Column: Victory at Sea: Naval Power and…

Victory at Sea: Naval Power and the Transformation of the Global World Order in World War II

Professor Paul Kennedy. Photo by Andrew Holmes of the RMA

At the Retired Men’s Association (RMA) meeting on November 16th, the RMA was graced with a presentation that was not only informative but also truly mellifluous. Introduced by Bob Rimmer of the RMA, Professor Paul Kennedy, the J. Richardson Dilworth Professor of British History at Yale, graced us not only with the contents but also with the story of the genesis of his recent book Victory at Sea: Naval Power and the Transformation of the Global World Order in World War II. On account of a “trick knee” condition, Professor Kennedy was forced to speak to his audience in the sitting position that had no adverse effect on his presentation, which was delivered in a clear, crisp and authoritative British accent, worthy of auditioning for his own audiobook.

This book was germinating in Kennedy’s mind when he befriended Ian Marshall, a paragon of British marine artists, who had been influenced by Constable and Turner. They decided to collaborate on what would become a 170,000-word book. Unfortunately, Marshall passed away during the creation of the book, but not before supplying several signature paintings of warships and airplanes of the era.

Professor Kennedy highlighted that the year 1943 was the turning point and linchpin of the Allied victory in World War II, with special emphasis on sea power. The French historian Henri Braudel posits the theory that the history of the war proceeds at three levels: the “history of events” (e.g., Pearl Harbor), changes attributable to tactics and technology, and geographical issues. Kennedy pulled all this together in his presentation, relying heavily on the technological and industrial accomplishments of the U.S. and Great Britain. A new fleet of destroyers and carriers was produced at the rate of one per month, peaking in June of 1943. Ships were even “traded”–The British ship “Victorious” became the “U.S.S. Robin,” which became part of Halsey’s fleet.

Even before the war, the U.S. protected bauxite mines in Dutch Guinea and Papua, New Guinea. Aluminum was produced and was essential in the construction of 22 Essex Class carriers and the Grumman F6F Hellcat, a carrier-based fighter. Kennedy illustrated a “sausage-chain” concept from bauxite to aircraft and ship construction to the winning of crucial battles. By the end of 1943 the Allies were outproducing the Japanese by a factor of six to one when German Admiral Donitz was then launching 20 U-boats monthly. In the Atlantic, the crucial development of radar by the Allies allowed the steady destruction of the U-Boat “wolfpack,” thereby allowing safe passage of troops and materiel through the northern route to Europe and Russia, where U.S. tanks proved critical to winning the war.

After Professor Kennedy’s presentation, Bob Rimmer led a lively Q and A session that included topics such as drones and the current Chinese Navy.

To see the full presentation, go to https://greenwichrma.org/ and click on “Speakers.”

The RMA’s next presentation will be by Kermit Roosevelt III who is an American author, lawyer and legal scholar. He currently is a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania and is a great-great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt. His presentation will be about his new book, The Nation That Never Was: Reconstructing America’s Story that challenges the conviction that we owe our ideals and values to the Founders’ America. Professor Roosevelt maintains that we are not the heirs of the Founders, but we can be the heirs of Reconstruction and its vision for equality.

There’s a common story we tell about America: that our fundamental values as a country were stated in the Declaration of Independence, fought for in the Revolution, and made law in the Constitution. But, with the country increasingly divided, this story isn’t working for us anymore—what’s more, he maintains, it’s not even true. Roosevelt argues in this reinterpretation of the American story, our fundamental values, particularly equality, are not part of the vision of the Founders. Instead, they were stated in Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and were the hope of Reconstruction, when it was possible to envision the emergence of the nation committed to liberty and equality.

We face a dilemma these days. We want to be honest about our history and the racism and oppression that Americans have both inflicted and endured. But we want to be proud of our country, too. In The Nation That Never Was, Roosevelt shows how we can do both those things by realizing we’re not the country we thought we were. Reconstruction, Roosevelt argues, was not a fulfillment of the ideals of the Founding but rather a repudiation: we modern Americans are not the heirs of the Founders but of the people who overthrew and destroyed that political order. This alternate understanding of American identity opens the door to a new understanding of ourselves and our story, and ultimately to a better America.

America today is not the Founders’ America, but it can be Lincoln’s America. Roosevelt offers an inspirational rethinking of our country’s history and uncovers a shared past that we can be proud to claim and use as a foundation to work toward a country that fully embodies equality for all.

Kermit Roosevelt has carried his family legacy into the twenty-first century by educating and inspiring the public through his work as a professor of constitutional law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, as well as a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice David Souter, and he is the author of The Myth of Judicial Activism, Conflict of Laws, and the national campus bestseller, In the Shadow of the Law.

This presentation will occur on Wednesday, November 30, at 11:00 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Greenwich as well as on webinar at: https://bit.ly/30lBj21.

Note: The views expressed in these presentations are those of the speakers. They are not intended to represent the views of the RMA or its members.

RMA speaker presentations are presented as a community service at no cost to in-person or Zoom attendees. The RMA does request that all eligible individuals consider becoming a member of our great organization, and thereby enjoy all the available fellowship, volunteer and community service opportunities that the RMA offers to its members. For further information, visit www.greenwichrma.org or contact Joe Mancinelli (mailto:jlmanc@optonline.net) or Peter Stern (mailto:members@greenwichrma.org).

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