Vincent P. OHara - Innovating Victory

NAVAL TECHNOLOGY IN THREE WARS

VINCENT P. OHARA LEONARD R. HEINZ

NAVAL INSTITUTE PRESS

Annapolis, Maryland

Naval Institute Press

291 Wood Road

Annapolis, MD 21402

2022 by Vincent P. OHara and Leonard R. Heinz

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: OHara, Vincent P., [date] author. | Heinz, Leonard R., author.

Title: Innovating victory : naval technology in three wars / Vincent P. OHara, Leonard R. Heinz.

Other titles: Naval technology in three wars

Description: Annapolis, Maryland : Naval Institute Press, [2022] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021052331 (print) | LCCN 2021052332 (ebook) | ISBN 9781682477328 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781682477335 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Naval art and scienceTechnological innovationsHistory 20th century.

Classification: LCC V53 .O33 2022 (print) | LCC V53 (ebook) | DDC 359.009/04dc23/eng/20211102

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021052331

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021052332

Print editions meet the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992

(Permanence of Paper). Printed in the United States of America.

30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 229 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

First printing

Figures by Vincent P. OHara

To the memory ofCaptain Stephen F. Davis Jr. (19622008),who some years ago encourageda rank amateur to persevere

This is new territory for both authors, who approached this work on technology with nontechnical backgrounds and during a challenging period for learning new things. We have been sustained and inspired by a network of supporters and colleagues, particularly our friends in the Western Naval History Association. We would like to thank in particular Enrico Cernuschi, Trent Hone, John T. Kuehn, and Michael Yaklich for reading and commenting on the entire manuscript, and Michael Whitby, who has been generous with his research. Other readers include Robert C. Stern, Sam J. Tangredi, and Stephen McLaughlin. We thank our editor at Naval Institute Press, Glenn Griffith, and the wonderful people there for bringing this book to print in such excellent fashion. OHara thanks his familydaughter Yunuen, son Vincent, and wife Mariafor their past and ongoing support, while Heinz thanks his wife Meg, daughter Julia, son David, and granddaughter Maggie, who loves technology but prefers Minecraft to mines.

1 nautical mile = 2,205 yards, 1,852 meters, or 1.151 statute miles

1 knot = 1.852 kilometers/hour or 1.151 statute miles/hour

1 meter = 1.094 yards

1 yard = 0.9144 meters

1 centimeter = 0.3937 inches

1 inch = 2.54 centimeters

1 kilogram = 2.205 pounds

1 pound = 0.4536 kilograms

O for a muse of fire, that would ascendThe brightest heaven of invention.

Animals fight with horns, teeth, and claws. Humans can bite and scratch as well, but to win, they use technology. The word technology is a compound of two Greek roots, tekhne (craft) and logia (learning). In essence, technology is the practical application of knowledge expressed through the use of a device.

Shaped stones and sharpened sticks are Paleolithic examples of combat technology. A raft that transports warriors over water is one expression of naval technology; a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine is another. Modern naval technology is the sum of the elements involved in the invention, development, production, and use of specialized weapons, tools, and platforms to fight at sea. Superior technology can confer a powerful advantage. Greek fire, a weapon, allowed the Byzantine navy to repeatedly triumph over more numerous foes. The Confederate armored ship Virginia, a platform, destroyed the wooden vessels of the Union navy at will. Centimetric radar, a tool, allowed Allied aircraft during World War II to spot submarine conning towers at night. But it is the nature of technology that such advantages are rare and often fleeting.

The twentieth century was a time of profound technological change. In naval terms, this change came in four major waves, with the first three climaxed by a major naval war. The first wave started in the mid-nineteenth century as coal-fired steam engines replaced sail, armor was developed, guns and mines were improved, torpedoes appeared, and radio was introduced. This wave peaked in the Russo-Japanese War. In the second wave, which started in 1905 and ran through World War I, naval warfare became three-dimensional with the development of practical submarines and aircraft. The armored gunnery platform reached its acme of power and influence and imperceptibly began to fade in importance. The third wave, which lasted through the end of World War II, moved naval warfare fully into the electromagnetic spectrum as technologies such as radar and sonar expanded perceptions beyond the horizon and beneath the waves, revolutionized the collection and use of information, and saw the introduction of practical guided weapons. The fourth wave is under way. Naval warfare has entered another dimensionstarting with the splitting of the atom and progressing to satellites, computers, drones, data networks, artificial intelligence, and a new generation of weapons using magnetic and directed energy. The fourth wave has lasted the longest, not because the pace of invention has slowedit has in fact acceleratedbut because since 1945 there has been no major peer-to-peer naval warthat is, a total war between opponents with similar technological resourcesto prove these new technologies in all-out combat.