japan its first foothold on the mainland of Asia, feeding Japanese territorial ambitions without Western objection, and leading with the logic of an algebraic equation to 7 December 1941
2. The Battle of Midway, which ended Japanese territorial ambitions, exposed the cowardice of politicians who continued a cost war for three more years, and treated us to that rare and satisfying event of David beating Goliath
3. Nuclear propulsion, which frees the fleet from the for a world-wide base structure and enables submarines to operate underwater at all times
Millennium:
1. The development of the ocean-going caravel that transported Western culture over the entire world, making Western thought the dominant feature in every society today
2. Unrestricted submarine warfare, which forced the United States to intervene directly and permanently in the defense of Europe
3. The defeat of the Spanish Armada: Had England lost that battle, who could guess what course European and world history might have taken?
David Skaggs—Bowling Green State University
Century:
1. Development of naval aviation, which added new depth and lethality to naval warfare
2. Changing forms of sea propulsion from coal to oil to nuclear, each adding new power and range to naval warfare and making it less dependent on control of land mass for refueling
3. Development of submarine warfare, which added a new dimension to warfare, revising the guerre de course and eventually harboring the most potent and elusive weapons system of the Cold War
Millennium:
1. Development of the ocean-going sailing vessel, which contributed to the demise of the Mediterranean as the center of naval warfare and commerce, to the emergence of Western European exploration and colonization and to the dominance of Western values and culture.
2. Evolution of naval weaponry and tactics, from ramming and boarding to the line-of-battle in the age of fighting sail, to huge artillery pieces and torpedoes, and finally to aircraft and missiles
3. The impact of technology on ship design and propulsion, shifting from galleys to sailing vessels, to armored surface fleets, to naval aviation and submarines, and eventually the development of steam and nuclear power.
Commander N. L. Stewart, Royal Navy (Retired)— Naval Historical Branch, U.K., Southampton, England
Century:
1. Battle of Jutland: Inconclusive outcome to the Battle of Jutland, where superior in strength grand fleet failed to inflict resounding defeat. It extended the 1914-1918 war by one year, leading to the Russian Revolution, entry of the United States into the war, and hence, the Versailles Treaty, which in turn led to World War II (not forgetting the Pacific element), the Cold War, and troubles in Yugoslavia causing so much difficulty in the present decade. This is not to mention the post-World War 1 British cabinet’s reluctance to fund the British fleet and its consequences.
2. Development of replenishment at sea restored to steam and mechanically powered ships the endurance of sailing ships and more.
3. Invention of wireless telegraphy and extension into radar provided means whereby control of warships and the range of their detection and weapon ability extended far beyond the sea horizon.
Millennium:
1. Advent of the large-gunned warship, which provided means whereby European favor was extended to colonize North and South America and dominate Africa and the East.
2. Advent of submarine removed from surface warship its ability to see assailants.
3. Advent of aircraft not only changed the tone of war at sea but extended sea power’s direct striking ability far into land masses.