6/11/2023 0 Comments Us navy battle fleet![]() Naval construction, technology, and achievements were front page news during this period. The Navy's role in protecting this empire was assured, as was its place on the front pages of the American media. The stunning victory over Spain helped establish a new American overseas Empire. His famous quote “ou may fire when you are ready, Gridley” became a symbol of the war. Dewey became a household name for leading the epic American victory at Manila. This painting of the Battle of Manila Bay depicts the fighting from the deck of the cruiser USS Olympia, flagship of future Admiral of the Navy George Dewey. The Americans had only one sailor killed between the two battles. Hundreds of Spanish sailors were killed, and all of their ships were sunk, grounded, or captured. Two naval battles, at Manila Bay and Santiago de Cuba, produced stunning American victories. Such a far-flung conflict across the seas required a powerful navy, and the new Steel Navy did not disappoint. In late April, war broke out in the Caribbean and the Pacific. Nearly 260 sailors were killed, and the American media immediately blamed Spanish treachery. On the evening of February 15, 1898, while anchored in Havana's harbor, she exploded. The battleship USS Maine was sent to Havana to secure American interests. By 1898, Spanish crackdowns on Cuban revolutionaries had led to sympathetic feelings by Americans. Despite the dominant position of the British Empire, and previous hostilities between the nations, the United States found a new enemy - Spain. With most of the “new” regions of the world claimed and colonized by this point, world powers were desperately trying to take hold of what remained. The Navy's modernization program was crucial to another enterprise - the overseas expansion of American territorial possessions. Soon enough, the desire to retain sails on these steel ships was gone, and the Navy fully committed to a future with steam power. By the 1890's, the United States Navy had constructed a capable fleet of steel warships. The masts and sails of these cruisers were eventually removed, giving way to their powered steam engines. This watercolor painting shows several of the ABCD ships at sea under sail. They also felt that it diminished the teamwork built through manning a rigged sailing ship. They felt it was dirty and unreliable, and more importantly that it was too expensive. Some officers of this period were skeptical about coal power. They featured hulls constructed of steel, and relatively powerful steam engines, but were also capable of operating under sail. These new ships – the first of which was commissioned in 1886 – were hybrids of old and new technology. Known as the “ABCD Ships,” they were to be named Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, and Dolphin. In 1883, legislation was at last passed providing for the construction of new steel warships. Unless some action be had in its behalf it must soon dwindle into insignificance. He condition of the Navy imperatively demands the prompt and earnest attention of Congress. Secretary of the Navy William Hunt wrote in 1881 that It was not until the United States Navy had fallen dangerously behind the other nations of the world that attention turned to modernization. Click on the image for additional information, and to see the full newspaper cover.įirst Awkward Steps Towards Modernization On the side of Uncle Sam's raft, multi-million dollar patches can be seen, a statement on corruption in government during the period. This cover cartoon from an 1882 edition of the newspaper “The Judge” mocks the relative size of the United States Navy in comparison to Britain's Royal Navy. By the 1880's, the United States Navy was outclassed by numerous other navies around the world. Very few new ships were constructed, and the soon antiquated Civil War fleet of gunboats and ironclads was held in reserve. Navy was content with the undemanding mission of showing the flag in foreign ports. While other nations around the world continued to experiment with iron and steel hulled armored ships, and improved steam engine technology, the once powerful U.S. That bloody conflict had seen stunning technical advances in naval design, but the nation was too exhausted from war, and too pre-occupied by Reconstruction and Westward expansion, to spend much money on naval technology. In the years following the Civil War, the United States Navy fell into decline.
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