Sea Power and Maritime Affairs
Lesson 10: The U.S. Navy and American
Imperialism, 1898-1914
Learning Objectives

Know the influence of the mass media in U.S.
relations with Spain and the effect of the
destruction of the USS Maine on public opinion.
 Comprehend the impact of Mahanian Doctrine on
the naval strategy and thinking in preparation for
and conduct of the war.
 Comprehend the reasons for the acceleration of
U.S. Navy expansion following the war with
Spain.
Learning Objectives

Know the effect of the Progressive Era in
domestic politics on the Navy.
 Comprehend the threats and resultant
actions taken by the U.S. concerning
activities in the Pacific and Caribbean
during the period 1900-1914.
The Spanish-American War
“a splendid little war”
Causes

Decreased isolationism in U.S. public and Congress

Cuban Revolution (1895-1898):
–
–
–
U.S. investments threatened
Spanish authorities commit atrocities against Cuban civilians
Sympathetic to Cubans
The Catalyst

USS Maine Explosion - February 1898:
–
–
–

Havana, Cuba.
Mission — protect U.S. citizens and property.
U.S. public angered - blame placed on Spain.
 “Free Cuba!”
 “Remember the Maine!”
President William McKinley
–
Congress declares war on Spain -- April 1898.
USS
Maine
Havana,
Cuba
February
1898
Fighting the War

Geography
– Spanish Empire- Cuba, Puerto Rico,
Philippines, Guam
– U.S. strategic interests


Panama Canal, Hawaii
U.S forces
– Atlantic: Sampson/Schley
– Asiatic: Dewey (China/Japan)
Fighting the War

Geography
– Spanish Empire- Cuba, Puerto Rico,
Philippines, Guam
– U.S. strategic interests


Panama Canal, Hawaii
U.S forces
– Atlantic: Sampson/Schley
– Asiatic: Dewey (China/Japan)
President
William
McKinley
Naval Orders of Battle

United States
– North Atlantic Squadron



–
Sampson based in Key West.
Schley’s “Flying Squadron” in Norfolk.
USS Oregon sent from Pacific to Atlantic.
Asiatic Squadron

Commanded by Commodore George Dewey at Hong Kong.
–

Sent by Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt.
Spain
– Inferior naval forces.


Montojo - Manila Bay
Cervera - Cape Verde Islands
Fighting the War

Cuba
– Blockade of Santiago harbor (1 May)
– Amphibious landing at Daiquiri (June 20)
– Destruction of Cevera’s Fleet (July 3)
 Sampson/Schley command controversy
 Naval Results
Battle of Santiago

American blockade of Santiago Harbor.
–

Amphibious landing at Daiquiri.
–

Leads charge at the Battle of San Juan Hill.
Spanish governor orders fleet to flee harbor - 1 July 1898.
–

Confusion between Army and Navy: Shafter and Sampson.
Rough Riders’ Teddy Roosevelt.
–

Guantanamo Bay seized by Huntington’s battalion of Marines.
Sampson / Schley command controversy.
Results and lessons:
–
Spanish home fleet recalled while en route to the Philippines
– U.S. technological superiority overwhelms Spanish.
– U.S. becomes dominant power in the Caribbean Sea.
– Improvement needed in fire control and amphibious doctrine.
The
“Rough Riders”
Battle of San Juan Hill
1 July 1898
Teddy Roosevelt
“Far better is it to dare
mighty things, to win
glorious triumphs, even
though checkered by
failure... than to rank with
those poor spirits who
neither enjoy nor suffer
much, because they live in a
gray twilight that knows not
victory nor defeat.”
Rough Riders
USS Oregon
Battle of Santiago
Commodore
George
Dewey
Commander
U.S. Asiatic
Squadron
Spanish-American
War
Battle of Manila Bay
1 May 1898

U.S. Asiatic Fleet sails from Hong Kong to Manila.
– Dewey orders increased training and gunnery practice.

Spanish use shore guns to augment anchored fleet.
 Dewey: “You may fire when you are ready, Gridley.”
–
–
Spanish fleet sunk at anchor.
Superior American gunnery.

Dewey becomes a national hero.
 Siege of Manila follows with Army troops.
 War against Aguinaldo's Philippine Nationalists.
– Philippine Insurrection or Filipino-American War- 1899-1902.
– U.S. establishes control of entire Philippine Archipelago.
Battle of Manila Bay
Battle
of
Manila Bay
“You may fire when
ready, Gridley.”
- Commodore
George Dewey
Battle of Manila Bay
1 May 1898
Commodore
George
Dewey
Battle of Manila Bay
Battle of Manila Bay
Dewey’s Flagship
U.S. “Empire” Established

From Spain in 1898:
–
Puerto Rico
– Guam
– Philippines
– Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba
(Spain sells other island territories in the Pacific to the
German Empire in 1899.)

Formerly Independent:
– Hawaii (Annexed 1898)
– Wake Island - 1899
–
“American” Samoa (Harbor of Pago Pago) - 1899
American Pacific Territories
Coaling Stations for Ships
U.S. Navy after the War

Battleships principle warship
 Mahan's advocacy of fleet engagements vindicated.
–

Commerce raiding discredited.
Construction programs to be completed by 1905:
–
10 first-rate battleships.
– 4 armored cruisers.

Global empire yields:
–
–

Overseas bases.
Expanded obligations to protect overseas interests.
Dewey heads new Navy General Board.
–
–
First U.S. peacetime strategic planning apparatus.
Missions are to devise war plans and assess foreign navies’
capabilities.
Progressive Era Politics
(1901-1914)

Strong Presidents:
– Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and
Woodrow Wilson.

