Craig L. Symonds - Decision at Sea: Five Naval Battles that Shaped American History

DECISION AT SEA

ALSO BY CRAIG L. SYMONDS

Navalists and Antinavalists
A Battlefield Atlas of the Civil War
A Battlefield Atlas of the American Revolution
Joseph E. Johnston: A Civil War Biography
Gettysburg: A Battlefield Atlas
The Naval Institute Historical Atlas of the U.S. Navy
Stonewall of the West: Patrick Cleburne and the Civil War
Confederate Admiral: The Life and Wars of Franklin Buchanan
The American Heritage History of the Battle of Gettysburg

EDITED BY CRAIG L. SYMONDS

Charleston Blockade
New Aspects of Naval History
Recollections of a Naval Officer
A Year on a Monitor and the Destruction of Fort Sumter
Jubal Earlys Memoirs
Jefferson Davis: A Memoir by His Wife
The Civil War Recollections of Ellis Spear
The Civil War Reader, 1862
The Lost History of Gettysburg

Five Naval Battles
that Shaped American History

CRAIG L. SYMONDS

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Copyright 2005 by Craig L. Symonds

First published by Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005
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First issued as an Oxford University Press paperback, 2006

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Symonds, Craig L.
Decision at sea : five naval battles that shaped American history /
Craig L. Symonds.
p. cm. Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-19-531211-9 (PBK.)
1. United StatesHistory, NavalAnecdotes.
2. Naval battlesUnited StatesHistory. I. Title.
E182.S995 2005 359.4773dc22 2004029394

Book design and composition by Mark McGarry, Texas Type & Book Works
Set in Minion

For those in peril on the sea

PART ONE: WOODEN WARSHIPS AND THE WESTERN FRONTIER
The Battle of Lake Erie, September 10, 1813

PART TWO: IRON, STEAM, AND NATIONAL UNION
The Battle of Hampton Roads, March 89, 1862

PART THREE: ARMORED CRUISERS AND EMPIRE
The Battle of Manila Bay, May 1, 1898

PART FOUR: NAVAL AVIATION AND WORLD WAR
The Battle of Midway, June 4, 1942

PART FIVE: MISSILE WARFARE AND THE AMERICAN IMPERIUM
Operation Praying Mantis: The Persian Gulf, April 18, 1988

My initial acknowledgment must go to the late Tom Buell, who originally conceived of this projector at least a project similar to this oneand who invited me to take up the challenge of making it a reality. If the final product is very different from what Tom had in mind, his vision informed the way I attacked and presented the material. Nevertheless, all the conclusions and interpretations offered in this volume, as well as any errors that may have crept in, are mine alone.

I also want to thank Bob Pratt, the excellent cartographer at National Geographic, who produced the maps in the book; Tim Wooldridge and Janis Jorgensen of the U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archives, Claudia Jew at the Mariners Museum, and Scott Harmon, director of the Naval Academy Museum, all of whom helped me with the illustrations; and, at Oxford, Peter Ginna, my superb editor, who had faith in the project from the start, as well as the efficient and accomplished Furaha Norton. Finally, I offer thanks to Barbara Breeden, Barbara Manvel, and the wonderful staff at the Nimitz Library at the United States Naval Academy.

. I am indebted to my friend John Hattendorf, the Ernest J. King Chair of Maritime History at the Naval War College, who read the Prologue and made several helpful suggestions about my treatment of the Battle of the Capes.

to, an early draft of the text. His generosity of spirit defines academic collegiality.

Thanks are due as well to John C. Dann, director of the William L. Clements Library on Early Americana at the University of Michigan, who allowed me to quote from the Oliver Hazard Perry Papers, and to Elisabeth Proffen, the special collections assistant at the Maryland Historical Society, for allowing me to quote from the Samuel Hambleton Diary.

: Hampton Roads. Dr. Francis J. DuCoin of Stuart, Florida, who has made the technical aspects of the Monitor a special study, helped me to appreciate the fine details of Ericssons revolutionary vessel, particularly the characteristics of the pilothouse. John W. Hinds of Shoreline, Washington, helped me with information about Hawthornes visit to the Monitor just after the battle. Versions of this chapter were presented orally at various meetings of the Civil War Weekend at the Mariners Museum, and I wish to thank all those whose comments and observations helped me sharpen my argument, including William C. Jack Davis, David Min-dell, and John Quarstein. I benefited as well from a collaboration on the construction of the CSS Virginia with Harold Holzer, Lincoln scholar and vice president for communications at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington, Delaware, generously granted permission to use the Samuel F. Du Pont Papers; the P. K. Yonge Library at the University of Florida gave permission to use the Stephen Mallory Papers; and the Research Collection at the Mariners Museum, the final resting place for the remains of the USS Monitor, generously allowed me access to its extended holdings about the Battle of Hampton Roads.

: Manila Bay. Rich Baker at the U.S. Army War College Military History Institute aided me in finding and identifying the Wayne Long-necker Papers. My friend and Naval Academy colleague Fred Harrod brought my attention to several important sources about the Spanish-American War and offered valuable comments on the manuscript that helped me rethink critical aspects of the battle.

but directed me to other Midway veterans who helped me get a better feel for this pivotal battle. Otis Kight, who (like Jack Crawford) served aboard