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The Navy prepares to christen the future littoral combat ship USS St. Louis (LCS-19), left, in Marinette, Wisconsin, as the USS Billings (LCS-15) is under construction and preparing for commissioning.
The Navy prepares to christen the future littoral combat ship USS St. Louis (LCS-19), left, in Marinette, Wisconsin, as the USS Billings (LCS-15) is under construction and preparing for commissioning.
U.S. Navy

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A Flawed U.S. Shipbuilding Plan to Counter China

By William R. Hawkins
January 2021
Proceedings
Commentary
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As tensions mounted between Great Britain and Imperial Germany in the years leading up to World War I, there was a “naval scare” in 1909. It seemed Berlin was about to match or potentially surpass London’s construction on the new Dreadnought class of battleships. German industry had surpassed British industry in total output after decades of high economic growth had closed the gap, ultimately giving Germany Europe’s largest economy and changing the balance of power. There are similarities and lessons from the Anglo-German naval arms race relevant to the current Sino-American naval arms race that has accompanied Beijing’s rise in economic strength.

HMS Dreadnought was launched in 1905 at the direction of Admiral Sir John Fisher, who had been elevated to First Sea Lord in 1904. The revolutionary design increased from four to ten the number of heavy (12-inch) guns in capital ships and would see the size of main guns (13.5 and 15 inch) increase as the design matured. The Royal Navy’s superiority was at risk, as all powers started at zero with the new design. 

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Categories:

  • Ships

William R. Hawkins

Mr. Hawkins is an economist and widely published author in the fields of national security and international economics with a long career in academia, think tanks, and on Capitol Hill.  

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