Decision at Sea: Five Naval Battles that Shaped American History

432 Pages·2006·5.19 MB·English

by  Craig L. Symonds

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Copyright © 2005 by Craig L. Symonds
First published by Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005
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First issued as an Oxford University Press paperback, 2006
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Symonds, Craig L.
Decision at sea : five naval battles that shaped American history /
Craig L. Symonds.
p. cm. Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-19-531211-9 (PBK.)
1. United States—History, Naval—Anecdotes.
2. Naval battles—United States—History. I. Title.
E182.S995 2005 359.4’773—dc22 2004029394
Book design and composition by Mark McGarry, Texas Type & Book Works
Set in Minion
DECISION AT SEA
Five Naval Battles
that Shaped American History
CRAIG L. SYMONDS
ALSO BY CRAIG L. SYMONDS
The Battle of Midway
Craig L. Symonds
There are few moments in American history in
which the course of events tipped so suddenly
and so dramatically as at the Battle of Midway.
At dawn of June 4, 1942, a rampaging Japanese
navy ruled the Pacific. By sunset, their vaunted
carrier force had been sunk and their grip on the
Pacific had been loosened forever.
Available October, 2011
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Joseph E. Johnston: A Civil War Biography
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Confederate Admiral: The Life and Wars of Franklin Buchanan
The American Heritage History of the Battle of Gettysburg
EDITED BY CRAIG L. SYMONDS
Charleston Blockade
New Aspects of Naval History
Recollections of a Naval Officer
A Year on a Monitor and the Destruction of Fort Sumter
Jubal Early’s Memoirs
Jefferson Davis: A Memoir by His Wife
The Civil War Recollections of Ellis Spear
The Civil War Reader, 1862
The Lost History of Gettysburg
DECISION AT SEA
For those in peril on the sea
[CONTENTS]
Acknowledgments
Author’s Note
Foreword by Thomas B. Buell
PROLOGUE: NAVAL BATTLES AND HISTORY
PART ONE: WOODEN WARSHIPS AND THE WESTERN FRONTIER
The Battle of Lake Erie, September 10, 1813
PART TWO: IRON, STEAM, AND NATIONAL UNION
The Battle of Hampton Roads, March 8–9, 1862
PART THREE: ARMORED CRUISERS AND EMPIRE
The Battle of Manila Bay, May 1, 1898
PART FOUR: NAVAL AVIATION AND WORLD WAR
The Battle of Midway, June 4, 1942
PART FIVE: MISSILE WARFARE AND THE AMERICAN IMPERIUM
Operation Praying Mantis: The Persian Gulf, April 18, 1988
EPILOGUE: NAVAL BATTLES AND THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Notes
Index
[ACKNOWLEDGMENTS]
My initial acknowledgment must go to the late Tom Buell, who originally
conceived of this project—or at least a project similar to this one—and who
invited me to take up the challenge of making it a reality. If the final product is
very different from what Tom had in mind, his vision informed the way I
attacked and presented the material. Nevertheless, all the conclusions and
interpretations offered in this volume, as well as any errors that may have crept
in, are mine alone.
I also want to thank Bob Pratt, the excellent cartographer at National
Geographic, who produced the maps in the book; Tim Wooldridge and Janis
Jorgensen of the U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archives, Claudia Jew at the
Mariners’ Museum, and Scott Harmon, director of the Naval Academy Museum,
all of whom helped me with the illustrations; and, at Oxford, Peter Ginna, my
superb editor, who had faith in the project from the start, as well as the efficient
and accomplished Furaha Norton. Finally, I offer thanks to Barbara Breeden,
Barbara Manvel, and the wonderful staff at the Nimitz Library at the United
States Naval Academy.
Prologue. I am indebted to my friend John Hattendorf, the Ernest J. King
Chair of Maritime History at the Naval War College, who read the Prologue and
made several helpful suggestions about my treatment of the Battle of the Capes.
Part One: Lake Erie. Gerard Altoff, the park historian at the Perry Memorial
and International Peace Monument at Put-in-Bay, Ohio, very generously shared
with me the results of his many years of research about the Battle of Lake Erie
and offered valuable criticism on, and corrections to, an early draft of the text.
His generosity of spirit defines academic collegiality.
Thanks are due as well to John C. Dann, director of the William L. Clements
Library on Early Americana at the University of Michigan, who allowed me to
quote from the Oliver Hazard Perry Papers, and to Elisabeth Proffen, the special
collections assistant at the Maryland Historical Society, for allowing me to quote
from the Samuel Hambleton Diary.
Part Two: Hampton Roads. Dr. Francis J. DuCoin of Stuart, Florida, who has
made the technical aspects of the Monitor a special study, helped me to
appreciate the fine details of Ericsson’s revolutionary vessel, particularly the
characteristics of the pilothouse. John W. Hinds of Shoreline, Washington,