The Eagle s Webbed Feet

Transcription

1 The Eagle s Webbed Feet The Eagle s Webbed Feet A Maritime History of the United States A Maritime History of the United States A Maritime History of the Uniteds

2 Fleet Actions (3) Why was the USN successful? Building capacity (see chart) 1M rounds of ammunition for every Axis man in uniform. Better training Carriers Japan** United States (+6/-6) (+3/-1) (+8/-13) (no fuel, pilots, or planes) Japanese simply could not replace loses in material or manpower fast enough 151 (29 Fleet) This is the likely outcome of taking on someone with an economy 8 ½ times bigger than your own! ** Important to keep in mind Japan s strategic advantage of only having to fight in one theater.

3 Avenger Midway at the critical moment Fast Carrier Battle Group Kamikaze about to hit USS Missouri Dauntless Gambier Bay under attack at Leyte Gulf

4 Amphibious Warfare in the Pacific

5 Rabaul Guadalcanal and then the Solomons Problem: What to do about Rabaul? Rabaul Combined land/sea based aircraft attack (November 1943) IJN losses: 6 heavily damaged cruisers and 52 aircraft Continued land-based attacks for the rest of the war 100,000 troops stuck there Island hopping begins Rabaul

6 Amphibious Campaigns (2) Island hopping Gilbert & Marshall Islands (Nov 43 to Feb 44) Tarawa (Nov 44) Kwajalein (Feb 44) Operation Hailstone (Truk) (Feb 16/17, 44) IJN loses: 3 CA, 4DD, 8 other warships & 32 merchants (+ 270 aircraft) Truk is finished Eniwetok (488 ships) (17 24 Feb 44) Mariana & Palau Islands (June 44 to Nov 44) Guam, Tinian, Saipan, & Peleliu Submarine bases & B-29 airfields Ulithi (722 ships) (Sept 44) Iwo Jima (Feb Mar 45)

7 Island Hopping Okinawa Apr June 45 D 4 Palaus, Peleliu, Oct-Nov: 44 Iwo Jima, Feb-Mar, 1945 Marianas, Saipan, Guam June July 1944 A C 3 Marshall Islands Kawajalein Eniwetok Feb Solomons 2. Gilberts 3. Marshalls 4. Marianas 5. Palaus 6. Iwo Jima 7. Okinawa Α Truk Β Rabaul C Eniwetok D Ulithi B 2 Operation Galvanic Tarawa Nov,

8 Ulithi Atoll Truk under attack USS Mississinewa after successful Kaiten attack

9 Tarawa Buna Beach, New Guinea Amphibious warfare in the Pacific

10 At the same time MacArthur s forces were moving up New Guinea US Army & Australian forces 51 separate battles including air, sea, & land battles Morotai Island (Sept 44) Take or bypass the Philippines?? Amphibious Campaigns (2)

11 Invasion of the Philippines (October 44)

12 Operation Iceberg Okinawa April/June 1945 Largest amphibious operation in history 1300 warships (45 different types) 287,000 soldiers & marines Highest number of casualties in any Pacific battle Japanese military 77,000 US military 14,000 Civilian 150,000 (1/3 of the population)

13 "Nimitz's problem differed from MacArthur's. The latter was land-based, but Nimitz had to move his base along with him, which meant that his fleet had to be both his base of operations and his striking force. It was therefore a four-fold organization - a floating base, a fleet, an air force, and an army, combined in one. That it was designed, built and assembled within 18 months of the Battle of Midway Island is without question the greatest organizational feat of naval history. J.F.C. Fuller

14 USS New Mexico get hit by a Kamikaze

15 The War Ends Surrender on board USS Missouri US Navy includes: 2450 commissioned ships total 1194 major combat vessels 1256 Amphibious transports 41,000 aircraft 3.4M personnel Under your leadership as Commander in Chief, the United States Navy has grown with unprecedented speed into the most powerful in all the world. Note from the British Chiefs of Staff to Adm. King

16 A Super Power s Navy There's no reason for having a Navy and Marine Corps. Underway on nuclear power

17 The End of the Navy (again) By 1948 there were 267 (1/5) major combat vessels & ½ million sailors (1/7) Budgetary attrition (again) 1947 National Security Act created the DoD with a SecDef James Forrestal - Tried to implement but ran in to serious inter-service rivalry issues Air Force wanted control of Naval Aviation and all nuclear weapons Army wanted the Marines Forrestal Navy didn t want to change at all Reduced budget = increasingly nasty fight for resources March 1949 Louis Johnson becomes SecDef Two jobs: Reduce funding & unify the services One month later he cancels the USS United States Triggers the Revolt of the Admirals Navy becomes paranoid Marine Air

18 USS United States (8x14) Louis Johnson John Sullivan

19 B - 36 The Revolt of the Admirals Gallery Burke Denfield

20 HASC findings:.there has been a navy reluctance in the interservice marriage, an over-ardent army, a somewhat exuberant air force... It may well be stated that the committee finds no unification Puritans in the Pentagon."

21 There's no reason for having a Navy and Marine Corps. amphibious operations are a thing of the past. We'll never have any more amphibious operations. That does away with the Marine Corps. And the Air Force can do anything the Navy can do. so that does away with the Navy. Secretary of Defense Louis A. Johnson, December 1949 (It may not be paranoia if they re really out to get you)

22 Reality Check No real danger to the Marine Corps Congressional support too strong Danger to the Navy was real enough What enemy actually exists? Nuclear weapons What s not needed? Naval Aircraft Submarines What s left? Escort service?

