Table Of ContentSeapower
Second Edition
The sea has always been central to human development as a source of resources,
and as a means of transportation, information exchange and strategic dominion. It
has been the basis for our prosperity and security. This is even more the case, now,
in the early twenty-first century, with the emergence of an increasingly globalised
world trading system.
Navies have always provided a way of policing, and sometimes exploiting, the
system. In contemporary conditions, navies – and other forms of maritime power –
are having to adapt, in order to exert the maximum power ashore in the company of
others and to expand the range of their interests, activities and responsibilities.
Their traditional tasks still apply but new ones are developing fast.
This updated and expanded new edition of Geoffrey Till’s acclaimed book is an
essential guide for students of naval history and maritime strategy, and anyone
interested in the changing and crucial role of seapower in the twenty-first century.
Geoffrey Till is a recognised authority on maritime strategy past and present. For-
merly Dean of Academic Studies at the Joint Services Command and Staff College,
he is currently Professor of Maritime Studies in the Defence Studies Department
and Director of the Corbett Centre for Maritime Policy, King’s College London at
the UK Joint Services Command and Staff College. He is author of a number of
books including Air Power and the Royal Navy, Maritime Strategy and the Nuclear
Ageand, most recently, The Development of British Naval Thinking(also published
by Routledge).
Cass Series: Naval Policy and History
Series Editor: Geoffrey Till
ISSN 1366-9478
This series consists primarily of original manuscripts by research scholars in the
general area of naval policy and history, without national or chronological limita-
tions. It will from time to time also include collections of important articles as well
as reprints of classic works.
1 Austro-Hungarian Naval Policy, 8 The Merchant Marine and
1904–1914 International Affairs, 1850–1950
Milan N. Vego Edited by Greg Kennedy
2 Far-Flung Lines 9 Naval Strategy in Northeast Asia
Studies in imperial defence in Geo-strategic goals, policies and
honour of Donald Mackenzie prospects
Schurman Duk-Ki Kim
Edited by Keith Neilson and
Greg Kennedy 10 Naval Policy and Strategy in the
Mediterranean Sea
3 Maritime Strategy and Continental Past, present and future
Wars Edited by John B. Hattendorf
Rear Admiral Raja Menon
11 Stalin’s Ocean-going Fleet
4 The Royal Navy and German Naval Soviet naval strategy and
Disarmament 1942–1947 shipbuilding programmes,
Chris Madsen 1935–1953
Jürgen Rohwer and
5 Naval Strategy and Operations in Mikhail S. Monakov
Narrow Seas
Milan N. Vego 12 Imperial Defence, 1868–1887
Donald Mackenzie Schurman; edited
6 The Pen and Ink Sailor by John Beeler
Charles Middleton and the King’s
Navy, 1778–1813 13 Technology and Naval Combat in
John E. Talbott the Twentieth Century and Beyond
Edited by Phillips Payson O’Brien
7 The Italian Navy and Fascist
Expansionism, 1935–1940
Robert Mallett
14 The Royal Navy and Nuclear 23 Seapower
Weapons A guide for the twenty-first century
Richard Moore Geoffrey Till
15 The Royal Navy and the Capital 24 Britain’s Economic Blockade of
Ship in the Interwar Period Germany, 1914–1919
An operational perspective Eric W. Osborne
Joseph Moretz
25 A Life of Admiral of the Fleet
16 Chinese Grand Strategy and Andrew Cunningham
Maritime Power A twentieth-century naval leader
Thomas M. Kane Michael Simpson
17 Britain’s Anti-submarine Capability, 26 Navies in Northern Waters,
1919–1939 1721–2000
George Franklin Edited by Rolf Hobson and
Tom Kristiansen
18 Britain, France and the Naval Arms
Trade in the Baltic, 1919–1939 27 German Naval Strategy, 1856–1888
Grand strategy and failure Forerunners to Tirpitz
Donald Stoker David Olivier
19 Naval Mutinies of the Twentieth 28 British Naval Strategy East of Suez,
Century 1900–2000
An international perspective Influences and actions
Edited by Christopher Bell and Edited by Greg Kennedy
Bruce Elleman
29 The Rise and Fall of the Soviet
20 The Road to Oran Navy in the Baltic, 1921–1940
Anglo-French naval relations, Gunnar Aselius
September 1939–July 1940
David Brown 30 The Royal Navy, 1930–1990
Innovation and defence
21 The Secret War against Sweden Edited by Richard Harding
US and British submarine deception
and political control in the 1980s 31 The Royal Navy and Maritime
Ola Tunander Power in the Twentieth Century
Edited by Ian Speller
22 Royal Navy Strategy in the Far
East, 1919–1939 32 Seapower
Planning for a war against Japan A guide for the twenty-first century
Andrew Field Second Edition
Geoffrey Till
Seapower
A Guide for the Twenty-First Century
Second Edition
Geoffrey Till
First published 2004
by Frank Cass Publishers
an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published 2009
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2009.
