From the book the admirals I picked up a lot of knowledge and interesting facts that I was unaware of before I had read it. The Admirals takes place before, during and after World War II which goes on to explain how four different men who were enlisted in the navy were promoted to become the only Five-Star Fleet Admirals in American history. These four men were perhaps one of the biggest, if not the biggest reason that the Allied forces had won the war. The four men that received the honor and rank of Five-Star Fleet Admiral were “William D. Leahy, Ernest J. King, Chester W. Nimitz, and William F. Halsey”. I learned many things from the different naval experiences that these men were confronted with, but what had intrigued me was the vast majority of naval technology used during the war and its particular job as well as who had control over the vast majority of it. The future Fleet Admirals were appointed certain jobs, and were each given different naval ships they had to command with knowledge, and each played a role in the Allied victory in the sea. Before the war each officer held on a variety of vessels, battleships, submarines, aircraft carriers, and how the development of each type of vessel influenced the course of naval warfare. While battleships had reigned as the most reliable and preferred vessel of the seas, their supremacy was soon challenged by the uprising of the carrier. Leahy was the oldest of the four who had clung to his view of the vessel he felt was reliable and he believed strongly in the battleship's power. Nimitz was an advocate of the submarine as a strategic and very effective weapon as it could be evasive to vessels on the sea’s surface. Halsey was a devotee of the destroyer but eventually came to under... ... middle of paper ... ...hought it was interesting learning the various ways people had fought out in the sea, including the ways the young officers would eventually end up becoming the only Five-Star Fleet Admirals. In the book The Admirals the officers (Nimetz, King, Halsey, Leahy) prove that men should not be ranked on their skills or technology alone, but on both areas in a synchronized manner to overcome obstacles and rise above all other elements that stand in the way. The ships that the men grew fond of had become an inspiration to keep moving forward and succeed when it came to the battlefield. This thought would later become the thought that America has adopted to move forward when it comes to technology and build upon what has been learned. Anything from the structure of sea vessels to the artillery it carried did not only aid in war, but it aided in a country that could progress.
The U.S. Navy nurtured into a challenging power in the years previous to World War II, with battleship construction being revived in 1937, commencing with the USS North Carolina . It was able to add to its fleets throughout the early years of the war when the US was still not involved, growing production of vessels both large and small. In a conflict that had a number of amphibious landings, naval superiority was important in both Europe and the Pacific. The mutual resource...
Abrashoff begins the book by informing the reader of how his story begins; when he is given command of the USS Benfold. The Benfold was the Navy’s most advanced guided missile destroyer the Navy had in 1997 and its command was to be one of the Navy’s top innovators. Unfortunately, Abrashoff points out some flaws with the Navy’s personnel management that I found to be shocking. First, was that “nearly 35 percent of the people who joined the military annually, wouldn’t complete their enlistment contracts.” (p.2) Such turnover can be understood by many business managers in the service industry, but unlike the quick and cheap training process for them, the cost for the military (taxpayers) is astounding. Abrashoff estimates that it cost roughly “$35,000 to recruit a trainee and tens of thousands more in additional training costs to get new personnel to the basic level of proficiency.” (p.2) Curbing this trend on his own ship and eventually helping to achieve a decrease overall in the mil...
In the thirty-eight years of the United States Naval Submarine Service no United States submarine had ever sunk an enemy vessel. With the ignition of the Second World War the poorly equipped and poorly trained Silent Service, nicknamed for the limited access of the media to the actions and achievements of the submarines, would be thrust into the position American submariners had longed for. The attack on Pearl Harbor left the United States Navy with few options for retribution. The three remaining aircraft carriers were to be “the last line of defense.” Commander Stuart S. Murray made the precarious situation clear to his skippers, captains, upon sending them on their first war patrol. He stressed the importance of smart sailing by warning them not “to go out there and win the Congressional Medal of Honor in one day. The submarines are all we have left.” We entered the war with 55 submarines, 27 at Pearl Harbor and 28 at Cavite in the Philippines. At first our submarine strategies lacked ingenuity and failed to use our subs to their full potential. United States subs were assigned to reconnaissance, transporting supplies, and lifeguard duty, picking up downed airmen and sailors. They were even, on occasion, sent to rescue high profile Americans on the run from the enemy or from islands under enemy siege. Although their ability was, unfortunately, wasted in our entrance to the Pacific Theater the Silent Service would soon gain the recognition its men yearned for.
