U.S. Naval War College U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons Historical Monographs Special Collections 1977 HM 3: Professors of War: The Naval War College and the Development of the Naval Profession Ronald Spector Follow this and additional works at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/usnwc-historical-monographs Recommended Citation Spector, Ronald, "HM 3: Professors of War: The Naval War College and the Development of the Naval Profession" (1977). Historical Monographs. 3. https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/usnwc-historical-monographs/3 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Special Collections at U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Historical Monographs by an authorized administrator of U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PROFESSORS OF WAR The Naval War College and the Development of the Naval Profession For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, 0. C. 20402 Stock No. 008-047-00212-2 U.S. NAVAL WAR COLLEGE HISTORICAL MONOGRAPH SERIES No. 3 LCDR B.M. Simpson III, USN, Editor The Naval Historical Monograph Series was established in 1975. It consists of book-length studies relating to the history of naval warfare which are based, wholly or in part, on the holdings of the Naval War College Naval Historical Collection. Copies of volumes in this series may be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402: No. 1. John D. Hayes and John B. Hattendorf, The Writings of Stephen B. Luce ( 1975). Stock No. 008-04 7-00202-5. Price $2 .80 softbound. No. 2. Craig L. Symonds, Charleston Blockade: The Journals of John B. Marchand, U.S. Navy, 1861-1862 (1976). Stock No. 008-047-0021-7. Price $3.00 softbound. Contents may be cited consistent with conventional research methods. Reprinting in whole or in part is prohibited without the express permission of the President, Naval War College. These publications were made possible by the generosity of the Naval War College Foundation, Inc., a charitable, nonbusiness Rhode Island corporation organized to provide a private source of support to the Naval War College in carrying out its mission. U.S. Naval War College, Newport, R.I. 02840 First Edition PROFESSORS OF WAR The Naval War College and the Development of the Naval Profession by Ronald Spector Naval War College Press Newport, Rhode Island 1977 Library of Congress Catalogingin Publication Data Spector, Ronald. Professors of war. (Historical monograph series; no. 3) Biblioqraphy: p. 193 Includes index. 1. United States. Naval War College-History. 2. United States. Navy-History. 3. Naval art and science-History. I. Title. II. Series. V420.S65 359'.007'117456 77-7155 Chapter TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii I THE NAVAL CALLING IN THE 1880's: NEW THREATS AND OLD PROBLEMS 1 II THE OLD MAN OF THE SEA . 11 III THE FIRST YEARS 27 IV THE USES OF HISTORY 38 V A SEA OF TROUBLES 50 VI WAR GAMES AND WARS OF THE FUTURE 71 VII FROM "WAR PROBLEMS" TO WAR PLANS 88 VIII POLITICS AND PLANNING 101 IX A NEW GENERATION 112 X APPLYING THE "SCIENCE OF NAVAL WARFARE" 130 XI EPILOGUE: THE LONG TWILIGHT 144 NOTES 152 BIBLIOGRAPHY 170 INDEX 181 Cover photo: The Naval War College Class of 1897 on the steps of Luce Hall. Theodore Roosevelt is in the center, flanked on the right by Naval War College President, Commander Caspar F. Goodrich. Behind and to the right of Roosevelt are staff members Bowan H. Mccalla and Reginald Belknap. In the center are future Admirals Hugo Osterhaus and Charles Badger. In the back row, fourth from left, is William F. Halsey. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Page Stephen B. Luce as a Commodore, circa 1888 13 A Class at the Naval War College, 1889 33 The Naval Torpedo Station, 1899 56 Caspar F. Goodrich 59 Coasters Harbor Island, 1900 65 Henry C. Taylor . 67 Naval War College Class of 1896 69 William McCarty Little 76 An Early War Game in Progress at the Naval War College 79 War Gaming in Luce Hall, about 1906 80 William S. Sims 146 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book would not have been possible without the generous support of Mr. John Monsarrat and the Naval War College Foundation, Professors Hugh G. Nott and James E. King of the Center for Advanced Research, Naval War College, and the cooperation and encouragement of Brig. Gen. James L. Collins anc my colleagues at the U.S. Army Center of Military History. I am also greatly indebted to Mr. Anthony Nicolosi, Archivist of the Naval War College, and to his intrepid assistants, Dr. Evelyn Cherpak and Miss Jean Sabourin, as well as to Mr. Mel Lieberman of the Office of Faculty Support. I am also grateful to Dr. Dean Allard and Mrs. Kathy Lloyd of the Naval Historical