Republican Congress funds battleships and canal
construction.
– Large increases in federal budget.
– Large increase in percentage of federal budget for
Department of the Navy.

Dewey and General Board
– Access to Secretary of the Navy and / or the President
on a regular basis due to increased importance of the
Navy.
Prewar International Concerns
1900-1914

Expanding Interests of Germany, U.S.
attention to Caribbean
 Expanding Interests of Japan, U.S. attention
in Pacific
“The Big Stick”

Theodore Roosevelt (December 1904):
–

U.S. obligated “in flagrant cases of wrong-doing or
impotence (in Latin America) to the exercise of an
international police power.”
Constant interventions by Navy and Marines:
–
Haiti, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic.
– Cuba - Platt Amendment.
– Vera Cruz, Mexico.

“Yankee Imperialism” despised by many Latin
Americans.
Panama Canal

Renewed U.S. desire for canal in Central America.
–

Link between Atlantic and Pacific Fleets.
 Need for the canal is highlighted by USS Oregon’s long
transit to the Battle of Santiago.
Strong support from President Theodore Roosevelt.
–
Essentially Mahanian
Panama Canal

Panamanian Revolution against Colombia - 1903.
–
–

Construction of the canal begins in 1904.
–

Engineered and influenced by U.S.
Panama Canal Zone ceded to U.S.
Completed in 1914.
Increased importance of U.S. control of Caribbean
Sea.
–
Protection of Panama Canal is vital to defense of the
U.S.
U.S. Interests in the Far East

War Plan Orange
–
–
U.S. Navy plan for war with Japan.
Defense of the Philippines and defeat of the Japanese Navy.
The Open Door

U.S. “Open Door” policy in China:
–
–
Policy has two aspects.
(1) Ensure territorial integrity of China.
(2) Ensure free trade in China for all countries.
China’s Boxer Rebellion - 1900

–
U.S. Marine Regiment attached to U.S. Army force protecting
Westerners.
Counter European and Japanese attempts at “spheres of
influence”.

Yangtze River Patrol - U.S. gunboats protect American
commerce.
The Rise of Japanese Sea Power
Opening and Modernization

Commodore M.C. Perry - 1854
– Treaty of Kanagawa
– European powers quickly follow U.S. lead.

Meiji Restoration - 1868
–
–
End of Tokugawa Shogunate’s feudal system.
Emperor restored to power.

Increased trade with the West.
 Rapid modernization of industry and armed forces.
 Colonial expansion begins on Pacific Islands.
 Japanese Navy
– From the Age of Galleys directly to the Modern Age.
– Skips entirely the Age of Sail.
Russian
Warships
THE JAPANESE NAVY
Japanese Battleship Mikasa
Japanese Battleship Asahi
Japanese Battleship Shikishima
Japanese Armored Cruiser Yakuma
Increases in U.S. Naval Power


By 1898
– 4 1st Class Battleships: Indiana, Massachusetts, Oregon, and
Iowa.
– 2 2nd Class Battleships: Texas and Maine.
– 2 Armored Cruisers.
– 10 Protected Cruisers.
– Gunboats, Monitors, Torpedo Boats.
Modern technology in the fleet:
– Steam, armor, and rifled breech-loading guns.
President
Theodore
Roosevelt
and
Rear Admiral
Robley D. “Fighting
Bob” Evans
Prior to the sailing of
the Great White Fleet 1907.
The Great White Fleet
Route of the Great White Fleet –
1907-08
Technology Improvements

Improved gunnery:
–

Smokeless powder.
HMS Dreadnought - 1907
– First all “big-gun” battleship launched by Great Britain.
– Makes all other battleships obsolete.

Battle Cruisers
– Same armament as dreadnoughts but less armor.
– Faster speeds.

Destroyers - Vital part of fleet - protection from torpedoes.
 Submarines
–
–

USS Holland - 1900
Diesel engines developed allow greater maneuverability.
Radios - Improved communications.
HMS Dreadnought
- First all “big gun” Battleship.
- Eight 12-inch guns.
HMS Dreadnought
Wright Brothers
Kitty Hawk, North
Carolina
17 December 1903
Eugene Ely
USS Birmingham (CL 2)
14 November 1910
Dawn of Naval Aviation





Wright Brothers -- Kitty Hawk, North Carolina:
1903
Eugene Ely
– First flight of an aircraft from a ship in 1910.
– First landing of an aircraft on a ship in 1911.
Glenn Curtiss - First seaplane landing - 1911.
Lieutenant “Spuds” Ellyson: Naval Aviator #1.
Royal Navy in a similar stage of development of
aviation.
Dawn of Naval Aviation

Birthday of Naval Aviation: 8 May 1911.
– U.S. Navy purchases two Curtiss biplanes.
 Office of Naval Aeronautics established in 1914.
 Early naval aviation missions:
– Scouting location of the enemy fleet.
– Directing naval gunfire.
Naval Aviation Then and Now
1910: Naval Aviator #1
Eugene Ely performs
the first take off from a
ship at sea
2007: Naval Aviator #26089
Scott Palumbo forced to teach
Naval History to unwilling
midshipmen
Reading:
- Potter: chapter 17-19 (through WWI)
- Hagan: chapter 8
Research for Discussion:
- “Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe
Doctrine”
Tomorrow:
- USMC lecture (MIDN 2/C Mallory)
Midterm:
- Review on Monday (study sheets)
- Up to and including WWI
QUESTIONS / DISCUSSION
Next time: The U.S. Navy and the World at War,
1914-1918