The Last Century of Sea Power, Volume 1: From Port Arthur to Chanak, 1894–1922“In this first of three volumes on sea power, the author reviews the story of political, economic, and military oceanic control from the 1890s through WWI.” —Choice The transition to modern war at sea began during the period of the Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) and the Spanish-American War (1898) and was propelled forward rapidly by the advent of the dreadnought and the nearly continuous state of war that culminated in World War I. By 1922, most of the elements that would define sea power in the 20th century were in place. Written by one of our foremost military historians, this volume acknowledges the complex nature of this transformation, focusing on imperialism, the growth of fleets, changes in shipbuilding and armament technology, and doctrines about the deployment and use of force at sea, among other factors. There is careful attention to the many battles fought at sea during this period and their impact on the future of sea power. The narrative is supplemented by a wide range of reference materials, including a detailed census of capital ships built during this period and a remarkable chronology of actions at sea during World War I. “The author, dean of naval historians, provides a sweeping look at, and analysis of, the transformation of naval power . . . [His] dry wit and sense of irony add spice to the impressive array of facts and analysis of the greatest period of naval warfare. Wilmott is fearless in his judgments.” —Seapower “This book, first of a series, contains a wealth of facts and opinions, the latter provided with Willmott’s unerring analytical eye and mordant wit.” —Bernard D. Cole, National War College |
Contents
| 3 | |
| 19 | |
| 28 | |
| 31 | |
Three The SpanishAmerican War of 1898 | 37 |
Appendix 31 The Actions in the Philippines and the American Order of Battle | 50 |
Appendix 32 The Campaign on Puerto Rico | 52 |
Four The Shifting Balance of Power | 53 |
Appendix 91 The Battle off Heligoland 28 August 1914 | 235 |
Appendix 92 The Battles off Coronel 1 November and the Falklands 8 December 1914 | 237 |
Appendix 93 The Battle off the Dogger Bank 24 January 1915 | 240 |
Appendix 94 The Battle of Jutland 31 May1 June 1916 | 242 |
Appendix 95 The Scale of Convoy Escorts Assigned to Various Ports 19171918 and the Expansion of the British Navy between 1914 and 1918 | 249 |
a The Scale of Convoy Escorts assigned to Various Ports 19171918 | 250 |
b The Wartime Expansion of the British Navy | 251 |
May 1917November1918 | 255 |
Appendix 41 The German 1898 Building Program | 62 |
Appendix 42 The Boxer Rebellion and South Africa | 64 |
Part 2 From Port Arthur to Bucharest 1898 to 1913 | 67 |
Introduction | 69 |
The First Phases | 74 |
Appendix 51 Submarines and the RussoJapanese War | 101 |
Appendix 52 The Japanese Attack at Port Arthur 8 February 1904 | 103 |
Appendix 53 The Second and Third Blocking Operations | 105 |
Appendix 54 The Order of Battle in the Action of 10 August1904 | 107 |
Appendix 55 The Fate of Russian Ships with the 1st Pacific Squadron at Port Arthur | 108 |
The Battle of Tsushima and Its Aftermath | 111 |
Appendix 61 The Fate of Russian Ships with the 2nd and 3rd Pacific Squadrons | 128 |
Appendix 62 Japanese Warships Sunk and Damaged at the Battle off Tsushima | 130 |
Appendix 63 The Campaign on Sakhalin | 132 |
Appendix 64 The Opening of the Portsmouth Conference | 134 |
Seven The Dreadnought Naval Race | 135 |
Summary by Year | 149 |
Appendix 72 British and German Capital Ship Programs and Construction 19051913 | 151 |
Appendix 73 The Battleships and Battlecruisers of the Major Powers 19051913 | 161 |
Eight Prelude to the First World War | 165 |
Part 3 From Sarajevo to Constantinople 1914 to 1922 | 187 |
Introduction | 189 |
Appendix Part 3 Intro1 British Trade in the First World War | 205 |
a The Volume of Imports Entering British ports in 19131917 and 1918 by Commodities | 206 |
b Cargoes and British Ports 19131919 | 208 |
Gains and Losses | 211 |
Nine The War in Northern Waters | 215 |
Appendix 97 Uboat and Shipping Losses in the First World War | 258 |
a Total German Uboat Aggregate Allied and Neutral and British Shipping Losses to Enemy Action and Sinkings by German Regional Formations in t... | 259 |
b German Figures Relating to the Sinkings of Allied and Neutral Merchantmen by Submarines and by Regional Commands | 263 |
High Seasand Coastal Convoy Sailings and Losses | 266 |
a Convoys to and from British Waters | 267 |
b Coastal and ShortHaul Convoys | 269 |
Ten Tsingtao and the Dardanelles | 270 |
Eleven Naval Support of Operationsin Africa | 287 |
Twelve Action in the Baltic | 295 |
Thirteen The Black Sea Otranto Strait and Other Matters | 302 |
Appendix 131 Other German Units outside European Waters | 319 |
Appendix 132 Russian Destroyer and TorpedoBoat Losses in the Baltic and Black Seas | 321 |
Fourteen The Legacy of the First World War | 323 |
Appendix 141 Warship and Auxiliary Losses 19141918 | 345 |
a Tabular Representation of Warship and Auxiliary Losses of the Allied and the Central Powers 19141918 | 346 |
b Battleships and Battlecruisers Lost in the Course of the First World War | 348 |
Appendix 142 The Arrival of British Imperial and Dominion Formations in Europe | 350 |
Part 4 Not So Much Finis as | 353 |
Conclusion | 355 |
Appendix Conclu1 The Battleships Battlecruisers Aircraft Carriers and Cruisers with the British Navy 1913 and 1935 | 360 |
Chronology of the First World War at Sea | 369 |
Notes | 443 |
Selected Bibliography | 497 |
| 509 | |
| 531 | |
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The Last Century of Sea Power, Volume 1: From Port Arthur to Chanak, 1894–1922 H. P. Willmott No preview available - 2009 |
Common terms and phrases
action Allied and neutral American April armed merchant cruiser armored cruiser ashore attack August Austria-Hungary Austro-Hungarian Baltic battle battlecruiser battleships Black Sea boats bombardment Britain British destroyer British submarine campaign command convoy damaged Dardanelles December defeat destroyer Destroyer Flotilla Dreadnought East english channel fact February Fleet forces formations French German destroyer German submarine UB Goeben Greek gunboat gunfire guns harbor Island Italian January Japan Japanese July June landings launched light cruiser loss unknown lost March Maru matters Mediterranean mined monthly shipping toll naval Navy neutral merchantmen sunk North Sea November October offensive operations Port Arthur pre-dreadnought present-day represented British losses Russian Russo-Japanese War sailed sank Scapa Flow scuttled sea power September sinking South Squadron Strait sunk by German surrendered theater tion tons of Allied tons represented British torpedo-boats torpedoed torpedoed and sunk troops Tsingtao Turkish U-boat units victory Vladivostok warships West World