Naval Interest:

THE NAVAL INTEREST SECTION IS NOT JUST FOR NAVAL PROFESSIONALS

 If you have an interest in politics, history, adventure stories, or even management theory there is something in this section for you.

 I have been wading through the Naval Interest section for days trying to affix those little miniature book cover icons as hyperlinks to dozens of new titles either recently released or reviewed by the Naval Institute. The task is one of those counter intuitive mind numbing computer tasks that take up an inordinate amount of time. I never seem to catch up in the Naval Interest section, more important works hit the market more often in that section than any other. Frankly Naval Interest is both the messiest and most diversified and interesting section on the site.

 The term "Naval Interest" brings to mind visions of works like the DICTIONARY OF NAVAL TERMS or ordinance and gunnery manuals. But of the 302 titles posted to that section so far the choices include such non naval works as A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME by Stephen Hawkins . Why is this in the Naval Interest section ?  It is just one of many titles on the Chief of Naval Operations' (CNO) "Reading List", a list of books that the CNO recommends to members of the Navy to read in order to broaden their perspectives.

 Do you like historical drama? Join the excellent company of thousands of America's sailors in reading one of these selections from the CNO's list: FLIGHT OF THE INTRUDER by Stephen Coontz or THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER  by Tom Clancy, come on now, READ don't just go rent the movie. The Chief of Naval Operations isn't the only senior sea service officer with a reading list, the Commandant of the Marine Corps has one as well. To get young marines reading, one of the Commandant's selections for the young private marines is STAR SHIP TROOPERS, and we do mean the book not the movie. In a more classic vein THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE is also on the Commandant's list.

 The service chief's reading lists contain all sorts of recommendations for various ranks. If you're a serious student of comparative cultures try THE CHRYSANTHEMUM AND THE SWORD: Patterns of Japanese Culture by Ruth Benedict. Are you of a political mind? Join some senior Marines in reading THE PRESIDENCY AND THE MANAGEMENT OF NATIONAL SECURITY. 

 We apologize that the Naval Interest section is in such poor order. One of our most productive book store elves is at sea on his day job, while our most cyber savvy elf is in Costa Rica still trying to reestablish electromagnetic contact. So the section is something of a disorganized mess, but the titles and hyper links are there and there is a semblance of logic to the section. We don't want to wait until it is all" ship shape and Bristol fashion" before inviting our non naval professional visitors in. 

You will find some seriously interesting nautical reading in this section, and some readings which are only connected to the nautical world by the recommendation of a Chief of a sea service as a broadening experience. A brief browse in the Naval Interest section may not only put you in touch with some interesting authors, but will also give you a viewing port into the minds of America's sailors and marines, a group that reads far more than the average American, since books are informative, entertaining, and don't need electricity or batteries.  They also travel far more than the average of their countrymen  This combination often makes them far more informed than the average American on many fronts; something to think about the next time you meet a sailor or marine. Come on into our messy but most interesting and fastest growing section, Naval Interest.  Make yourself at home, browse, Naval Interest, its not just for naval professionals anymore. 

NAVAL INTERESTS SECTION

 

NAVAL INTEREST:

June 6, 1944 Allied Invasion of Normandy

D DAY REMEMBERED

 Today is June 6, 2012 the 68th anniversary of the amphibious assault by Allied forces upon the German forces dug into the coast line of Normandy. Despite the frequent claims of some of the book store elves here at American Admiralty Books of being "two days older than water and one day older than dirt" the truth is that none of us were there sixty eight years ago. But several of us had a horse in that race in the form of fathers and grand fathers who, luckily for them, and us, made it back in one piece so that the earth could eventually be littered with gnarled and grizzled old seamen turned nautical arts and science teachers and book critics. 

 While I wasn't there 68 years ago, I was there forty years ago when many who were adults in 1946 were simply middle aged with vivid memories. I walked the beach at Normandy where our fathers and grandfathers stormed it. I brought to that walk the eye of a young sailor trained in the amphibious assault doctrine of the 1960s, "vertical envelopment". Had I been there I would have been one of the "Beach Masters" helping to guide in the landing craft and organize the immediate landing zone assuming that I survived my first few attempts at visual signaling. One look told me that the Germans had the high ground that day. No matter how much the ships off shore attempted to "soften" the German defenses the defenders were dug in deep enough to survive in large numbers with their fire power intact. 

