THE MERCHANTMAN TUCKAHOE Launched practically completed as seen in the illustration in twenty-seven days from the laying of her keel in the yards of the New York Shipbuilding Corporation IN AMERICAN HISTORY THE INFLUENCE OF THE NAVY WALTER B. NORRIS Associate Professors, United States Naval Academy WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY REAR-ADMIRAL WILLIAM S. BENSON, U.S.N. (RETIRED) Chief of Naval Operations during the World War ILLUSTRATED NEW YORK THE CENTURY CO. QQ T ་ !༠ ་ PREFACE The term "sea power," though not invented by Admiral Mahan in his "The Influence of Sea Power upon History," owes its wide use to him, and no writer since his day has been able to do much more than follow in his footsteps. But though Admiral Mahan constantly discussed the influence of sea power upon American history, and even dealt exhaustively with some periods, he never incorporated those ideas in a single volume. If the present book, therefore, in its endeavor to express succinctly many of these same views seems to echo Mahan's pages, it is only because later writers can do little more than repeat the words of America's -and the world's foremost historian of the sea. The greater need, however, in a history of sea power for the average reader, is to connect the sea and the naval and commercial contests which have been waged upon its waters, with the political and military movements with which they were contemporary. The authors have therefore consistently tried to keep before the reader some idea of what was going on upon the land while military and commercial navies were active upon the ocean highways. In their treatment of purely naval matters the authors have aimed to strike a happy mean between those naval histories, which relate simply the traditions and stirring incidents of our maritime wars, and those rather professional discussions of strategy and tactics which can be understood and appreciated only by naval officers, both neglect to place in true perspective the far-reaching and decisive influence of sea power upon the history of the American Continent. The authors have not forgotten heroic deeds but they have tried to assign a larger place to those silent and unspectacular forces in American life and character which have sprung from the nation's mercantile and military fleets. If the reader thus finds that more space has been devoted to the participation of the French Navy in the Revolutionary struggle than to the sea fights of Paul Jones, or if he notes that more details are given of the progress of the blockade of the South in the Civil War than to Cushing's daring expedition against the Albemarle, it is because in the results achieved the former forces stand higher. The authors, however, have not neglected the human side, for men are, after all, the final factors in history. Such personalities as Paul Jones, Stephen Decatur, David Porter, John Ericsson, David G. Farragut, and Alfred T. Mahan have had more weight in determining the course of sea power than the ships or guns which they commanded or constructed. The authors have, accordingly, in separate biographical sketches, endeavored to trace the personal influence on sea power and national ideals of some of the great masters of seafaring and sea warfare. The merchant marine, though usually recognized as a vital element in sea power, has rarely been given much attention in histories of that subject. It is coming to be understood, however, that it has been an important influence in our national life and a force to be reckoned with in history. With the revival in the last few years of an American high-seas merchant fleet, it is peculiarly appropriate that the large part which this peaceful branch of sea power has played in our history should be given recognition. If from the pages of this volume the importance of sea power in both its military and commercial aspects is made clearer to the American citizen of to-day, such a result will furnish the authors satisfaction and reward. |