HH104 AMERICAN NAVAL HISTORY

BETWEEN THE WORLD WARS

PEOPLE OF INTEREST

WILLIAM A. MOFFETT (RADM)

1^st head of Bureau of Aeronautics; wanted Bship/Bcruisers to have ability to launch planes

Executed practice attack on Pearl Harbor to expose its weakness to CVs

HARRY E. YARNELL

Admiral in charge of the Pacific fleet in 1937. He ordered his fleet to protect Americans in Shanghai which Japan was attacking. This went against Roosevelt, but when he reported his order to Roosevelt, it was allowed because American citizens approved of the action.

JOSEPH M. REEVES

Conducts surprise attack practice on Panama Canal to show CV potential

BILLY MITCHELL

Brig Gen Mitchell, air command in Europe for the US during WWI.

WOODROW WILSON

Stroke crippled him as his presidency closed

FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT

INTERNATIONAL ARMS RACE

British outgunned US because it had 42 to 16 capital ships, but US outmanned Britain 500k to 450k. US threatened that they could and would outbuild Britain. Japs build Nagato.

WASHINGTON CONFERENCE

U.S. OBJECTIVES

1) Achieve formal parity b/w US and Brit navy … 2) Keep Jap navy at level suitable to US … 3) end Anglo-Jap alliance

TREATY LIMITATIONS

Hughes recommended 5:5:3 (US:Brit:Jap) ratio for strength of navies. France/Italy ratio was 1.67.

Nonfortification Clause: US, Brit, Jap all scrapped ships and agreed to build no more capital ships or fortify Pacific islands until 1937.

PLAN ORANGE – US contingency plan for war with Japanese (Black for Germany, etc)

U.S. NAVAL AIR SERVICE

GENERAL INFO

1917; US Naval Air Service: 43 officers, 209 men … by the armistice, it had 50,000+ personnel with 1,865 seaplanes, 242 land-based planes, 15 airships, 200+ balloons

CARRIERS

Sims believed these would determine the winner of future naval battles and these would be the capital ships of the future. He believed those with more planes would destroy all enemy planes and then sink his ships unopposed.

“THE DEATH OF THE DREADNOUGHTS”

Mitchell dropped 67 2000 pound bombs on the USS Massachusetts though he was supposed to do it one at a time. Sixteen sunk the bship quickly. The newspapers reported it as the “Death of the Dreadnoughts.”

INTERNATIONAL DOINGS

Germany laid down “pocket battleships” (Graf Spree, Duetschland, Scheer) at 12.5k tons but said they were under their max weight of 10k (Jap too)

1927: Jap, Brit, US met but couldn’t agree (Jap wanted no more ships, US wanted some new cruisers, Brit wanted about 1.5x cruisers US wanted)

1928: Kellog-Briand Pact – renunciation of war (except in self-defense); orig. b/w US and Japan; later 62 countries sign, inc. Germany and Italy

1929: Economy crashes

1930: London Naval Conference – small decrease in capital ships, Brit agreed to US limit on cruisers, Jap allowed 3.5 ratio for smaller cruisers

1931: Manchurian Incident

1933: Hitler becomes Chancellor; Germany withdraws from Geneva Disarmament Conference and w/Jap left the League of Nations. US passes the National Industrial Recovery Act ($238M à Navy)

1934: Vinson-Trammell Act gave US Navy systematic program of ship replacement. Japan gives 2 years notice on its withdrawal from the treaty when at a renew conference it cannot get the US or Brit to give it parity.

1935: Nye Report – revealed corruption, conspiracy, profiteering in munitions industry often assisted by Navy Dept. Hitler reintroduces conscription, builds subs against Versailles Treaty

1936: Hitler remilitarizes the Rhineland. Oct: Italy and Germany become allies. *Nov: Japan and Germany become allies in Anti-Comintern Pact.*

1937: Japan voices it will build a big Navy but would not accept responsibility for its effect. In secret, Japan built midget subs and superbattleships with 18.1” guns (30% more powerful than 16” guns) which were against the limitations treaty (2 years warning not up yet). 7 July: “China incident” begins as Japan wars against China (undeclared) for the next 7 years. *Nov: Anti-Comintern Pact joined by Italy.*