Cameron, R. S. (2003). The army vision: The 4th AD in world war II. Military Review, 83(6), 59-68
Roosevelt had been influencing the United States Navy to be stronger ever since he wrote The Naval War of 1812, while he was at Harvard. Theodore Roosevelt’s book puts the war in a whole new perspective. Roosevelt with the help of Captain Alfred T. Mahan and Rear Admiral Stephen B. Luce identified that their common ground was that America had great power in her deep ocean waters and needed to use it. Those oceans needed a capable water fleet to operate them (The Naval Strategist). In 1890 Congress approved the building of the first modern steam-powered, steel-hulled ships. Out came the most excellent warships anywhere; they were named the Indiana, the Massachusetts, and the Oregon. Roosevelt was impressed with these ships, but he wanted more. Roosevelt wanted a two-ocean navy capable of attacking the Pacific and the Atlantic simultaneously (Grondahl 2015 246). Congress agreed and Roosevelt got what he wanted. Mahan and Roosevelt campaigned to strengthen the navy through their speeches and writings. The Navy was slow, bulky, short-haul monitors guarding the home shores and swift, light cruisers that shot out of protected ports to attack enemy ships. Theodore and Mahan’s writings and speeches changed that part of the Navy for the better (Grondahl 2015 246-247). Theodore changed the Navy several ways and not all by
Admiral William Frederick Halsey Jr. (Bull) (American Naval Officer who led vigorous campaigns during World War II, 1882-1959)
New advances in technology changed warfare in WW2. The change in technology since WW1 has produced such things as Atom Bomb, and new and improved sea and air warfare. New techniques had to be used because of technology, techniques such as 'mouseholing'. More people were killed because of technology, as more people died in WW2 than WW1.The technological advances in WW2 changed the battlefield completely as more deadly auxiliary was introduced.
World War II was a critical period for America, not to mention the world as well. Throughout all the fighting and bloodshed, Americans returned home successful. Over 700,000 soldiers were disabled after the war, thankful for their lives. All the success and happiness of this country wouldn’t have been possible if not for the bravery, courage, and strategies of our U.S. Generals. They provided the smarts, the morale, and motivation for our soldiers, navy, and airforce to come out victorious and recognized as the best in world history. The five major generals (George Marshall, Dwight Eisenhower, George Patton, Omar Bradley, and Douglas MacArthur) shall never be forgotten as the best generals America has ever had.
Dull, Paul S. (1978). A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy (1941–1945). US Naval Institute Press.
Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan's book of 1890, The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783, argued that control of the sea was the key to world dominance; it stimulated the naval race among the great powers.
World War II was one of the deadliest military conflicts in history. There were many different battles that took place within this war; some more important than others. World War II began once Germany’s new dictator, Adolf Hitler, decided that he wanted to gain power for Germany and for himself. One of Hitler’s first moves in power was invading Poland on September 1, 1939. Many other countries became involved in this war because of the alliance system. The two sides during this war were the Allies and Axis powers. German, Italy and Japan were on the Axis powers; France, Britain, and the United States were on the Allies. Germany first began with the Blitzkrieg tactic meaning “lightning war”. This tactic is based on speed, surprise and was the most popular tactic. It is set up with military forces based around tanks which are supported by planes and infantry. The Blitzkrieg tactic lead to air wars with airplanes between countries. All of the countries were allowed to participate in the air wars but the four main countries were United States, Japan, Britain, and Germany. During the 1920’s and 1930’s airplanes grew in size and structure giving them more power, and making planes more effective. Planes made it easier to drop bombs, or plan attacks. All of these countries fought over air superiority. Air superiority is the position in which the air force has control over all of the air warfare and air power of the opposing forces. Germany began with air superiority but they lost it when Britain defeated them at the Battle of Britain. Gaining control over the air is a very big advantage because it is easier to plan an attack on an opposing country. All of the countries relied on their aircrafts during this war. The issue about the use of...
... able to move a large amount of equipment from The States to the Persian Gulf. While achieving the Navy’s goals of forward power projection, commanding from a distance, maritime supremacy, controlling international shipping lanes, and strategic sealift, moving war materials and personal where it’s needed over the ocean when it’s needed.
All four services were represented and all four wore three stars (Lieutenant Generals and a Vice Admiral, respectively) so that one service didn't have to fight through ranks to be heard and/or taken seriously. Because of the Goldwater-Nichols Act, unified and specified commanders possessed the full range of authority needed to meet their responsibilities and consequently gained collective strength utilizing "unity of command."
Unlike Salvucci, who focused efforts on the actors to transform associations, Rear Admiral William Moffett focused on transforming the system to accept his artifact. In 1921, Moffett was chosen as the first chief of the navy’s Bureau of Aeronautics. Moffett believed that carriers should no longer be adjuncts to battleships, but should replace them. This would require a fundamental shift in navy thinking and doctrine. The basic entities in this network are: Moffett (heterogeneous engineer), the carrier (artifact), non-aviators, naval aviators, the promotion system, and naval doctrine. Rather than changing his artifact to meet the interests of the other actors, he used the promotion system to alter the associations of the artifact to the aviators, non-aviators, and the doctrine. We will examine those three relationships for this
You are running through the forest, bullets flying in all directions; it’s total chaos. You need to push through the enemies to escape. Good thing you’re a mathematician, that’s been taught how to fix things. And if you make it out alive, there’s that sweet, sweet $70,000 waiting for you. Well, that’s the life of a combat engineer, if you can call it that. Because many people are misinformed about military engineering, they should learn about the outlook of military engineering, the Army Corps of Engineers, and combat engineers.