Dyndal, Gjert Lage (Author)
During the 1960s - in the midst of its retreat from empire - the British government had to grapple with complex political and military problems in order to find a strategic defence policy that was both credible and affordable. Addressing what was perhaps the most contentious issue within those debates, this book charts the arguments that raged between supporters of a land based air power strategy, and those who favoured aircraft carriers. Drawing upon a wealth of previously classified documents, the book reveals how the Admiralty and Air Ministry became interlocked in a bitter political struggle over which of their military strategies could best meet Britain's future foreign policy challenges. Whilst the broad story of this inter-service rivalry is well known - the Air Force's proposal for a series of island based airfields, and the Navy championing of a small number of expensive but mobile aircraft carriers - the complexity and previous lack of archival sources means that it has, until now, only ever been partially researched and understood. Former studies have largely focused on the cancellation of the CVA-01 carrier programme, and offered little depth as regards the Royal Air Force perspectives. Given that this was a two-Service rivalry, which greatly influenced many aspects of British foreign and defence policy decisions of the period, this book presents an important and balanced overview of the complex issues involved. Through this historical study of the British debate about maritime air power and strategic alternatives in the 1960s, the detailed arguments used for and against both alternatives demonstrate clear relevance to both historical and contemporary conceptual debates on carrier forces and land-based air power. Both from military strategy and inter-service relationship perspectives, contemporary Britain and many other nations with maritime forces may learn much from this historical case.
...MoreReview Hammond, Richard (2013) Review of "Land Based Air Power or Aircraft Carriers? A Case Study of the British Debate about Maritime Air Power in the 1960s". Journal for Maritime Research: Britian, the Sea and Global History (pp. 212-213).
Review Hobbs, David (2013) Review of "Land Based Air Power or Aircraft Carriers? A Case Study of the British Debate about Maritime Air Power in the 1960s". Mariner's Mirror (pp. 119-121).
Book
Howard J. Fuller;
(2021)
Turret versus Broadside: An Anatomy of British Naval Prestige, Revolution and Disaster 1860-1870
(/isis/citation/CBB092585039/)
Book
Willis, Sam;
(2011)
The Glorious First of June
(/isis/citation/CBB001421486/)
Thesis
Snyder, David Allan;
(2001)
Petroleum and Power: Naval Fuel Technology and the Anglo-American Struggle for Core Hegemony, 1889--1922
(/isis/citation/CBB001560706/)
Article
Morriss, Roger;
(2014)
Ideology, Authority and the Politics of Innovation in the Royal Dockyards, 1796--1807
(/isis/citation/CBB001421378/)
Book
Seligmann, Matthew S.;
(2012)
The Royal Navy and the German Threat, 1901-1914: Admiralty Plans to Protect British Trade in a War against Germany
(/isis/citation/CBB001421489/)
Book
Simone Tomassoni;
(2020)
La prima guerra mondiale
(/isis/citation/CBB684122136/)
Book
Philip Padgett;
(2018)
Advocating Overlord: The D-Day Strategy and the Atomic Bomb
(/isis/citation/CBB331408403/)
Book
Leggett, Don;
(2015)
Shaping the Royal Navy: Technology, Authority and Naval Architecture, c.1830--1906
(/isis/citation/CBB001551964/)
Book
Hobbs, David;
(2009)
A Century of Carrier Aviation: The Evolution of Ships and Shipborne Aircraft
(/isis/citation/CBB001212156/)
Book
Piotr Butowski;
(2019)
Flashpoint Russia: Russia's Air Power: Capabilities and Structure
(/isis/citation/CBB277555194/)
Book
Peter E. Davies;
(2021)
B/EB-66 Destroyer Units in Combat
(/isis/citation/CBB813243626/)
Book
Hugh Gusterson;
(2016)
Drone: Remote Control Warfare
(/isis/citation/CBB353254698/)
Book
Ken Young;
(2016)
The American Bomb in Britain: U.S. Air Forces’ Strategic Presence, 1946-64
(/isis/citation/CBB766224140/)
Article
Hamilton, C.I.;
(2014)
Three Cultures at the Admiralty, c.1800--1945: Naval Staff, The Secretariat and the Arrival of Scientists
(/isis/citation/CBB001421388/)
Book
Marco Formisano;
Hartmut Böhme;
(2011)
War in Words: Transformations of War from Antiquity to Clausewitz
(/isis/citation/CBB645658776/)
Article
Barritt, Michael;
(2015)
Agincourt Sound Revisited
(/isis/citation/CBB001422547/)
Book
Law, John;
(2002)
Aircraft Stories: Decentering the Object in Technoscience
(/isis/citation/CBB000502464/)
Article
Leggett, Don;
(2014)
Naval Architecture, Expertise and Navigating Authority in the British Admiralty, c.1885--1906
(/isis/citation/CBB001421387/)
Article
Smith, Crosbie;
(2007)
Dreadnought Science: The Cultural Construction of Efficiency and Effectiveness
(/isis/citation/CBB000831457/)
Article
Gray, Steven;
(2015)
Coaling Warships with Naval Labour, 1870--1914: “I Wish I Could Get Hold of That Man Who First Found Coal”
(/isis/citation/CBB001422546/)
Be the first to comment!