Portrait painting of Alfred Thayer Mahan By N. Peterson

Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan, U.S. Navy (Retired) (1840–1914) was an American naval officer and esteemed naval theorist who served a historic role in defining the U.S. Navy as a significant geopolitical force during the end of the nineteenth century.

Articles by Alfred Thayer Mahan

Naval Education

By Commander A. T. Mahan, U.S. Navy
October 1879
“Essayons.” In considering the question of Naval Education for officers and men it is necessary to put clearly before us two things—1st, the material upon which we shall have to ...

Blockade in Relation to Naval Strategy

By Captain A. T. Mahan, U.S. Navy
October 1895
(By permission from the Journal of the Royal United Service Institution.) The Council of the Royal United Service Institution have done me the honor to ask a paper upon the ...

A Letter of Captain A.T. Mahan

By Captain A. T. Mahan, U.S. Navy
January 1889
U.S. Naval War College, Newport, R.I., November 27, 1888. To the Secretary of the Naval Institute. Sir:—On several occasions there has been urged upon me the wish that the text ...