This masterly study of the interaction between technological change and service politics in the U.S. Navy deserves to become a standard work. -- Sir Michael Howard, former Regius Professor of Modern History, Oxford University An excellent book. Technological Change and the United States Navy addresses a historical issue of acknowledged importance-the persistence of the battleship culture in the U.S. Navy-and does so on the basis of a substantial body of original research, much of it archival. This book makes original and important contributions to our understanding of what might be termed the intellectual life of the Navy, a matter of no small significance to the course and conduct of two world wars, a host of lesser conflicts, and the future of the Navy. Comprehensive, exhaustively researched, convincing in its arguments, and even-handed in its judgments, this book will remain the definitive work on the subject for the foreseeable future. -- John F. Guilmartin, Jr., Ohio State University
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Postbellum Naval Profession: From Discord to
Amalgamation
2. Competing for Control: Line Officers, Engineers, and the
Technological Exemplar of the Battleship Paradigm
3. Refining the Technological Ideal: The Simsian Uproar, Engineer
Bashing, and the All-Big-Gun Battleship
4. Technological Trajectory: Geostrategic Design Criteria,
Turboelectric Propulsion, and Naval-Industrial Relations
5. Anomalous Technologies of the Great War: Airplanes, Submarines,
and the Professional Status Quo
6. Controlling Aviation after the World War: The 1924 Special Board
and the Technological Ceiling for Aviation
7. Disarmament, Depression, and Politics: Technological Momentum
and the Unstable Dynamics of the Hoover-Roosevelt Years
8. War and a Shifting Technological Paradigm: Fast Task Forces and
"Three-Plane" Warfare
9. Castles of Steel: Technological Change and the Modern Navy
Notes
Note on Sources
Index
William M. McBride is a professor of history at the U.S. Naval Academy and former inaugural Shaeffer Distinguished Humanist at James Madison University.
An intellectual history of American naval technology that examines the dominance of the battleship mentality... Thought-provoking, a book sure to spark debate. -- Robert J. Schneller, Jr. Technology and Culture One could say this is yet another book about the rise and fall of the battleship as the centerpiece of naval power. But what sets the author's subtle work apart from earlier histories is his purpose. He sets out neither to defame nor defend naval leaders. Do not expect to find even the most obvious troglodyte of an admiral belittled in this text... [A] well-balanced analysis. -- Michael A. Palmer U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings An excellent survey of how the U.S. Navy adapted to changing technology, and how technological change in turn shaped the Navy. New York Military Affairs Symposium Newsletter McBride examines the tendency of military institutions to favour stability over radical innovations... Well researched and clearly written. -- Christopher Bell Northern Mariner Well written, easy to read, and ultimately leads the reader to think about the larger issues of technological change. -- Steve R. Waddell History: Reviews of New Books This fine study explores the dynamics through which American naval officers have interacted with technological change. -- James C. Bradford Journal of Military History
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