Bernard D. Cole is a professor at the National War College in Washington, DC. The author of two other books, he was a surface warfare officer in the U.S. Navy for thirty years.

Articles by Bernard Cole

Pearl Harbor, 1 February 1941: Admiral Husband Kimmel relieves Admiral James Richardson as Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet. War Plan Orange, written early in the 20th century, was the Navy’s strategy for defeating Japan in a naval war..

A Maritime Strategy for the United States: When Next?

By Captain Bernard D. Cole, U.S. Navy (Retired)
October 2024
Few words are more frequently heard in the Pentagon than “strategy.” In the Navy corridors, this becomes “maritime strategy.” However, it is arguable that the United States has had only ...
U.S. Navy (Diana Quinlan)

Island Chains and Naval Classics

By Captain Bernard D. Cole, U.S. Navy (Retired)
November 2014
“Maritime strategy” is best defined in general terms, perhaps nothing more specific than “matching necessary resources with attaining national maritime goals.” In fact, Admiral J. C. Wylie denigrated the concept ...
U.S. Navy (Gary M. Keen)

Controlling Contested Waters

By Captain Bernard D. Cole, U.S. Navy (Retired)
October 2013
The United States must exercise sea control in the Indo-Pacific to protect its economic interests, but China intends to do the same.
Defenseimagery.mil (Chet King)

Drawing Lines at Sea

By Captain Bernard D. Cole, U.S. Navy (Retired)
November 2011
China is deploying a large, modern navy, but will its island-chain strategy of the 1980s give it the desired global reach?
Naval History and Heritage Command

America's Asiatic Fleet

By Captain Bernard D. Cole, U.S. Navy (Retired)
October 2011
In the tumultuous China of the early 20th century, the U.S. Navy was undermanned, overtasked, and strategically vital.

The Real Sand Pebbles

By Captain Bernard D. Cole, U.S. Navy (Retired)
February 2000
What the classic novel and the hit motion picture leave out are the major impediments faced by the builders of the Yangtze Patrol gunboats.
JMSDF

Asia at Sea

By Captain Bernard Cole, U.S. Navy (Retired)
March 1997
Anticipating further US withdrawal from the region, the nations of Asia Pacific are watching naval developments in Japan and China and working to improve their own maritime capabilities.

Train the Warrior, Educate the Officer

By Commander Bernard D. Cole, U. S. Navy
January 1985
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Nobody asked me, but …

By Commander Bernard D. Cole, U. S. Navy
February 1982
This html article is produced from an uncorrected text file through optical character recognition. Prior to 1940 articles all text has been corrected, but from 1940 to the present most ...