The Naval Academy Illustrated History of the United States Navy

328 Pages·1971·48.12 MB·English

by  E. B. Potter

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icademy
Illustrated History of the
Navy
United
States
E.B.Potter
Professor of Naval History, United States Naval Academy
Maps, diagrams, and photographs
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E.B. Potter
This is an authoritative historyofAmerican
sea powerfrom theWar for Independence to
the warin Southeast Asia, withmore than230
illustrations ofnaval engagements and heroic
fighting men and theirships.
The majoroperations andbattles in allof
our nation's wars arevividlydescribed, and a
wealth ofmaps and diagrams illuminate the
accountsofstrategyand tactics. TheNaval
Academy Illustrated History of the
United StatesNavy examines also the
characters and exploits ofthegreatnaval
leaders: John PaulJones, John Barry, Edward
Preble, Oliver Hazard Perry, Thomas
Macdonough, David Dixon Porter, David
Glasgow Farragut,Alfred ThayerMahan,
William Sowden Sims, ChesterW. Nimitz,
Raymond Spruance, Marc A. Mitscher, and
William F. Halsey.
Inaddition to operational history the book
dealswith all of the major technological
developments: sail to steam; wood to iron to
steel; muzzle-loading smoothbores to rifled,
breech-loadingguns tomissiles; coal to oilto
nuclear power; and converted merchantmen
to dreadnaughts to aircraft carriers. Here too
are accounts of theevolution ofUnited States
naval administration and the advances innaval
education—from sea-going instruction by
boozy old professors to the founding and
flourishing of the United StatesNaval
Academy and the establishmentof theNaval
War
College.
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72-146^5

The Naval Academy
Illustrated History of the United States Navy
The Naval Academy
Illustrated History of the
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Navy
United
States
E. B. Potter
Professor of Naval History, United States Naval Academy
THOMAS CROWELL COMPANY
Y.
New
York. Established 1834
The assertions and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not to be con-
strued as ofiBcial or as necessarily reflecting the views of the Department of the Navy.
Maps by Donald T. Pitcher
©
Copyright 1971 by E. B. Potter
All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
xerography, photocopying, and recording, and in any information storage and retrieval system is for-
bidden without the written permission of the pubhsher. Published simultaneously in Canada by Fitz-
henry & Whiteside Limited, Toronto.
Designed by Abigail Moseley
Manufactured in the United States of America
L.C. Card 72-146286
ISBN 0-690-57460-6
123456789
10
Preface
Here in compact form is the story of United States naval operations in war and peace.
The book is also a portrait gallery in words and pictures of the Navy's past leaders. It is a story
of exceptional men and their achievements, particularly in the stress of battle. While it does
not pretend to be a treatise on national policy or the art of war, brief explanations of po-
litical, strategic, and tactical decisions are included. Because my aim has been to arouse in-
terest and to inform, rather than to instruct or to reveal, I saw no point in providing foot-
notes or bibliography. I drew my facts from dependable sources, however, and I believe that
my narrative is accurate.
Despite the book's imposing title, used by permission of Vice Admiral James F. Calvert, Jr.,
USN, Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy, this is in no sense an oflBcial his-
tory. The opinions expressed are my own. Nothing has been included or excluded with the
sanction of the Naval Academy or the Department of the Navy.
Over the years I have been impressed with the fact that few books on naval history
provide adequate aids to enable the reader to visualize battles and campaigns. Hence when
I began to write naval history textbooks, I provided plenty of maps and diagrams. In the pre-
sent volume I have, by grace of the publisher, been able to include also a liberal provision of
pictures. The story is told as much by the pictures, maps, and diagrams as by the text.
In the pictures reproduced from paintings there unfortunately happen to be a few errors
—the wrong number of stars in the American flag, small inaccuracies in ship construction. Such
flaws, I suppose, are inevitable, for the artists were neither historians nor shipwrights. I
have simply used the most authentic pictures I could find, choosing accuracy over art.
I wish to thank the staffs of the following oflBces and institutions for helping me to
locate the pictures I needed: the National Archives, the Library of Congress, the United
States Naval Academy Museum, the United States Naval Institute, the Navy Department's
Magazine and Book Branch (especially the blithe assistant head. Miss Anna Urband), the Di-
vision of Naval History (particularly the former Director of Naval History, Rear Admiral E. M.
Eller USN, Ret.; Commander D. V. Hickey usn; Messrs. Charles Haberlein and Charles T.
Weaver; and Lieutenants (jg.) WilUam F. Rope and G. M. Quigley, both usnr), and the
photographic centers of the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Coast
Guard, and Time, Inc.
Between pages 188 and 208 of this book are a few paragraphs which I formerly wrote for
Triumph in the Pacific, published by Prentice-Hall, Inc., in 1963 and now out of print.
These are reproduced with the permission of the pubhsher, who is also the copyright holder.
I reused my old paragraphs in the interest of economy of effort and because I could not think
of any better way to express myself.
I take this occasion to thank Admiral Calvert not only for his permission to use "The Naval
Academy" in my title but also for granting me an extra leave period to catch up with my
writing chores. Thanks are due also to my colleagues Mr. J. Roger Fredland, who read the
complete typescript and made valuable suggestions, and Commander Frederic N. Howe, Jr.
usN, Assistant Chairman of the Naval Academy's Weapons and Systems Engineering Department,
who read and corrected the section titled "New Naval Weapons." I likewise acknowledge my
debt to my other Naval Academy associates—my officer and civilian colleagues and my mid-
shipman students whose ideas threshed out in class and in the coffee mess I have brazenly
purloined. Any false or ridiculous ideas herein are, of course, strictly my own.
Above all, I want to thank my long-suffering wife for her patience, her advice, her typ-
ing, and her wilUngness to forgo vacations in order to get this job done.
E. B. Potter
History Department
United States Naval Academy