The Royal Navy's wooden walls
Wooden walls refers to wooden sailing warships, especially ships of the line.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
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Explore every watch point in reverse video-date order, then in timestamp order within each video.
Why flooding could break Ark Royal's hull
Uneven water pressure in the sinking hull is offered as the explanation for Ark Royal breaking her back.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
The strategic range inside a Mahan collection
The book's contents place Mahan's battle writing inside a much wider programme of strategy, logistics, administration, commerce, communications, and national policy.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Names associated with the Armada campaign
The named British figures are followed by an explanation of how losses among Spanish officers affected command.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Naval theorists after Mahan and Corbett
Cable, Richmond, Patalano, Lambert, Armstrong, and Gorshkov extend the reading beyond Mahan and Corbett.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Spain and Soviet readiness in 1939
Spain and the Soviet Union enter a brief comparison of military readiness in 1939.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Why Mahan and Corbett addressed different audiences
Mahan's emphasis on battle reflects his effort to persuade an American audience of the need for sea power.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Waterborne trade and the vulnerability of coastal shipping
Cheap water transport supported Dutch commerce while dependence on coastal routes exposed English goods to wartime capture.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Why merchant shipping creates demand for a navy
Mahan links commercial shipping to secure ports, armed protection, and domestic support for naval spending.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Trading colonies and strategic naval stations
Commercial settlements and military stations served different needs along the same sea routes.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
How institutions made Mahan and Corbett seem opposed
Selective reading tied Mahan to battleships and Corbett to cruising, obscuring overlap between their arguments.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Making the cost case for Malta-class carriers
Designs and cost estimates would form the proposed case for Malta-class carriers.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
How rare were decisive naval battles?
Only about a dozen to fourteen battles are tentatively placed within the familiar decisive-battle model.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Why Mahan preserved contradictions between his essays
The 1897 collection preserves the circumstances of separate articles and the changes in Mahan's arguments over time.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Mahan on preparation before a crisis
Mahan's 1890s writing on American sea power connects strategic choices to the long lead times of shipbuilding and national policy.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Mahan's argument for fighting over principle
Mahan favours preventive diplomacy while arguing that sincerely held principles can justify fighting, including in his contentious Civil War example.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Could the Bristol Type 133 become a British Corsair?
A Bristol Type 133 carrier fighter is a tentative possibility, dependent on its specifications and coordination with Supermarine.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Questioning a golden age of the press
Contemporary criticism complicates nostalgic claims about a golden age of British and American journalism.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Alene Duerk, Grace Hopper, and women at flag rank
Alene Duerk's nursing leadership and Grace Hopper's computing work provide early examples of women reaching U.S. Navy flag rank.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
The Royal Navy's earliest Admirals of the Fleet
George Legge, Edward Russell, and George Rooke appear among the Royal Navy's earliest Admirals of the Fleet.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Mahan's six elements of sea power
Mahan starts with geography, population, national character, and government when identifying the conditions behind sea power.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Why Mahan treated Trafalgar as decisive
Trafalgar's decisiveness depends on the campaign that brought the fleets together and the strategic choices its outcome closed.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Reading Mahan as a theorist and naval educator
Later criticism of Mahan's sources must be judged against contemporary practice and his purpose: using history for practical naval education.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
British victory and Mahan's appeal to Congress
Mahan's account of British strategic success also served his case for building an American navy.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Nelson's pursuit and Napoleon's invasion plan
Nelson's pursuit, the blockade of Brest, and British concentration frustrated the invasion scheme before Trafalgar confirmed the result.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Blockade and amphibious operations in the Civil War
Blockade, amphibious assault, and resistance to blockade frame this brief account of the Civil War at sea.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Why the Malaya Division favoured small fast craft
Local waters, infrastructure, and expected inshore work probably explain the Malaya Division's reliance on small fast craft.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Reading and translating Castex's naval theory
Castex reconsidered French naval theory through Mahan and the First World War; translation quality affects access to his ideas.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
What lightning does to a ship's radar
Radar installations are earthed against lightning, but a strike can still blow fuses and disrupt connected electrical systems.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
What distinguishes a naval tanker
A naval tanker is organised and equipped to refuel warships at sea, unlike an ordinary commercial oil carrier.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Would American war experience produce a raiding fleet?
A proposed American raiding fleet receives a doubtful answer, with uncertainty over whether any fleet would have been built.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Castex's least bad compromise between policy and strategy
Military planning can persist while national policy loses continuity, leaving governments and armed forces to negotiate imperfect compromises.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Castex on national defence councils
National defence machinery needs authority over strategic aims and operations alongside economic mobilisation and supply.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
The Armada's limited influence on naval warfare
The Armada's defeat probably accelerated interest in firepower and sailing-warship development, while exposing the advantages of naval carriages.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Why naval and land guns used different carriages
Naval carriages fitted confined decks, while land carriages needed larger wheels and arrangements for movement ashore.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Why fortress guns used naval or land carriages
A fortress gun's mounting could depend on whether naval or army personnel built and operated the position.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Could the Royal Navy crew six converted carriers?
The Royal Navy could probably crew three Admiral- and three Courageous-class carriers by retaining a small fraction of the manpower released after 1918.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Why better British fighters would not end Lend-Lease
A strong British carrier fighter at the start of the war could still be followed by an American successor around 1942.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Disputes over evidence for historical artefacts
Evidence for historical artefacts can remain open to competing interpretations.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
History as a source of strategic questions
Goldrick's account of Corbett and Richmond connects rigorous historical research with strategic judgement and the questions policy makers need to ask.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
An unread presentation copy and Mahan's influence
An uncut presentation copy raises questions about how ownership and prestige establish the influence of strategic writing.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Defining a naval officer's first transatlantic flight
Piloting an aircraft and travelling as a passenger give different meanings to a first transatlantic flight.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Royal Navy witnesses to the Second Sino-Japanese War
Personal photographs record China Station gunboats, evacuations and wartime damage, together with neutrality markings and protective fittings.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Yangtze water levels and gunboat access
Summer and winter photographs at Chungking illustrate how river levels changed access to the bank.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Why Royal Navy strategy still needs national direction
The Royal Navy's programme has a strategic rationale in this 2023 assessment, while clearer national direction remains necessary.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Why names vary in China Station sources
China Station sources use competing English spellings, while ship-name styles reflect period conventions and authorial preference.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
How mountainous Low Countries alter maritime strategy
A mountain barrier through the Low Countries could strengthen France's land frontier while reducing usable invasion ports and increasing the relative importance of French sea power.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·
Naval witnesses to the war in China
A naval officer's foreword recalls witnessing violence in China while British instructions required restraint and avoidance of confrontation.
From Bruships 109: Mahan, an inspiration & a Reflection + Bonus ·