 Freedom carried the "longest day" but the price was high. Fortunately for all of us alive to read this where ever our ancestors were on the "longest day" they survived and we are here. But thousands of young men died without ever becoming fathers. With them also went tens of thousands more never to be born. Some would have become doctors, lawyers, engineers, moms, dads, or something really lucrative like plummers. Some no doubt' would have become another generation of soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and coast guardsmen who would eventually defend freedom in other places and morph into old gnarled and grizzled sailors hacking out a living reviewing nautical books. 

 The world is richer by the sacrifice of that long ago generation in terms of freedom, but the real loss is beyond counting. We should always pause to remember D day, the "longest day" that switched back on the light of freedom in Europe. If you can't get to Bedford, Virginia today take a moment and visit the D day memorial in cyberspace via the hyperlink below. The D Day memorial is located in Bedford because Bedford lost more men on D Day  in proportion to its size than any other American community. In 1944 the population of Bedford, Virginia was about 3,200. On D day they lost 19 men. Most of the families of Bedford lost a father, brother, or cousin that day for our future freedom. Bedford wasn't alone, only emblematic of the sacrifice of many American communities. 

 Freedom isn't free, pause and remember and take a little cyber journey with us to the D Day memorial. Click on the hyperlink below and remember, or if like us, you are too young to remember,  stop and appreciate.

http://www.dday.org/

Naval Interest:

THE DRAGON AND THE TIGER

Let Us Introduce You to the Tiger

Updated 7/6/2017

 Tiger Photo by J. Patrick Fischer

Editor's Note: We first published this post in 2012 where we introduced our institutional shorthand for the two major actors in the Indian Ocean basin The "Tiger" (India) and the "Dragon" (China). We have received literally hundreds of thousands of visitors since then particularly since 2014. Most we hope have caught on to our terms of referral. However the editorial board felt it was time for a reintroduction. So in somewhat updated form here is our original introduction of the terms "Tiger" and "Dragon" . Of the two the "Tiger" (India) is a law abiding and trust worthy non aligned nation who does yeoman naval service in the Indian Ocean of much benefit to the world. The "Dragon" is a growing and powerful naval power resentful of existing international maritime law that tends to thwart it's imperial tendencies and ambitions.  Over time the "Dragon" has drawn more ink from us than the Tiger including the still on going "HOW FAR WILL THE DRAGON SWIM" series of analytic posts simply because the "Dragon seems to make trouble, raise alarms, and intrude on the territory of others almost daily. By contrast our coverage of the "Tiger" since 2012 has been pretty much limited to lauding new acquisitions of vessels, systems and skills, and occasionally offering sympathy for tragic accidents that seem inevitable and India continues to evolve from a craft of opportunity fleet to a domestically designed and built fleet. Basically we see the "Tiger" as the benign , even noble protector of the commons in the Indian Ocean, and the "Dragon" as an egg stealing marauder from the East and South China Seas to the Indian Ocean.

China, we refer to as "the Dragon" in our series on the People's Liberation Army Navy PLAN. The PLAN is one of the premier emerging navies of the world and is clearly slated for much more development by China. The Dragon has exhibited some interests in the Indian Ocean where lurks the "Tiger" our term for the Indian Navy. The Indian Navy is a fully emerged navy that has many years of successful aircraft carrier operations under its belt and is in possession of steady growth and modernization plans. The Indian Navy is making the term "Indian Ocean" more a reality every day. More over, this is the navy of the world's largest democracy. 

 Here at American Admiralty Books we make no bones about being admirers of the Indian Navy and we are concerned that U.S. /Indian relations are not warmer than they are. We have interests and commerce moving through the Indian Ocean at a time when we are badly stressed to provide naval coverage in the Pacific. The Obama administration started to "pivot" towards the Pacific. But problems and commitments such as counter piracy patrols and protecting oil routes are likely to present real challenges to a shrinking U.S. Navy requiring more ships in the Pacific. Like us, our NATO and EU allies are a long way from home, and in economic trouble, no doubt stressed to maintain the naval presence we need in the Indian ocean.  

