Transcript Sea Power and Maritime Affairs

Sea Power and Maritime
Affairs
Lesson 5.3: The U. S. Navy, 1815-1860:
Power Projection and Technological
Revolution
Enabling Objectives
• EXPLAIN the effectiveness of the U.S. Navy as an
instrument of Diplomacy.
• DESCRIBE the state of naval technology and its
evolution during Power Projection and Technological
Revolution.
• DEFINE U.S. Naval policy as a reflection of the period of
1815 – 1860.
• EXPLAIN the Wilkes and M. C. Perry expeditions and
assess their importance to U.S Maritime interests.
• DESCRIBE the contributions of the U.S. Navy during the
Mexican-American War.
1815-1860: A Period of Expansion
• Monroe Doctrine -- 1823
– No European colonization or
intervention in the Americas.
President James Monroe
“Our manifest destiny is
to overspread the
continent allotted by
Providence for the free
development of our yearly
multiplying millions.”
- John L. O'Sullivan, 1845
Reorganization of the Navy
• Postwar Navy increases in size
– Funding increase: Pride in War of 1812 Navy
– Secretary of the Navy calls for “Board of Commissioners”
– Civilian secretary needs help managing larger Navy
• Primary mission of the Navy = “Gunboat Diplomacy”
– Protect expanding U. S. commercial interests overseas “Showing the flag.”
– Command of the sea: de-emphasized
Permanent U.S. Navy Squadrons
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U.S. Navy and Scientific Discovery
• Wilkes Expedition, 1832-1842
– Gathered significant amount of
scientific knowledge
– Natural science collections
became basis of Smithsonian
Institute collections
• LT Matthew Maury
- Naval Oceanographer
- “Pathfinder of Seas”
- Cut transit from New York to
San Francisco by 47 days.
- Saved mariners $2 million a
year.
Problems in Navy
• Rough, ignorant sailors
– Flogging common
– Chief reward  grog (1/2 pint/man)
• Stagnation in officer corps
• Dueling common
– Stephen Decatur vs James Baron
– Outlawed in 1837 Navy Regs
– Article 114 of UCMJ
• Inadequate training
– 1842 USS Somers incident
– 1850- Flogging outlawed
– 1862- No more booze
United States Naval Academy
• United States Military
Academy at West Point 1802
– Highly successful in training
Army officers
• Naval School at Philadelphia
• Secretary of the Navy George
Bancroft moves the Naval
School to Annapolis - 1845
• Renamed Naval Academy in
1850
The Navy as an Instrument of
Diplomacy
• U.S. expanded trading in
Pacific
• Required ports in Japan
• Commodore Perry
diplomacy results in Treaty
of Kanagawa in 1854.
• Opens Japanese ports
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Industrial Revolution
• The evolution of naval technology:
Propulsion:
Sail to Steam
Weapons:
Solid Shot to Shell
Armor:
Wood to Iron
Naval Technology: From Sail to
Steam
• USS Mississippi and
USS Missouri, 1842
– Steam powered
paddle wheelers.
• USS Princeton, 1842
– First “Screw” propeller
warship.
– All machinery below
decks.
– Deemed superior to
the paddlewheel.
• Iron cladding
Naval Technology: From Solid
Shot to Shell
• Had not changed since the Spanish
Armada
– Cast iron, smooth bore, solid shot
muzzle loader.
– 300 yds effective range
– 2500 yds max
• Improvement in accuracy and range.
– Rusty solid shot
– Imperfect spherical shot
– Causing loss of expanding gases in
smooth bore guns
Naval Technology: From Solid
Shot to Shell
• 1844: USS Princeton
ordnance demonstration
– “Peacemaker” improperly
reinforced cannon.
– Explosion kills Secretary
of War, SECSTATE,
SECNAV!
– U.S. naval ordnance
development suspended for
20 years.
Naval Technology: From Solid
Shot to Shell
• John Dahlgren
• “Father of Modern Naval
Ordnance”
• Dahlgren gun adopted
by Navy
• Bottle shaped gun,
better accuracy and
range
• Navy resisted new rifled
cannon bore and non spherical shells through
Civil war.
Naval Technology: From Wood
to Iron
• French ironclad frigate Gloire - 1859
– 36 guns in broadside
– 5,600-tons displacement
– Wooden hull with iron armor plating
• British ironclad battleship Warrior - 1860
– 40 guns in broadside
– 9,000-tons displacement
– Iron hull with iron armor plating
The Mexican American War
1846-1848
• Due to Westward
expansion:
– Texas declares
independence from Mexico
in 1836.
– Texas became part of U.S.
in 1845
– Border dispute with Mexico
(Nueces vs. Rio Grande)
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Mexican-American War
• U.S. Navy establishes command of the sea
– Blockade and capture of Mexican ports and
cities.
– John Sloat and Marines capture cities in
California claiming it for the United States.
• Combined Army-Navy operations at Vera Cruz
– Home Squadron under Commodore M.C.
Perry
– Amphibious landing including Marines
Battle of Vera Cruz
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Mexican-American War
• General Winfield Scott marches to Mexico City
– Accompanied by a regiment of Marines
• Marines in the Battle of Chapultepec
– “The Halls of Montezuma”
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Conclusion: 1815-1860
• Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo - 1848
– Rio Grande established as Texas-Mexico border
– California, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, parts
of Colorado and Wyoming.
– Western United States ceded from Mexico ($15M)
• Navy grew in earlier years, but professionalism
and technology remained relatively stagnant after
1850
• Bases on Pacific coast of US and access to
foreign ports
• Combined operations during war with Mexico
• People lost interest in the Navy over the years
Battle History Video
• Chapter 1 "Born Into
War", Time 09:02 12:52
Enabling Objectives
• EXPLAIN the effectiveness of the U.S. Navy as an
instrument of Diplomacy.
• DESCRIBE the state of naval technology and its
evolution during Power Projection and Technological
Revolution.
• DEFINE U.S. Naval policy as a reflection of the period of
1815 – 1860.
• EXPLAIN the Wilkes and M. C. Perry expeditions and
assess their importance to U.S Maritime interests.
• DESCRIBE the contributions of the U.S. Navy during the
Mexican-American War.
Defense Imagery.mil
QUESTIONS?
Next time: The Civil War
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