Some Principles of Maritime StrategyCorbett, Julian Stafford
History
Some Principles of Maritime Strategy
Corbett, Julian Stafford
Naval strategy
The indecisive campaign which naturally resulted from this lack of
strategical grip and concentration of effort came to an end with Tromp's
partial defeat of Blake off Dungeness on 30th November 1652. Though charged
in spite of his protests with a vast convoy, the Dutch admiral had sent it
back to Ostend when he found Blake was in the Downs, and then, free from
all preoccupation, he had gone to seek out his enemy.
It was the effect which this unexpected blow had upon the strong military
insight of the Cromwellian Government that led to those famous reforms
which made this winter so memorable a landmark in British naval history.
Monk, the most finished professional soldier in the English service, and
Deane, another general, were joined in the command with Blake, and with
their coming was breathed into the sea service the high military spirit of
the New Model Army. To that winter we owe not only the Articles of War,
which made discipline possible, and the first attempt to formulate Fighting
Instructions, in which a regular tactical system was conceived, but also
two other conceptions that go to make up the modern idea of naval warfare.
One was the conviction that war upon the sea meant operations against the
enemy's armed fleets in order to destroy his power of naval resistance as
distinguished from operations by way of reprisal against his trade; and the
other, that such warfare required for its effective use a fleet of
State-owned ships specialised for war, with as little assistance as
possible from private-owned ships. It was not unnatural that all four ideas
should have taken shape together, so closely are they related. The end
connotes the means. Discipline, fleet tactics, and a navy of warships were
indispensable for making war in the modern sense of the term.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account