23 Korean War All this Washington fun is interrupted by Kim II-sung June 1950 North Korean invades the South UN mandated Police Action (22 nations sent troops) Pusan perimeter Navy s role 7 th Fleet sent to protect Taiwan Establish sea supremacy (USS Juneau July 1950) Ground-Air support from carriers Supply the perimeter Gunfire support Inchon September 1950 Completely changed the nature of the war USS Juneau

24 INCHON

25 Korean War (2) Chinese Intervention October 1950 Chosin Reservoir (Nov/Dec) (13,000 casualties vs. 50,000) Hungnam evacuation 100,000 troops + 90,000 civilians 17,500 vehicles 350,000 tons of stuff Settled into a war of attrition Both side could provide unlimited supplies Finally they quit because there was nothing to be gained However, the Korean War saved the Navy No nukes Hungnam

26 Korean War

27 Post- Korean War NSC -68 (approved in 1951) Containment a rapid and sustained buildup.of naval strength 6 larger super carriers Built 20 in all since still in service Navy keeps getting called on Lebanon 1958 Quemoy & Matsu 1958 Cuba

28 Submarines USS Nautilus 1955 Nautilus commissioned Rickover s influence A true RMA 1958 Soviet Union launches its first nuclear submarine The race is on! Two completely different types (by function) Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarines (SSBNs) Attack Submarines (SSNs) November

29 SSBNs Hotel launched in 1959 Raborn & the Polaris program George Washington launched in 1960 Two missile launch in the summer First patrol in November for freedom over the next 8 years SALT, Poseidon, & MIRVs 1972 Trident Ohio Class George Washington K-19

30 SSNs After much experimentation, US settled on a basic design Thresher & Sturgeon class boats Submarine killers Intelligence gathering Substantial advantage over Soviet models Los Angeles (need for speed) Walker & Pelton spying Soviet crash program to catch up in the 80s.

31 Acoustic Advantage Nw = Ls (Le Ndi) US Soviet US Soviet

32 Viet Nam Naval Forces operated in five distinct types of operations Marines along the DMZ Seal Team 1 (up to 8 platoons) Yankee/Dixie Station (Tactical & strategic carrier flight operations) Market Time (Coastal interdiction) Riverine warfare (the brown water navy ) First naval advisors arrived in 1950 August 1964 Tonkin Gulf incident (Maddox & Turner Joy) The subsequent bombing raid resulted in the first pilot killed and the first POW. The Tonkin Gulf Resolution

33 Viet Nam (2) At it s peak, there were 85,000 Marines and 38,000 sailors there Marines were killed 2570 sailors were killed 551 aircraft were lost (with 450 aviators killed or made POWs) The war was having a very bad effect on overall Navy readiness Money was going to the war that was badly needed to build and sustain ships. The growth envisioned in NSC-68 and seen in the late 50 s and the 60 s was stopped and reversed. At the same time, the Soviet Union was rapidly building up an ocean going fleet of significant capability under Adm Gorshkov. January 1973 Ceasefire and withdrawal

34 Viet Nam

35 The flag of the Soviet Navy flies over the oceans of the world. Sooner or later, the United States will have to understand it no longer has mastery of the seas.

36 The Grim 70 s Adm. Zumwalt becomes CNO (70-74) Z-grams Race riots, violence, threats and disobedience. High-end, low-end ships By 1975, there are 460 commissioned vessels TOTAL. Lowest number since before Pearl Harbor. Many are outdated Retention has become a real problem AND, the Soviets just keep on building. In 1974, Jimmy Carter is elected Annapolis grad; should be a big Navy supporter However, he did not see the Soviet Union as a threat. Believed that if we limit defense spending, so would the Russians. (Jefferson again?) So, slash away some more

37 A flotilla of Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates (The low-end of the high-low mix)

38 Rebuilding (again) In 1979, Carter reverses course and issues the Carter Doctrine The US would repel a Russian assault on the Persian Gulf by any means available including military force. Now we just needed to be able to back it up (???) Carter begins a buildup (Step one: Major increase in salary) Reagan elected 1980 Greatly accelerates the military buildup. Proposes a $500B nine year program to create a 600 ship navy. 12 Carrier Battle Groups (with updated aircraft) 4 Surface Action Groups (built around re-commissioned battleships) 10 Replenishment groups 100 Attack Submarines Enough amphibious capacity to lift 1 ½ Marine Divisions

39 CBG ESG SAG/RG

40 Victory in the Cold War Soviets view the Reagan buildup as an existential threat By 1985, 70% of Soviet industrial output was military (US 7%) To survive, they felt they must protect their strategic weapons from two (as they see it) existential threats: SDI (Star Wars) Submarines Efforts to plug these two perceived gaps were hideously expensive. With this effort, on top of agriculture failures, oil price reductions, and the already huge other military expenditures, the system collapsed. NSC-68 had worked

41 Soviet Budget Busters

42 End of Cold War Summary US Navy reflects its status as the only super power s navy. No other navy or reasonable combination of navies could hope to do battle with it. Historically this is the signal for yet another terminal decline. Did not happen Almost constant warfare since the end of the cold war However, if we see the end of these wars, there will be an almost guaranteed push to cut and slash as there has always been at the end of our wars. Right now the push is between war fighting and readiness. There has not been enough money to do both. Readiness has suffered.

43 Course Summary The United States is and will continue to be a maritime nation 70% of the globe is water 80% of the world s people live near the ocean 90% of the world s trade moves by water The United States and its Navy have moved in parallel trajectories Their power and influence have expanded in sync with each other While there has been general agreement on the need for a navy since 1815, roles, missions and resources have always been problematic. This uncertainty will continue for the foreseeable future. In the modern world, the need for a navy will come much faster and the ability to build (up) one will be slower and more expensive. Policy makers need to understand this. Will we have learned our lesson?

44 I learned much from my teachers, more from my colleagues, but most from my students. The Talmud

45 Questions or Comments?