Sea-Power and Other Studies

Sea-Power and Other Studies

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Title: Sea-Power and Other Studies
Author: Admiral Sir Cyprian Bridge
Release Date: January 12, 2004 [EBook #10694]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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SEA-POWER AND OTHER STUDIES ***

Produced by Robert J. Hall

SEA-POWER AND OTHER STUDIES
BY ADMIRAL SIR CYPRIAN BRIDGE, G.C.B.

PREFACE
The essays collected in this volume are republished in the hope that
they may be of some use to those who are interested in naval history.
The aim has been to direct attention to certain historical occurrences
and conditions which the author ventures to think have been often
misunderstood. An endeavour has been made to show the continuity of

the operation of sea-power throughout history, and the importance of
recognising this at the present day.
In some cases specially relating to our navy at different periods a
revision of the more commonly accepted conclusions--formed, it is
believed, on imperfect knowledge--is asked for.
It is also hoped that the intimate connection between naval history in
the strict sense and military history in the strict sense has been made
apparent, and likewise the fact that both are in reality branches of the
general history of a nation and not something altogether distinct from
and outside it.
In a collection of essays on kindred subjects some repetitions are
inevitable, but it is believed that they will be found present only to a
moderate extent in the following pages.
My nephew, Mr. J. S. C. Bridge, has very kindly seen the book through
the press.
June 1910.

CONTENTS
I. SEA-POWER. II. THE COMMAND OF THE SEA. III. WAR AND
ITS CHIEF LESSONS. IV. THE HISTORICAL RELATIONS
BETWEEN THE NAVY AND THE MERCHANT SERVICE. V.
FACTS AND FANCIES ABOUT THE PRESS-GANG. VI.
PROJECTED INVASIONS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. VII.
OVER-SEA RAIDS AND RAIDS ON LAND. VIII. QUEEN
ELIZABETH AND HER SEAMEN. IX. NELSON: THE
CENTENARY OF TRAFALGAR. X. THE SHARE OF THE FLEET
IN THE DEFENCE OF THE EMPIRE. XI. NAVAL STRATEGY
AND TACTICS AT THE TIME OF TRAFALGAR. XII. THE
SUPPLY AND COMMUNICATIONS OF A FLEET. INDEX.

Ten of the essays included in this volume first appeared in the
_EncyclopoediaBritannica, the Times, the _MorningPost, the
_NationalReview, the _Nineteenth_Century_andAfter, the
_CornhillMagazine, and the _NavalAnnual. The proprietors of those
publications have courteously given me permission to republish them

here.
Special mention must be made of my obligation to the proprietors of
the _EncyclopoediaBritannica for allowing me to reproduce the essays
on 'Sea-Power' and 'The Command of the Sea.' They are the owners of
the copyright of both essays, and their courtesy to me is the more
marked because they are about to republish them themselves in the
forthcoming edition of the Encyclopoedia.
The paper on 'Naval Strategy and Tactics at the Time of Trafalgar' was
read at the Institute of Naval Architects, and that on 'The Supply and
Communications of a Fleet' at the Hong-Kong United Service
Institution.

I
SEA-POWER[1]
[Footnote 1: Written in 1899. (_EncyclopoediaBritannica.)]
Sea-power is a term used to indicate two distinct, though cognate things.
The affinity of these two and the indiscriminate manner in which the
term has been applied to each have tended to obscure its real
significance. The obscurity has been deepened by the frequency with
which the term has been confounded with the old phrase, 'Sovereignty
of the sea,' and the still current expression, 'Command of the sea.' A
discussion--etymological, or even archæological in character--of the
term must be undertaken as an introduction to the explanation of its
now generally accepted meaning. It is one of those compound words in
which a Teutonic and a Latin (or Romance) element are combined, and
which are easily formed and become widely current when the sea is
concerned. Of such are 'sea-coast,' 'sea-forces' (the 'land- and
sea-forces' used to be a common designation of what we now call the
'Army and Navy'), 'sea-service,' 'sea-serpent,' and 'sea-officer' (now
superseded by 'naval officer'). The term in one form is as old as the
fifteenth century. Edward III, in commemoration of the naval victory of
Sluys, coined gold 'nobles' which bore on one side his effigy 'crowned,
standing in a large ship, holding in one hand a sword and in the other a
shield.' An anonymous poet, who wrote in the reign of Henry VI, says
of this coin:
For four things our noble showeth to me, King, ship, and sword, and
_power_of_thesea.

Even in its present form