The Rise of American Naval Power 1776–1918

433 Pages·19.089 MB·English

by  Harold Sprout, Margaret Sprout

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The Rise of
American Naval
Power
1 7 7 6 - 1 9 1 8
By
Harold & Margaret Sprout
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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRI NC:ETON ·19 46
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The Constitution escaping into Boston Harbor during the War of 1812. Of the fril1:ates built in the qgo·s,
this ship known popularly as Old Ironsides became the most famous.
COPYRIGHT, 1939, BY PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
Revised and reprinted I942
Reprinted I944
Reprinted I946
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PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY
l'RINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS AT
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
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Foreword
'
T HIS volume represents an attempt to assemble the his-
toric pattern of conditions, institutions, events, ideas,
motives, and personalities which have shaped the course of
American naval development.
The need for such a study, covering the whole period of
our national history, was first brought home to us several
years ago in connection with research for a general work on
American foreign policy. Although this work was still incom
plete, it was suggested that we embark at once upon the other
study in view of the Navy's increasing importance in the in
ternal and external affairs of the United States. And the way
was cleared for this undertaking by the courtesy of Henry Holt
and Company of New York, who generously consented to post
pone temporarily their publication of our work on American
foreign policy.
The resulting investigation has necessarily proceeded along
several parallel lines. Briefly, these have included inquiry
into and analysis of: ( 1) the problem of naval defense as en
visaged by different persons, groups, classes, and sections, at
each stage in the territorial and politico-economic expansion
of the United States; (2) the continuing historic debate over
the nature and scope of the Navy's functions in peace as well
as in war; (3) the arguments of successive generations as to· the
size and kind of navy required to perform these functions; (4)
the evolution of ideas as to principles of naval strategy and
warfare; (5) the strategic and political implications of advances
in naval architecture and technology; (G) the similar implica-
Vl Foreword
tions of changing ideas as to the organization, disposition,
and management of the forces afloat; (7) the like implications
of the problems of Navy-Department and navy-yard administra
tion; (8) the processes of formulating and enacting naval legis
lation within the American governmental system; (g) the re
spective roles of organized groups and of unorganized public
opinioQ.; and ( 10) the international repercussions and con
sequences of the rise of American naval power.
It was early apparent that a study of such scope could not
be adequately presented in one volume, and that the logical
point of division, for reasons which are set forth in the first
chapter of this volume, was at the end of the World War. When
it further became clear, for reasons that will likewise be
evident to the reader, that the first part covering the years
1776-1918 constituted a unified study in itself, the question
arose whether this part should not be published separately as
soon as completed.
Recent events have furnished the answer. The great naval
Act of 1938, the still greater armament program for 1939, and
the possibility of American participation in an unprecedented
struggle for armed security on land and sea, create a respon
sibility which cannot lightly be ignored. With the fires of
propaganda and of domestic politics raging around the issue
of national defense, the urgent need for accurate background
information, impartially presented, is more pressing today
than ever before. And we launch this initial volume hoping
that it may contribute something at least to a reasoned public
opinion on this great national issue.
Many people have helped us in one way or another. The
study was originally undertaken largely at the instance of
Professors Robert Greenhalgh Albion and DeWitt Clinton
Poole. Without substantial aid from Princeton University
and from the Social Science Research Council the publication
of this volume would have been seriously delayed. We have
had helpful cooperation from the Navy Department, especially
from Captain Dudley W. Knox, Chief of the Office of Naval
Foreword vii
Records and Library. Members of both branches of Congress,
especially the chairmen of the House and Senate Committees
on Naval Affairs, have assisted us in securing numerous re
search materials.
The following persons have kindly read and criticized the
book in manuscript or in proof: Professor R. G. Albion, Dr.
C. A. Beard, Professor W. S. Carpenter, Professor E. S. Corwin,
Professor E. M. Earle, Major G. F. Eliot, Dr. J. A. Perkins,
Dr. C. P. Stacey, and Professor W. L. Whittlesey. We owe a
unique debt to Professor Whittlesey whose editorial assistance
has improved every page. We are deeply indebted to the
Princeton Library Staff in general, and in particular to Mr.
M. 0. Young, Reference Librarian, for help and cooperation
at every stage of the work. And we owe much to the advice
and assistance of the executive officers of the Princeton Uni
versity Press. While we have benefited inestimably from the
help and criticism which so many have thus generously given,
we alone of course are responsible for the facts and conclusions
presented in this volume.
Further, we acknowledge the kind permission of the follow
ing publishers to make extensive quotations from copyrighted
materials: to D. Appleton-Century Company, for quotations
from B. A. Fiske's From MidshijJman to Rear Admiral; to
Albert and Charles Boni, Inc., for quotations from The Jour
nal of William Maclay; to Little, Brown and Company, for
quotations from America of Yesterday, As Reflected in the
Journal of John Davis Long, and from A. T. Mahan's The
Influence of Sea Power upon History, r66o-r783; and to the
United States Naval Institute, for quotations from the address
given on June 2, 1897, before the Naval War College, by
Theodore Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary of the Navy,
and later President of the United States. Finally, we acknowl
edge with sincere appreciation the courtesy of the Office of
Naval Records and Library, Navy Department, for supplying
the pictures which illustrate this volume.
H. S.
M.S.
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Contents
Foreword v
I. Chart and Com pass
II. Sea Power and American Independence ( 1776-
1783) 7
III. Independence Without Sea Power (1783-1789) 16
IV. Federalist Policy: Naval Expansion and Cruiser
·warfare (178g-18o1) 25
V. Jeffersonian Policy: Retrenchment and Passive
Coast Defense (1801-1812) 50
VI. Strategic Lessons of the War of 1812 (1812-1815) 73
VII. The Neglected Lessons of 1812 (1815-1837) 86
VIII. From Sails to Steam: The First Phase ( 1837-
1845) 110
IX. Naval Policy, Manifest Destiny, and Slave Politics
(1845·1861) 127
X. The Civil ·war: Strategic Lessons and Technical
Progress (1861-1865) 151
XI. Last Years of the Old Navy (1865-1881) 105
XII. lleginnings of the New Navy (1881-188g) 183 ·./
XIII. Alfred Thayer Mahan: Sea Power and the New
\ \
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\ \ Manifest Destiny ( 188g-1897) 202
XIV. Mahan Vindicated: The War with Spain (1897-
1901) 223 1/
XV. Mahan Triumphant: The Policy of Theodore
Roosevelt ( 190 I-I gog) 250 .. /
XVI. Rooseveltian Policy Without Roosevelt (1gog-
1913) 286
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Contents
XVII. Politics and Policy on the Eve of the Great War
(1913-1914) 304
XVIII. Europe at War: Neutrality and Preparedness
(1914-1917) 317
XIX. America at War: Strategic Lessons and Political
Consequences (1917-1918) 317
XX. The Log Reviewed 378
Notes on Methods and Materials 387
Index 393
Illustrations
Frigate Constitution Frontispiece
Map FACING PAGE 4
U.S. Squadron leaving Port Mahon, 1825 43
Steam Frigates MississijJjJi and Merrimac
Battle of Hampton Roads
Screw Sloop Brooklyn
Squadron of Evolution, 1889 218
Battleship Oregon 234
Scout Cruiser Salem and Armored Cruiser San Diego 260
Battleship Delaware 264
Submarine L-3 and Destroyer Fanning 358
All pictures reproduced through the courtesy of the office of Naval Records and
Library, Navy Department.