To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.
© 2004, 2009 Geoffrey Till
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known
or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Till, Geoffrey.
Seapower: a guide for the twenty-first century/Geoffrey Till. – 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Sea-power. I. Title.
V25.T55 2009
359'.03–dc22
2008040542
ISBN 0-203-88048-X Master e-book ISBN
ISBN10: 0-415-48088-4 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0-415-48089-2 (pbk)
ISBN10: 0-203-88048-X (ebk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-48088-8 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-48089-5 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-203-88048-7 (ebk)
Contents
List of illustrations xi
Foreword xiii
ADMIRAL SIR JONATHON BAND KCB ADC
Preface to the second edition xv
List of abbreviations xix
1 Seapower in a globalised world: two tendencies 1
1.1 Introduction: seapower and globalisation 1
1.2 The post-modern navy 6
1.3 The modern navy 14
1.4 Modern/post-modern compromises 17
2 Defining seapower 20
2.1 Introduction 20
2.2 The sea: four historic attributes 23
2.3 Explaining the secret of maritime success 33
2.4 Seapower: qualifications and limitations 37
3 Who said what and why it matters 39
3.1 The value of theory in maritime operations 39
3.2 On types of theory 41
3.3 The early development of theory 47
3.4 Mahan and the bluewater tendency 51
3.5 Corbett and the maritime tradition 56
3.6 Alternative visions in maritime strategy 68
3.7 Operational art and modern maritime theory 74
3.8 Present and future challenges 81
4 The constituents of seapower 83
4.1 Introduction 83
4.2 Identifying the constituents of seapower 84
4.3 Maritime people, society and government 84
viii Contents
4.4 Maritime geography 88
4.5 Resources 96
4.6 A maritime economy 100
4.7 Seapower by other means 106
4.8 Doctrine 112
5 Navies and technology 114
5.1 Introduction 114
5.2 Classifying navies 114
5.3 Classifying navies: estimating relative effectiveness 117
5.4 Navies and technology: an introduction 121
5.5 Platforms 121
5.6 Systems, weapons and sensors 127
5.7 An information revolution? 129
5.8 The challenge of transformational technology 134
5.9 A strategy for innovation 136
5.10 Navies and technology: summary and conclusions 143
6 Command of the sea and sea control 145
6.1 Evolution of a traditional concept 145
6.2 Limits and qualifications 146
6.3 Pursuing command in moderation 150
6.4 Command of the sea yields to sea control 151
6.5 Sea denial 153
6.6 Contemporary angles 155
7 Securing command of the sea 157
7.1 Securing command of the sea: the operational approach 157
7.2 Decisive battle 158
7.3 Forms and styles of decisive battle 163
7.4 How to achieve a decisive victory 167
7.5 Modern forms and concepts of battle 170
7.6 Operational alternatives to battle 172
7.7 The fleet-in-being approach 173
7.8 The fleet blockade 177
8 Exploiting command of the sea 184
8.1 Maritime power projection: definitions 184
8.2 Maritime power projection: aims 186
8.3 Amphibious operations 189
8.4 Operational manoeuvre from the sea 197
8.5 Sea-based strategic missile attack of the shore 202
8.6 Defence against maritime power projection 204
8.7 The attack of maritime communications 211
8.8 The defence of maritime communications 215
Contents ix
9 Expeditionary operations 221
9.1 Origins and background 221
9.2 Definitions 222
9.3 Expeditionary operations: the political dimension 224
9.4 Expeditionary operations: the urban dimension 226
9.5 General demands on the military 226
9.6 Expeditionary operations: the maritime dimension 229
9.7 Staging a sea-based expedition: the maritime requirements 233
9.8 Sea-basing 248
9.9 Conclusions 249
9.10 A humanitarian postscript 250
10 Naval diplomacy 253
10.1 Coverage of naval diplomacy in the literature: who said
what? 253
10.2 The diplomatic value of naval power 255
10.3 The range and extent of naval diplomacy 257
10.4 Naval presence 258
10.5 Naval picture building 264
10.6 Naval coercion 265
10.7 Coalition building 275
10.8 Naval diplomacy: implications for strategy makers 280
11 Maintaining good order at sea 286
11.1 Introduction: good order and maritime security 286
11.2 The sea as a resource 287
11.3 The sea as a means of transportation 290
11.4 The sea as a means of gaining and exchanging
information 299
11.5 The sea as an area of dominion 301
11.6 The sea as an environment 303
11.7 The need for good order at sea 306
11.8 Increasing maritime awareness 306
11.9 Developing maritime policy 309
11.10 Developing integrated maritime governance 310
11.11 Policy implementation: the navy–coast guard spectrum 314
11.12 Good order at sea: implications for navies 319
12 Theory and practice: the Asia-Pacific region: a case study 322
12.1 Introduction 322
12.2 The maritime context 322
12.3 Strategic thinking 325
12.4 Mission issues arising 330
12.5 Asia-Pacific conclusions 345
