23 



Chapter 



ATLANTIC WARFARE YESTERDAY 



J-*'ACH age has produced some separate type of vessel par- 

 ticularly suited to its needs and each type of vessel has contributed 

 to the structure and development of our general western culture. 



The vessels have for the most part been designed for peaceful pur- 

 poses, and they have served in successive periods of growth, expan- 

 sion, development and creation. Undoubtedly, men have often 

 avoided war by the simple expedient of taking to the sea in quest of 

 more peaceful pursuits. It is equally true that the ships of peace have 

 been able to sail on their voyages and carry out their purposes be- 

 cause they were preceded, accompanied and protected by the vessels 

 that were able if necessary to engage in battle. The sea is man's serv- 

 ant, not his master, and if he finds that he can win his freedom and 

 protect his integrity only by going to war, the ocean will float his 

 supercarrier and engulf his atomic submarine quite as blithely as she 

 will receive his freighters and liners. The peace and freedom of the 

 seas is not automatic. It seems that it must be protected or won anew 

 in each generation. 



It is not possible to say whether ships that could go to sea were 

 first used for peaceful purposes or for war. The very earliest repre- 

 sentations we have of Phoenician or of Egyptian vessels show that 

 the bow projected forward in a sort of beak or spike near the water 

 line. We know that in the Mediterranean an old and possible original 

 method of fighting with ships was for one to try to ram the other 



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