Center, Washington, D.C., Mr. Harry Schwartz of the National Archives and Mrs. Carolyn Hoover Sung of the Manuscript Division, Library of Congress. Mr. Philip K. Lundeberg and Dr. Harry Langley generously made available to me the research facilities of the Naval History Department of the Smithsonian Institution and Rear Adm. William J. Crowe, Rear Adm. John D. Hayes, and Paul R. Schratz, patiently answered my questions and listened to my ideas on the Naval War College. This book originated as a doctoral dissertation at Yale Univer­ sity in 1967 under the guidance of Gaddis Smith, John M. Blum, C. Vann Woodward and the late Archibald S. Foord. Over the years many unfortunate individuals have had all, or parts, of the book inflicted on them. Jean Barber, Cathy Fine, Dave Christian, Karl W. Deutsch, Elting Morison, Peter O'Connell, Sally Rabino­ witz and T. Harry Williams all made helpful suggestions and comments on the manuscript in its various stages of development. The most long-suffering of all has been Lt. Comdr. B.M. Simpson III, who served as editor and general troubleshooter, and was ably assisted by Mildred Imondi, Eleanor Silvia and Mary DeMenezes. Mrs. Helene Masson Bruno did her usual superb job as typist and unofficial copy editor. My wife, Dianne, prepared the initial parts of viii the bibliography (and took the occasion to give me her opinion of my handwriting) while attempting to keep our son fromdestroying the living room. I am also grateful to the Louisiana State University Press for permission to quote from my earlier book, Admiralof the New Empire. The views expressed in this book are entirely my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other individuals, the Depart­ ment of the Navy or the U.S. Government. Similary, any errors or omissions are mine. Ronald Spector Washington, D.C. January, 1977 1 CHAPTER I THE NAVAL CALLING IN THE 1880'S: NEW THREATS AND OLD PROBLEMS This is a study of the role of the Naval War College in the professionalization of the U.S. Navy and the effects of that process upon the shaping of naval policy from the founding of the College in 1884 to its temporary discontinuance in 1917 during World War I. At first glance, these early decades appear impossibly remote. Adm. Stephen B. Luce, the founder of the Naval War College, was also a strong advocate of sails for men-of-war at a time when this subject was still very much a live issue.1 One of the early staff members, Comdr. Bowman H. McCalla, was court­ martialed for "having cut a crewman with his sword, "2 in an era when swords were used for more than ceremony. On the face of it, the pioneers of the Naval War College seem closer in spirit to Capt. Horatio Hornblower than to Arleigh Burke or Elmo Zumwalt. Yet it was in these early years that, for better or for worse, the basic structure and philosophy of the War College was established. The 1880's and 1890's were the age in which all the great American professions, from public health to forestry, from social work to city planning, began to emerge in their modern form, and many of the struggles, triumphs and defeats of that era have left lasting marks on these callings. This is especially true of the naval profession. The events of these early years continue to exert a profound influence on the Naval War College, and indirectly, upon the entire Navy. A recent study of the legal profession concludes that "to think like a lawyer at Harvard in 1969 was no different ... than at the beginning of the twentieth century ... law school was still a church with its essential dogma preserved." 3 As far as the development of professional education in the United States is concerned, it may well be true, as historian John Shy has suggested, that "the explanatory importance of events should be reckoned, not by proximity, but by priority in time." 4 2 Among naval men, there has always been a sort of tacit awareness that these early years were somehow special and important. Vice Adm. Stansfield Turner, in introducing his far-reaching changes in the Naval War College program, explained that they represented a "return to our great traditions-to the strategic and historial contribution of men like Mahan: to the tactical and operational studies of men like William Sims.... "5 The interest of these early years has probably also been enhanced by the frequent criticism leveled at the present-day Naval War College by critics both inside and outside the service. Admiral Turner referred to the "creeping intellectual devitaliza­ tion in all of our war colleges since World War 11," while Assistant Secretary of Defense Nicholas Katzenbach described6 the curriculum of all the service colleges in the early l 960's as "something between a Great Issues course and an extended administration briefing.