Yet the Indian Ocean has a real navy and it belongs to a real democracy that has exhibited respect for the concept of freedom of the seas. We think it is time for all English speaking naval professionals to learn all they can about the Indian nation and its ever increasingly competent navy. We think the world can trust Indian leadership in the Indian Ocean but our leaders over the years have obviously left some doubt about our willingness to get behind this democratic regional leader. Just because India is not always willing to follow a Western lead does not mean that it can not be trusted with protecting international vessel traffic and enforcing international law in this vast ocean, where we have so much at stake and are so stressed to maintain serious naval presence. Its time to get serious about India being an important naval power, and unlike the Dragon, the Tiger's increasing, and in terms of the dragon, superior swimming ability is nothing that we have to be afraid of. 

 We urge our "Naval Interest" readers to join us in studying this powerful, and rapidly modernizing, and capable navy. Below are some hyperlinks to Indian Navy information, starting with their own English language web site: 

http://indiannavy.nic.in/

Here is a general description and history:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Navy

Here are some recent news items on the Indian Navy:https://www.google.com/webhp?source=search_app#q=Indian+navy&hl=en&prmd=imvnsu&source=univ&tbm=nws&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=DYHPT7jxDsXs6gGki5W_DA&sqi=2&ve

Naval Interests:

How far Will The Dragon Swim?

THE DRAGON AND THE TIGER

The Indian Navy's New Chief Designate and the Tiger's Growing Fleet

 The official national animal of India and an important national symbol is the Royal Bengal Tiger. We use the tiger in our discussions as a symbol for India. Cats aren't known for their swimming ability but tigers and jaguars have been filmed swimming. India is one hell of a powerful and skilled swimming tiger. They don't call it the Indian Ocean for nothing and India intends to keep it that way, whether the dragon objects or not. While the Tiger respects the freedom of the seas, it is known to be determined that no dragon, eagle, or imperial lion develop the regional naval power to dispute its rule over the Indian waves. 

 The Indian Navy has been competently operating an aircraft carrier for years, the INS VIRAAT; while the dragon is still working on their first attempt at operating a carrier. The dragon has ventured into the Tiger's sea with various naval agreements with the Tiger's troublesome neighbor Pakistan. The Tiger respects the freedom of the seas and has not attacked the dragon, but the dragon must be aware of the formidable and growing teeth of the Tiger. At a time when the United States is attempting to operate a capable global naval presence on considerably less than 300 warships, India is preparing a one ocean Navy of at least 150 war ships.  The Indian Maritime Capability Perspective Plan 2012-2027 pegs the number of major war ships required as at least 150. India is not pipe dreaming on this; 44 new ships are on order along with six submarines. Contracts for another 45 warships including 6 new submarines and 7 stealth frigates are just a little deeper in the Indian naval acquisition system pipeline. As the Dragon grows the Tiger moves to be capable, competent, and up to date. 

  New Deli announced today (June 5, 2012) that Vice Admiral D.K. Joshi has been designated as the next Chief of Naval Operations for the Indian Navy after the August retirement of Admiral Nirmal Verma. Vice Admiral Joshi is a specialists in anti submarine warfare and a former commanding officer of guided missile corvetts, destroyers, and India's aircraft carrier INS VIRAAT. A more complete biography and more details of the transfer of power are available at the Times of India via the hyperlink below.

 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/D-K-Joshi-to-be-new-Navy-chief/articleshow/13844981.cms

 The United States has many interests in the Indian Ocean area as does Great Britain. The British provide us with a naval base in the middle of the Indian Ocean at an Island cluster called Diego Garcia. Our Indian Ocean presence is no where near large or powerful enough to to give real pause to a determined dragon without re-enforcement. Our Indian Ocean naval presence not likely to grow appreciably in the near future. The real guardian of the Indian Ocean is the Tiger, who while not unfriendly to the Eagle; does on occasion buy warships and weapons from the Bear. The bear you may remember a few years ago, was having a virtual fire sale on military gear. India is the world's largest democracy, and the permanent naval power in the Indian Ocean. English is widely spoken, why our relations are sometimes at arms length is a complex tale. Again, one of the places where this tale has been explored in detail is in the pages of the U.S. Naval Institute's PROCEEDINGS.  http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings

Don't forget to check our "Naval Interest" section periodically for books on the Tiger's naval activity and the rivalry between the Tiger and the Dragon. Our "Naval Interest"section is our largest and fastest growing section in terms of book titles posted. The section however is not just for naval professionals. Anyone interested in history or global politics will find a lot of interest there. Can naval writers ever really capture the imagination and attention of the general public. Well, you do know who Tom Clancy is don't you? His first smash hit THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER was published by the U.S. Naval Institute Press. So even if you are a "dyed in the wool" civilian, go ahead browse our Naval Interest section.

