Building American Submarines, 1914-1940

Washington, DC: Department of the Navy, Naval Historical Center, 1991. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Wraps. Very good +. xv, [1], 166 pages. Wraps. Illustrations. Appendix. Chronology. Abbreviations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Minor wear and soiling to covers. Contributions to Naval History, No. 3. The efforts of the U.S. Navy to develop effective submarines from the start of World War I to the outbreak of World War II; the result of this effort was the boats that equipped the U.S. Submarine Fleet in World War II and decimated the Japanese merchant fleet. Dr. Weir became Chief Historian, Office of Corporate Communications, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and author of path-breaking studies of the history of modern naval science and technology, including Building American Submarines, 1914-1940, An Ocean in Common: American Naval Officers, Scientists, and the Ocean Environment. He was also the principal investigator for You Cannot Surge Trust: Combined Naval Operations of the Royal Australian Navy, Canadian Navy, Royal Navy, and United States Navy, 1991-2003. In this volume, Gary E. Weir assesses the Navy's efforts between 1914 and 1940 to develop effective submarines. In particular, the author describes the work of the Navy and private industry that allowed the relatively primitive submersible of the First World War period to be replaced by the fleet submarine that fought in the Second World War. Building American Submarines argues that there was a fundamental shift in the relationship between the Navy and its submarine suppliers during this period. After being completely dependent upon private industry in 1914, the Navy - not industry - controlled the design and construction process by the eve of the Second World War. As a result, the Navy was able to acquire high-quality submarines to fulfill the nation's strategic requirements. When we entered the Second World War, these new submarines were ready to undertake prolonged and effective antishipping operations in distant waters. That capability was of enormous importance in the ensuing triumph of American sea power over Imperial Japan. In tracing these developments, the author provides insights into the goals of the naval submarine submarine leaders, the evolution of the American submarine industry, the influence of German underseas technology, and strategic requirements foreseen by naval planners. The Navy's historians hope that this case study of the problems and successes involved in a major weapons acquisition program will be of particular interest to naval personnel involved in that process today, as well as to representatives of the industrial firms that supply the needs of the modern Navy.