A COMPARISON OF THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF 
THE UNITED STATES AND THE SOVIET UNION IN OCEAN 
CAPABILITIES ' 
(By Herman T. Franssen)? 
* * * In tracing the direct dependence of mankind on the world ocean 
over the entire course of its centuries of history, it is impossible not to 
note how the ability of peoples to learn to appreciate the ocean, and to 
use it for their own needs, directly affects the growth of the political 
prestige of the country and its economic and political power. 
S. G. GORSHKOV, 
Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union. 
SUMMARY AND INTRODUCTION 
The United States is, and has been for two centuries, a typical 
maritime power. From the days of the early settlements in Virginia 
and New England, the American people looked to and beyond the 
oceans for trade, ideas, and culture. Today, as well as in the past, 
most of the Nation’s trade has been East-West rather than North- 
South. The United States was settled with people from overseas, and 
it was threatened only by potential adversaries across the seas. Our 
ancestors had important fishing interests in both coastal waters and 
distant waters (whaling). They traded products all around the world 
in U.S.-flag ships constructed in the United States. In ocean technol- 
ogy, the United States played an important role with the construction 
of the Yankee clippers (the fastest ships of their times), the first 
steamboat, and the first armored modern warship with turret guns. 
The United States reached its zenith as a maritime power in the 
period immediately following World War II. At that time it had at 
its disposal the strongest armada of naval and merchant vessels ever 
assembled by any one nation. Aware of their complete superiority 
at sea, the U.S. Navy concentrated on projection of power on overseas 
coasts. There was no need at that time to worry about sea control. 
Overseas trade was not as vital to the economic well-being of the 
Nation as it is today, but in spite of this more than two-thirds of 
total U.S. overseas trade was shipped in U.S.-flag vessels. American 
fishermen supplied most of the marine fisheries products consumed 
in the Nation, and the United States had taken an early overall lead 
'The author would like to express his gratitude to the various reviewers of this study, particularly 
Jack Morse, Alva Bowen, Francis Hoeber, and Adm. Elmo Zumwalt (U.S. Navy, ret.) 
*The author is an analyst in science and technology with the Ocean and Coastal Resources Project 
of the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress. Dr. Franssen has published nu- 
merous articles and congressional studies on Energy, Ocean Resources Development, Law of the Sea, 
Scientific Research at Sea and Technology Transfer. Prior to joining CRS in 1974, Dr. Franssen 
taught and researched at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy Medford, Mass., the Woods 
Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Mass., and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 
University of California at San Diego. 
(569) 
