Sharpening the trident : the decisions of 1889 and the creation of modern seapower
It was a year of decisions that heralded the pre-dreadnought era, perhaps the least understood chapter of modern naval history. In March 1889, the Salisbury ministry officially endorsed what later became the Naval Defence Act, which in its final form authorised the largest shipbuilding programme of its kind in the nineteenth century. When it was finally completed five years later, the Royal Navy would have a new fleet based around 10 battleships, 42 cruisers and 18 torpedo gunboats, all of the latest design and at a cost of ÂŁ21,500,000. Then, in December 1889, the Harrison administration sought legislative approval to adopt a forward offensive naval strategy, complete with a fleet of battleships and armoured cruisers in an unprecedented shift in American naval policy. This strategic rationale provided the intellectual framework to transform the United States into a modern seapower. The purpose of this comparative study is to revisit the decisions of 1889, with the benefit of underutilised archival sources and an innovative research methodology recently embraced by the naval historical community. Whereas prior accounts of these decisions generally assess their historical significance in terms of the naval
Mullins, Robert Edward
Modern naval ; Shipbuilding ; Royal Navy ; Ships
Sharpening the trident : the decisions of 1889 and the creation of modern seapower. It was a year of decisions that heralded the pre-dreadnought era, perhaps the least understood chapter of modern naval history. In March 1889, the Salisbury ministry officially endorsed what later became the Naval Defence Act, which in its final form authorised the largest shipbuilding programme of its kind in the nineteenth century. When it was finally completed five years later, the Royal Navy would have a new fleet based around 10 battleships, 42 cruisers and 18 torpedo gunboats, all of the latest design and at a cost of ÂŁ21,500,000. Then, in December 1889, the Harrison administration sought legislative approval to adopt a forward offensive naval strategy, complete with a fleet of battleships and armoured cruisers in an unprecedented shift in American naval policy. This strategic rationale provided the intellectual framework to transform the United States into a modern seapower. The purpose of this comparative study is to revisit the decisions of 1889, with the benefit of underutilised archival sources and an innovative research methodology recently embraced by the naval historical community. Whereas prior accounts of these decisions generally assess their historical significance in terms of the naval
decision creation modern year decision herald pre era perhaps least understood modern naval history ministry officially endorse later_become naval defence act final_form authorise large shipbuilding programme kind finally complete royal_navy would new fleet base_around late design cost administration seek legislative approval adopt forward offensive naval strategy complete fleet armour unprecedented shift american naval policy strategic rationale provide intellectual framework transform united_states modern purpose comparative_study revisit decision benefit archival_source innovative recently embrace naval historical community whereas prior account decision generally assess historical_significance term naval