Testing American Sea Power: U.S. Navy Strategic Exercises, 1923-1940

204 Pages·2006·8.243 MB·English

by  Craig C. Felker

TESTING AMERICAN SEA POWER
TEXA1S A&0M U7NIVERS ITY
✩ ✩
MILITARY HISTORY SE R I E S
Joseph G. Dawson III, General Editor
editorial board
Robert Doughty
Brian Linn
Craig Symonds
Robert Wooster
U.S. Navy Strategic Exercises,
1923 1940
–
CRAIG C. FELKER
Texas A&M University Press
College Station
T e s t i n g
A m e r i ca n
S e a P o w e r
Copyright © 2007
by Craig C. Felker
Manufactured in the
United States of America
All rights reserved
First edition
The paper used in this book
meets the minimum requirements
of the American National Standard for Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, Z39.48-1984.
Binding materials have been chosen for durability.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Felker, Craig C., 1959–
Testing American sea power : U.S. Navy strategic exercises, 1923–1940 /
Craig C. Felker. — 1st ed.
p. cm.— (Texas A&M University military history series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN–13: 978–1–58544–560–8 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. United States. Navy—Maneuvers—History—20th century.
I. Title. II. Series.
V245.F45 2007
359.4'80973—dc22 2006011427
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations vi
Acknowledgments vii
CHAPTER
1. Introduction 1
2. The Origins and Persistence of Mahanian Doctrine 9
3. The Airpower Pragmatists: The Fleet Problems
and Naval Aviation 33
4. Employing the “Engines of Fulfi llment”: The Fleet Problems
and Submarine Warfare 61
5. Getting a Grip on the “Jellyfi sh”: The Fleet Problems
and Antisubmarine Warfare 76
6. A Strategic Afterthought: The Fleet Problems and
Amphibious Warfare 88
7. Reexamining Mahan: The Fleet Problems and Sea Control 110
8. Conclusion 134
Appendix. Chiefs of Naval Operations and Commanders-in-
Chief, U.S. Fleet, 1919–42 145
Notes 147
Bibliography 175
Index 185
ILLUSTRATIONS
Adm. Edward Eberle 34
USS Langley 44
Rear Adm. Louis Nulton 55
Aircraft carriers with the fl eet, 1930s 57
USS Lexington 58
USS S-1 65
Adm. Samuel S. Robison 97
Early amphibious exercise, 1930s 108
Adm. Robert Coontz 118
Adm. William Veazie Pratt 122
Adm. Joseph Mason Reeves 127
Adm. Adolphus Andrews 139
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The maxim, “Success has a thousand fathers, but failure is an orphan,” seems
to me an appropriate way to describe how this book came to be. As a naval
offi cer, you learn early on that your success is determined by those whom
you work for and with, but your shortcomings are yours alone. Despite the
academic’s tendency to spend hours surrounded by lifeless archival material,
the same relationship applies.
I could not have reached this point without the support and mentorship
of colleagues, friends, and family. Prof. Robert Artigiani and Dean Mary
DeCredico set me on the path to graduate study at Duke. My time in Durham
was made all the richer by the graduate students and professors in the mili-
tary history community at Duke and University of North Carolina–Chapel
Hill. Prof. Dick Kohn’s guidance and mentorship not only shaped me into a
historian but enhanced my understanding of the obligations of service to the
nation. Prof. Alex Roland guided me through the big questions in military
history and taught me the beauty of the short, declarative sentence. In the
end he became both advisor and friend, and I am a better student because
of him.
The faculty in the History Department of the U.S. Naval Academy truly
embodies the defi nition of collegiality. Their support has proven instru-
mental to my success in the classroom. My thanks also go out to the staff of
Nimitz Library, particularly its director, Dr. Richard Werking, and Research
Librarian Barbara Manvel, who always made themselves available during
my research trips to Annapolis.
My thanks also go out to those outside the academic community who
shaped my career and life. Squadron mates kept me safe in the air, while
their camaraderie made the navy more an adventure than a career. Friends,
many of whom I spend hours with on trout streams, enriched those times
away from the navy. Finally are my parents who inspired without pressure,
brothers and sisters who shouldered family burdens when I could not, chil-
dren who have been both a challenge and a blessing, and my bride, Mary,
who as a mother and navy wife has made my life complete. I would not be
sitting here typing if it were not for you.
There were many hands involved in the creation of this book. But as
the maxim also goes, I am accountable for the content of this work. My
intention was to explain the interwar U.S. Navy from the perspective of
its annual exercises. I focused principally on documents created by those
offi cers who planned and participated in those exercises. What errors are
found refl ect my own shortcomings as a “young” historian, who will only
grow with criticism.
VIII acknowledgments
TESTING AMERICAN SEA POWER