Naval Interests:

HOW FAR WILL THE DRAGON SWIM?

American Admiralty Books Didn't Invent Swimming Reptiles

Links checked 1/3/2018
 In the interest of full disclosure we certainly aren't members of the liberal media and we aren't Fox News either. We don't offer our readers "fair and balanced" views, we offer "expert opinion".  As often as possible when experts disagree and opposing views are offered to us, we try to offer them to you. However, basically we deal in expert opinion, mostly our own in house variety. 

 So when we discuss China you should know that we use terms like the "Middle Kingdom" and often invoke a much used symbol of the Middle Kingdom, the dragon, because we don't think of China as a "Communist State". China, after all provides its citizens with less of a social security system than that of the supposedly capitalist United States, and far less than most modern Western nations from Canada to Finland. We think of China as "State Capitalists". Their government owned enterprises, as well as their growing private sector are run for profit. 

 Our mental image of the nation, when we allow it a visual element, is usually related to the "Middle Kingdom". When China historically referred to itself as the "Middle Kingdom" it saw itself as the Center of the Universe, not as sort of "middle power". China had a powerful Merchant Marine and sought to draw all of the Pacific Basin onto itself through what we would call today mercantile or "soft" power.

 The Dragon was a powerful symbol of China back in the era of the "Middle Kingdom" and is strongly connected with the nation to this day. So when we began to analyze Chinese maritime events we seemed to naturally gravitate to the title "How Far Will The Dragon Swim". The title seemed to just come out of the ether. We decided to do a little research. 

 We soon discovered that we aren't the first to associate the image of the dragon with China's People's Liberation, Army  Navy (PLAN). Way back in 1969 we found a China Brief article that phased the concept a little less certainly by the title of "Can the Dragon Swim?". That was the appropriate question back in 1969 but as time marched on it became obvious that the dragon, indeed can swim. A number of analysts writing in typically obscure political and naval journals began to ask the question in the form of "How Far Will The Dragon Swim". Finally in the Naval Institute's March 1999 PROCEEDINGS, then Lieutenant Commander Wayne R. Hugar writing in Vol. 125-51 on pages 48-51 titled his analytical article on the PLAN, "HOW FAR WILL THE DRAGON SWIM?" 

 Our search also revealed that the words "how far will the dragon swim" appear in numerous pet magazines in association with the care (including bathing instructions) of various large lizards, both as part of articles and as article titles. So basically we think reducing the question of what are the intentions of China relative to its obvious continuing naval development; can be articulated with the more colorful expression "How Far will The Dragon Swim?" Since we are fairly confident that the words are in the public domain we will continue to use them as a sort of shorthand to alert our readers that an article is going to discuss PLAN developments, or issues related to rival regional naval powers;  and as a short hand reminder that far more expert discussions are available through both the Naval Institute's Proceedings and their book titles, the most recent of which on the PLAN we first described in our May 21, 2012 article  and we are continuing to describe in our "Naval Interest Section".

 We are happy to acknowledge Lcdr Hugar's 1999 article as the most prominent early use of the term in this context.  We hope by our continuing to use the term and linking our readers as we did in our blog of May 21, 2012 to the Naval Institute that we will help the interested reader who is probably not a big consumer of obscure political journals and Department of State white papers to find more ink on the subject by informed naval writers. We can think of three places to find such; The Naval Institute, the Naval Intelligence Professionals QUARTERLY,which often runs related articles under the banner "China Watch" and here among the blogs and "Naval Interest" pages of American Admiralty Books.We also invite our readers to join in the discussion by using our "Comments" section at the end of this and every blog.

