Sea Power and Maritime Affairs

1
Sea Power and Maritime Affairs

• Lesson 7 The Dawning of the Age of Mahan,
  1890-1898

2
Learning Objectives

• Comprehend the historical background to the
  popularization of the doctrine of sea power in
  the late 19th century.
• Comprehend Mahan's viewpoint of sea power as a
  geopolitical and naval concept.

3
Learning Objectives

• Comprehend the distinctive British interpretation
  of sea power as expounded by Sir Julian Corbett.
• Comprehend Mahan's influence on European and
  American naval history between 1890 and 1898.

4
Background

• Commerce Raiding
• Naval War College- Mahan was assigned there.
• The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783

5
Sea Power

• Sea
• Common over which men can pass in all directions.
• Great medium of communication established by
  nature.
• Important to the extent that men use it.
• Sea Power
• Possession of a powerful navy
• Colonies
• Increasing Wealth
• Increase in Strength and Capacity.
• Command of the Sea

6
Elements of Sea Power

• Geographic Position
• Physical Conformation
• Extent of Territory
• Number of Population
• National Character
• Character of the Government
• Strategic principles "remain as though laid on a
  rock.

7
Tactics versus Strategy

• Tactics
• Aspects of operations occurring after the
  beginning of combat.
• Dynamic due to changes in technology of armaments
  and propulsion.
• Strategy
• Should remain constant through periods of
  technological change.

8
Mahans Strategic Questions

• What is a navys function?
• Answer Command of the seas.
• How should a navy be deployed?
• Answer Battle fleets.

9
Mahans Strategic Questions

• Where should the coaling stations needed to
  support them be established?
• Answer Near geographic "choke-points.
• What is the value of commerce destruction, and
  should this be a primary or secondary goal of
  naval action?
• Answer It cannot win wars (CSS Alabama) --
  secondary mission.

10
Mahans Views

• U.S. needs to build a battleship navy capable of
  defeating enemy fleets.
• Colonies
• Valuable locations for coaling stations.
• Vital to a steam-driven battleship navy.
• Panama Isthmus passage necessary for U.S. naval
  power.
• Will become a critical maritime "choke-point.
• U.S. Navy must be a Two-Ocean" Navy - Atlantic
  and Pacific.

11
Mahans Views

• Need to enlarge the merchant marine.
• Essence of Mahan U.S. needs a Great Navy.
• Mark of and prerequisite for national greatness.
• Designed to fight an enemy in fleet engagements.
• In order to win command of the sea.
• Not designed for commerce raiding (guerre de
  course) or protection.

12
Sir Julian CorbettSome Principles of Maritime
Strategy (1911)

• Points of agreement with Mahan
• Command of the sea is of prime importance.
• Commerce raiding is the strategy of the weaker
  power.
• Development of naval strategy related to
  Clausewitz
• Relationship of naval strategy to government
  policy.
• Interdependence of all elements of national power.

13
Differences from Mahan

• Interdependence of land and sea forces is crucial
  to the success of a national military effort.
• Strategic thinking itself may have to be changed.
• A Navy's main purpose may be sea control,
  combined operations, or commerce war.

14
Impact of Mahan

• Validates naval and colonial policies of European
  powers, Russian Empire, and Japan.
• Increasing naval arms race in Europe until World
  War I, especially between Germany and Great
  Britain.
• Building large fleets of capital ships in late
  1800s.
• Writings become required reading of naval
  officers.
• Further colonization of Africa and Asia.

15
Mahan in the US

• Not as quick to accept Mahans teachings as other
  countries.
• President Theodore Roosevelt will use them as the
  foundation of his naval policy in the early
  1900s.

16
1889-1898 Mahans Decade

• Concept of Sea Power
• Strategic conclusion
• Operational conclusion
• Impact Nations
• Britain, Germany, Japan, US
• Naval Developments (Review from Lesson 8)
• Foreign Policy Developments
• Samoa (1889), Hawaii (1891-1898), Venezuelan
  crisis (1895-1896), Cuban Revolution (1895-1898)
• Spanish-American War (1898)

17
Discussion
Next time The U.S. Navy and American
Imperialism, 1898-1914