Page 89 - NS-2 Textbook

82 MARITIME HISTORY

warships to 35 percent of British tonnage, and sub-
marines to 45 percent. Also in 1935 the Italians invaded
Ethiopia, annexing that country in 1936 and renaming it
Italian East Africa. When the League of Nations de-
nounced that act as "bald aggression" and imposed some
economic sanctions, Italy purchased war supplies from
Germany, withdrew from the league, and with Germany
formed the Rome-Berlin Axis.
In early 1939 Hitler abolished the Anglo-German
naval limitation agreement, freeing Germany to begin
building as many warships of whatever kind and ton-
nage it wanted. By the time war broke out in September
1939, when Hitler invaded Poland, the German Navy
consisted of two 31,000-ton battleships, two 42,000-ton
battleships nearing completion (the Tirpitz and Bismarck),
three 20,000-ton pocket battleships, nine cruisers, a nwn-
bel' of destroyers, and fifty-six submarines. Germany
continued to build U-boats throughout the war at a furi-
ous rate. Before it was finally defeated in May 1945, Ger- A biplane takes off from the Langley, the U.S. Navy's first aircraft
carrier.
many sent nearly 1,200 submarines into action against
Allied shipping.
vinced Navy leaders to convert a collier into the Navy's
first aircraft carriel; the Langley, and to get the treaty
U.S. NAVY IN THE PREWAR YEARS
powers to consent to the United States building the car-
After the Washington treaties, U.s. Navy strategists riers Lexington and Saratoga.
changed their planning as reflected in War Plan Orange, Finally, with carriers, their aircraft, and amphibious
the contingency war plan that had been developed for forces working far from established home bases, a logis-
the Pacific some years earlier. In the event of war in the tic support system had to be devised that would keep
Pacific, the strategists' new plans included the necessity these forces in operation. First, there was the problem of
of making a comeback from an initial loss of bases in the mobile fuel and supply support. TIlis problem was
Philippines and Guam. TIley saw that the Navy would solved by the development of highly versatile at-sea re-
probably have to fight its way back across the Pacific, plenishment capabilities: support ships moved with the
operating for long periods far from its bases while seiz- fleet and resupplied it while under way. This innovation
u
ing and converting enemy bases. The Navy faced three is sometilnes regarded as lithe secret weapon that strate-
problems: (1) how to free the fleet from dependence on gists believed would win the Pacific war.
established bases, (2) how to isolate and attack enemy When a marine amphibious force captured new
bases protected by land-based air tmits, and (3) how to areas from the enemy, new bases on that captured terri-
invade and occupy heavily defended enemy bases. tory would have to be built rapidly. For this task the
TI,e u.s. Marine Corps took on the task of working Naval Construction Battalions (NCBs, or "Seabees")
out problem number three. From this effort came the am- were developed. The Seabees were trained to create op-
phibious doctrine, which was put into effect in World erating bases in any environment, from jungle to rocky
War II. Amphibious operations emphasized the concepts atoll. These bases included all the materials and person-
of command and control, close air support, naval gwlfire nel needed to set up various kinds of facilities. Depend-
support, patrol tactics, and the development of new am- ing upon the needs of the area commander, the bases
phibian vehicles and landing craft. TIlis amphibious ca- could be rapidly built as soon as the land was cleared.
pability, when expanded to meet the needs of the war, Shortly thereafter the base would be in full operation.
proved to be an unstoppable assault force. Many histori-
ans regard these amphibious tactics as the most far-
FINAL STEPS TOWARD WAR
reaching tactical ilUl0vations of the vvar.
During the same time, naval aircraft and aircraft car- By 1936 the League of Nations was little more than a
riers came into use on a sophisticated scale. Naval avia- squabbling group, neither able nor willing to halt the
tion "vas originally looked upon as merely a recOlmais- drift toward world war. The aggressive dictatorships
sance arm of the fleet. But this changed in 1921 when had withdrawn their memberships. In 1936 Germany re-
General Billy Mitchell proved in a test that an airplane militarized the Rhineland, in defiance of the Treaty of
could sink a battleship with bombs. Mitchell's feat con- Versailles. In 1937 Japan launched a full-scale invasion of