  No we didn't invent the swimming reptile concept, but we think the swimming dragon is worth careful observation.To help our aquatic dragon watchers here again is a hyperlink to the U.S. Naval Institute; and for the first time in our pages, a hyperlink to the Naval Intelligence Professionals (association). 

Naval Institute:   http://www.usni.org/                        

Naval Intelligence Professionals:      http://www.navintpro.org/                                        

Naval Interests:

HOW FAR WILL THE DRAGON SWIM?

Today Italy, Tomorrow the World

 The Chinese Navy training vessel the ZHENGHE arrived in Taranto, Italy today for a five day port visit. This port visit is just one in its around the world cruise now well underway. One training ship of course, does not make the "Great White Fleet" that announced America's presence as a primer global naval power.  A world cruise is of course, easiest to perform with a training vessel which is not subject to routine deployments, or in possession of great combat capabilities. While training vessels can be impressive on a port visit, they are not "ships of line" but rather the more easily spared elements of a growing , but not quite ready for prime time navy.

 None the less, the world cruise of the ZHENGHE is a clear signal in our opinion of China's intent to become a first rate naval power if not a peer navy eventually of the United States.

Taipei Noticed The Dragon Improving Its Swimming Skills Back In 2012

Naval Interests:

American Admiralty Books Safety & Privacy Policies   EU VISITORS WARNING POSSIBLE COOKIES AHEAD

HOW FAR WILL THE DRAGON SWIM?

It's Certainly Improving Its Strokes for the Crossing to Taiwan 

Source: Taipei Times, article by J.Michael Cole, Staff Reporter

Editor's note 1/3/2018  It appears that there was some delay in the development of the ships described in this article but the first in class are presently scheduled to enter service in late 2019 or early 2020 which is certainly not good news for Tiwan . We found an informative update in an article published by "next BIG FUTURE" (https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/04/china-building-40000-ton-helicopter-aircraft-carrier-and-increasing-number-of-marines.html ) 
Illustration by PLA published at "next BIG FUTURE" 

There is a new People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ship being developed in China that has defense circles in Taiwan concerned that the mainland is building a game changer in the conflict over the sovereignty of Taiwan. Naval analysts in Taiwan believe that as early as 2014 the PLAN could have operational a major landing helicopter dock (LHD) ship that would cause a "strategic shift" in the Taiwan Strait. The design has already been officially revealed by the China Shipbuilding Industry Company, (CSIC) the nation's largest ship building organization at the Defense and Security 2012 exhibition in Bangkok last March. Naval analysts both on Taiwan and in the United States States believe the ship to be the "Type 081 LHD, a design that Jane's defense weekly confirmed in 2007 noting that the preliminary design was reportedly completed in 2006 with detailed engineering design starting soon afterward. The LHD will be capable of carrying eight helicopters on deck with hanger space for four more, or for hoover craft and can accommodate up to 1,068 marines. The ship will also be equipped with phased array radar, four short range air defense launchers, and some type of anti submarine warfare capability. The operational range of the vessel is estimated by analysts to be 7,000 nautical miles with an endurance of up 30 days at sea. 

 The ship design most closely resembles the French Mistral -class amphibious assault ship with some features similar to the Japanese Self defense Force Hyuga -class helicopter carrier in service since 2009. Analysts expect a launch date of 2014. Such ships are frequently employed by Western powers for humanitarian relief missions but their primary purpose is the delivery of troops from the sea. While the move might be seen as simply a counter to the nearby Japanese capability, or a move to increase China's capability to participate in distant humanitarian missions and thus increase the prestige of the Middle Kingdom, there is no doubt that this will be a first class amphibious assault ship. Analysts believe the PLAN seeks to acquire at least three of these ships. No if, buts, or maybes, possession of this ship means the dragon will be able to swim to Taiwan's shores and launch its pups ashore much more handily than ever before. How far will the dragon swim? Clearly to Taiwan and beyond, unless the dominant Chinese Army decides otherwise. Some thing happened of a similar nature in the long distant past of China. China once backed away from maritime dominance at a time when it had no rivals, and set the stage for Western Expansion in the 1400s. Chinese historians today view that as a big mistake that they hope China does not repeat. We think the safer bet is to count on a dragon who daily becomes a stronger swimmer.

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