Atlantic Warfare Yesterday : 391 



Philippines. Her navy was undoubtedly destined for further growth 

 and it was clear that she had become one of the world powers. 



In a general way the end of the century marked also the end on the 

 Atlantic of the simpler and older style of naval warfare where single 

 ships or squadrons or fleets, within view of each other, maneuvered 

 for position and sighted guns at each other and exchanged fire from 

 ship to ship — the last of naval warfare fought almost entirely on the 

 surface of the sea. For the new century a new type of warfare would 

 emerge when men in search of victory dove in black waters or soared 

 into blue air; when naval warfare was under way to becoming in an 

 increasing measure unseen, indirect, elusive, mechanical, remote and 

 at the same time all-enveloping. 



As the century closed America had fought the most recent battles 

 in the Atlantic but she was far from either possessing or exerting a 

 naval power commensurate with her size. Her weakness lay not only 

 in the size and character of her navy but in the lack of an adequate 

 merchant marine. During the Spanish hostilities the United States 

 had been saved by the good fortune of being able to acquire rapidly, 

 though at enormous cost, sufficient ships to transport and supply her 

 armies, for the merchant marine was quite inadequate to this task. 

 England, France, Russia and now Germany not only had the mer- 

 chant vessels to carry the bulk of the Atlantic trade but they also were 

 building the fleets to hold their commerce secure. 



As early as 1889 England had set the pace in naval armament and 

 she passed the Naval Defense Act under which she declared her inten- 

 tion of having a navy that would be as strong as that of her two near- 

 est rivals. This has been referred to as the Two-Power Standard. At 

 the time, the two powers greatest in strength were France and Russia. 

 Though the balance might shift, England spoke and behaved as 

 though she intended to maintain this ratio. 



At the close of the century trade flowed fast and freely, travel was 

 easy and popular, there was an air of busy prosperity and expectancy. 

 Whatever insiders may have felt, the race for naval supremacy was 

 treated by the press and the public as though it were the friendly 

 rivalry of college football teams. 



