The Price of Admiralty: The Evolution of Naval Warfare from Trafalgar to Midway

Naval campaigns analysed by the author represent three different epochs of war at sea.War in the age of sail involving woodenships ,the steam age when Dreadnoughts[ironclads]engaged in duels using long-range guns.Advances in the field of technology saw the emergenceof aircraft and submarine.Concurrently four major sea battles [Trafalgar,Jutland,Midwayand Atlantic campaign]each an apogee of its epoch has become the focus of author's study.Keegan then traces the origins of war at sea and says that it started when pirates started attacking seaborne commerce,a thesis indeed debatable.Of particular interest is author's narration of evolution of naval tactics which has had a chequered past.Ancient times it was galley warfare.Rival fleets rammed amidships.Bridges were thrown and soldiers would board.Outcome of such an engagement decided by brute force.The gunpowder revolution in the age of sail made cannons compact enough to be installed aboard ships. This brought about different modes of engagement.Ships came to fire broadsides.The admirals experimented with different forms of manoeuvre which helped to bring fire on the enemy line better.The Royal Navy deployed ships in 'line ahead' formation alongside the opposing fleet engaging the enemy downwind.However in Trafalgar it adopted a new manoeuvre 'breaking the line'French ships were enveloped and enfiladed from the wings.Experiences of men who saw combat in the seas have been documented.Equal stress has also been given on the impact of technology on naval warfare.The supersession of woodenship by ironclad and sail by steam transformed the nature of war at sea.Arm oured protection enhanced the seaworthiness of ships ,steam propulsion increased its speed.Outcome of battles now determined by the accuracy of long -range gunnery.With the coming of aircraft and submarine war at sea became complex and multidimensional.Naval actions can now be staged on surface ,air and subsurface.Hitherto aeroplane aboard ships have been used for scouting purposes , for directing gun fire.But a combination of bomb and torpedo made aircraft a lethal weapon.A new generation of naval leaders realised that planes operating from flight decks can be used for projecting fire power across vast ocean spaces.This idea made the 'big gun' philosophy obselete.Another powerful weapon , the submarine which can be used to deny the freedom of navigation in highseas posing a threat to the security of maritime nations.Both world wars the German U boats brought the Allied navies almost to the brink of defeat. In the final chapter Keegan predicts future prospects of war at sea.Seas will be devoid of capital ships and submarines would become the instruments of sea control.Using stealth , manoeuvrability,high underwater speed ; launching torpedoes and missiles from great depths it can whittle down the strengh of carrier battlegroups.Finally I may add,with spy satellites hanging overhead, keeping round- the- clock vigil, a pearl harbor type ambush is virtally ruled out.

John Keegan was the greatest military historian of our time. His innovation, beginning with his groundbreaking "The Face of Battle," was to describe not only what happened (the usual lines on maps) but to look as deeply as possible into what individual soldiers experienced. He drew from all sources -- letters, reminiscences, art, military communications, and the work of earlier historians. His aim was always to describe the experience of humanity struggling amid inhumanity. This volume, which I think of as his third great book of this kind, following "The Mask of Command," is seaborne, and takes as its example battles Trafalgar, Jutland, Midway, and Battle of the Atlantic -- from the age of sail through armor and big guns to the comparatively sudden innovations of aircraft and submarines. How were the sailors' experiences different, and how the same? What was asked of the sailors and officers of one era that would be unfamiliar to those of another?I have actually owned this book since its original publication over thirty years ago. I recently re-bought it as a gift for a friend who had recommended to me Robert Southey's "Life of Nelson." Reading Southey's climactic description of Trafalgar reminded me that it had been a long time since I had read Keegan's. It was a rewarding revisit.

John Keegan has turned his formidable talent to analysing some of the most famous naval battles of the last 200 years. For each, he gives an insightful look into the recent history of the times, emphasising technological aspects of ship handling and weapons. He then breaks down the battles into easy-to-comprehend chunks, followed by an analysis of the consequences (usually political) and the more immediate cost in terms of the sailors and ships involved.While all 4 battles are famous examples of their type, Keegan seems to waffle between choosing battles that were decisive and those that were stalemates. Trafalgar was a decisive battle, but it was unusual in the Age of Sail that one navy enjoyed such a complete victory over its enemy. Alternatively, Jutland was a large battle, but the battle itself was a tactical draw in that both sides left the battle with their proportionate strengths intact. A far more decisive ironclad battle occurred at Tsushima Bay, so why didn't Keegan choose that (admitedly less famous) battle instead?The remaining two battles are from WWII - Midway and the Battle of the Atlantic. Midway was a clear U.S. victory, and the purest example of carrier-based naval conflict. The Battle of the Atlantic was ultimately decisive as well, but due to the seesaw of technological advancess, the outcome was very much in doubt for 4 years. Although the submarines lost the Battle of the Atlantic, Keegan concludes submarines are the ultimate naval weapon available today, and points to the success of the U.S. submarine offensive against Japan. If that is his conclusion, why not give an account of the Japan-U.S. conflict instead of the Battle of the Atlantic?This is nitpicking, however. The strength of the book is the masterful analysis of each individual battle. While I question the overall theme and choice of battles, each chapter in and of itself is fantastic. Therefore, it gets 4 stars, as it is inferior to Keegan's Face of Battle and Mask of Command in maintaining an overarching theme.

Review of naval affairs by noted military writer. A classic of a few years ago.

Bought as a present - the recipient absolutely chuffed with a great book

Although you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, if you're looking for aesthetics as well as substance know that this is not the modern-looking edition you will be receiving in the mail. Instead you get the Penguin version published in 1988. Heads up.

Item as described. A great read for those interested in strategic affairs.

Cracking book