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2. Lesson 10: Retrenchment 1865-1890

3. Learning Objectives • Know congressional attitudes toward the Navy in this postwar period. • Comprehend the difficulty in maintaining technological leadership and the debate over whether to remain technologically current. • Comprehend the reasons for the rebuilding of the US Navy and the historical conditions accounting for the emergence and success of Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan’s lectures and books.

4. Learning Objectives • Know the major changes affecting warship hull, armament, and propulsion design during the period 1865-1890. • Know the principal naval weapons systems conceived by nations desiring cheap methods to level the playing field with the capital ship. • Know the responses of the major naval powers to counter the threats of low cost weapons.

5. Remember our Themes! • The Navy as an Instrument of Foreign Policy • Interaction between Congress and the Navy • Interservice Relations • Technology • Leadership • Strategy and Tactics • Evolution of Naval Doctrine

6. International Affairs late 1800s • “Pax Britannica” • Era of peace continues - British Empire dominates the seas. • Japan - Meiji Restoration • Continued increase in foreign trade. • Rapid modernization begins. • German and Italian unifications – 1860s & 70’s. • Austro-Hungarian Empire’s “Dual Monarchy” - 1867. • Continued collapse of Ottoman Empire through 1800’s. • Balkan Peninsula: Independence of European states. • New era of European imperialism: • European powers vigorously compete to establish colonies on remaining world territories.

8. von Roon, von Moltke, von Bismarck

9. Battle of Lissa - 1866 • First battle between ironclad fleets. • Adriatic Sea off Dalmatian coast (present-day Croatia). • Italians attempt amphibious assault of the island of Lissa without command of the sea. • Austrian Fleet takes “V” formation. • Breaks the Italian line. • Ferdinand Maximilian sinks Re d’Italiawith the ram. • Rams in warship design: • Remain prominent until late into the nineteenth century.

12. Iron-clad Screw-Frigate Re D’Italia

14. Evolution of Warship Construction • Construction materials: • Steel hulls replace iron hulls. • Steel has higher strength and less weight than iron. • Compartment divisions. • Protective decks. • Armor protection. • Iron to steel-plated iron to steel. • Location of armor: • Vulnerable areas get more armor. • Unable to armor the entire ship due to weight of armor. • Rams

15. Evolution of Armaments • Muzzle loaders to breech loaders. • Safety and rate of fire increases. • Rifled guns. • Increased accuracy and ranges. • Mounting of guns. • Hydraulic recoil mechanisms. • Cartridge shells. • Round and charge are combined. • Rate of fire increases. • Greater penetrating power and range. • Self-propelled torpedo: • Invented by Englishman Robert Whitehead in 1866.

16. Ship Propulsion Innovations • More efficient steam engines developed. • Vertical Triple Expansion (VTE) • Increases in speed. • Longer ranges. • Coaling stations required at regular intervals while transiting overseas. • Further incentive to acquire overseas colonies. • Many ships still use sail as alternate means of propulsion. • Hybrids with stacks and sails.

17. Low Cost Weapons vs “Capital” Ships • Capital ships: • Large ships with heavy guns - core of a battle fleet. • Battleships (Heavily armored). • Cruisers (Faster but less heavily armored than battleships). • New low cost weapons: • Self-propelled torpedoes launched from “torpedo boats”. • Mines - Stationary torpedoes to protect coastlines and ports.

18. Countermeasures • Continued advances in compartmentation. • New ship types: • “Torpedo boat destroyer” shortened to just “destroyer” used to screen capital ships from torpedo attacks. • Minesweepers used to clear minefields.

19. Post-Civil War U.S. Navy • 1865-1870 -- Decline of the Navy. • Large reductions in naval appropriations: 700 to 52 ships. • Isolationism due to the need for: • Reconstruction of the South • Continued westward expansion • Primary mission: • Protection of maritime trade overseas • Costal Defense

20. Congress and the Rebirth of the U.S. Navy • Naval funding begins to increase in 1870s. • Three distinct construction programs authorized • 1873 • 1883 • ABCD ships • Steam (Sail used as secondary means of propulsion). • Steel hulls and heavy armor. • Rifled breech-loading guns. • 1889 • First three battleships authorized

25. Congress Acts Why? • 1873 & 1883 • Modernize ships • Stimulate steel & shipbuilding industry • Ships to be employed in the usual way • Cruisers abroad protecting commerce • 1889 • Focused more towards “continentalist” views • Defense of Coasts form another major power • Evolving major power tactics

28. Professional Rebirth of the U.S. Navy • Naval Institute established by naval officers - 1873. • Proceedings - professional journal for naval personnel. • Office of Naval Intelligence established - 1882. • Naval War College established - 1884. • Engineering Duty Officers enter the Line - 1899. • Increased importance of technical knowledge is apparent.

29. Naval War College • Commerce raiding and coastal defense • Accepted strategies of the U.S. Navy after Civil War. • Strategies seem obsolete to an influential group of American naval leaders. • Commodore Stephen B. Luce • Establishes Naval War College in 1885 at Newport, Rhode Island to: • “Apply modern scientific methods to the study and raise naval warfare from the empirical stage to the dignity of a science.” • Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan is one of the first instructors to serve under Luce.

30. The Influence of Sea Power Upon History 1660-1783 • Published in 1890 - Mahan’s first book. • Based on a series of Naval War College lectures. • Strong arguments for the U.S.: • Maintaining naval strength during peacetime. • Building a fleet of capital ships. • Acquiring colonies abroad for secure coaling stations. • Ideas strongly appeals to: - Industrialists - Merchants - Nationalists - Imperialists