British Naval Intelligence through the Twentieth Century

by Andrew Boyd

Overview

This is the first comprehensive account of how intelligence influenced and sustained British naval power from the mid nineteenth century, when the Admiralty first created a dedicated intelligence department, through to the end of the Cold War. It brings a critical new dimension to our understanding of British naval history in this period while setting naval intelligence in a wider context and emphasizing the many parts of the British state that contributed to naval requirements. It is also a fascinating study of how naval needs and personalities shaped the British intelligence community that exists today and the concepts and values that underpin it.



Andrew Boyd explains why and how intelligence was collected and assesses its real impact on policy and operations. He confirms that naval intelligence was critical to Britain's survival and ultimate victory in the two World Wars but significantly reappraises its role, highlighting the importance of communications intelligence to an effective blockade in the First, and according Ultra less dominance compared to other sources in the Second. It reveals that coverage of Germany before 1914 and of the three Axis powers in the interwar period was more comprehensive and effective than previously suggested; and while British power declined rapidly after 1945, the book shows how intelligence helped the Royal Navy to remain a significant global force for the rest of the twentieth century, and in submarine warfare, especially in the second half of the Cold War, to achieve influence and impact for Britain far exceeding resources expended.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526736598
Publisher:	Naval Institute Press
Publication date:	10/15/2020
Pages:	680
Product dimensions:	9.25(w) x 6.12(h) x (d)

About the Author

ANDREW BOYD was educated at Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth and St John's College, Oxford. He served as a submariner in the Royal Navy in the 1970s and subsequently the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. He received his DPhil in naval history from the University of Buckingham and is the author of the widely acclaimed study The Royal Navy in Eastern Waters: Linchpin of Victory 1935-1942.

Table of Contents

List of Maps and Diagrams vii

List of Illustrations vii

Foreword ix

Acknowledgements xi

Abbreviations xiii

Introduction xvi

Part I The Foundation of Modern Naval Intelligence 1

1 Beginnings 1800-1882 3

2 The Creation of a Naval Intelligence Department 1882-1905 20

3 Defining a Rising German Threat 1905-1909 42

4 The Beginning of an Intelligence Community 1909-1914 62

5 Trafalgar or Economic Warfare 1912-1914 77

Part II The First World War: Enduring Lessons 99

6 Room 40 and the Foundation of Modern SIGINT 101

7 The Initial Exploitation of Naval SIGINT 1915 118

8 The Hall Tradition 136

9 Hall's Intelligence War in the United States 1915-1916 151

10 Jutland: Intelligence Limitations Exposed 164

11 Blockade: The Under-recognised Intelligence Triumph 180

12 Counter-blockade: Struggling with the U-boat Threat 1916-1917 198

13 The Emergence of Operational Intelligence 1917-1918 222

14 1918: Last Acts and Finis Germaniae 241

Part III Interwar: Lean Times and New Enemies 251

15 Post-war Retrenchment and Restructuring 253

16 New Naval Rivals and the Road to the 1921 Washington Conference 266

17 After Washington: Managing Japan and Other Distant Threats 1922-1930 279

18 Storm Clouds in the East 1930-1939 297

19 The New German Challenge and the Rising Threat from Italy 1933-1938 311

20 1939: Preparing for War - Godfrey Arrives 333

Part IV The Second World War: The Height of the Intelligence Art? 351

21 Living on Thin Gruel: Winter 1939-1940 353

22 The Norwegian Campaign: Still Too Little, Too Late 371

23 Surviving the Initial German Onslaught in the West 383

24 The Atlantic in 1941: A Step-change in Intelligence Capability 399

25 The Atlantic in 1941: Intelligence Moves Centre Stage 421

26 Towards Global War: The Mediterranean 1940-1942 438

27 The Far East 1939-1942: An Overlooked Contribution? 451

28 The Atlantic in the Balance 1942-1943 475

29 Strategic Pivots: Norway and North Africa 1942-1943 495

30 Underpinning Victory in Europe 1944-1945 519

31 Redemption in the Far East 1943-1945 538

Part V The Cold War: Leveraging Strategic Advantage 553

32 1945-1960: Mixed Results in the Early Cold War 555

33 The 1960s: A Time of Transition 584

34 The 1970s: The Rise of Submarine Intelligence 613

35 The 1980s: The Final Soviet Challenge 642

Conclusion 671

Notes 674

Bibliography 739

Index 763

Editorial Reviews

"British Naval Intelligence is an unprecedented and important addition to our knowledge…. It cements Dr Boyd's reputation as one of our leading naval and intelligence historians of this generation. Boyd offers us nothing less than a comprehensive rebalancing and a new way of looking not only at naval intelligence but at the entire modern history of British intelligence and hence of the deployment of British power." --Naval News

"A masterly history of British naval intelligence that deserves to be placed in the essential category. This book brings a new dimension to the historiography of naval operations in the twentieth century." --Australian Naval Institute

"British Naval Intelligence through the Twentieth Century adds new information to the history of the British navy and to the development of war-winning naval intelligence.... [An] important and enlightening book." --Navy Reads

"Andrew Boyd authored a fantastic read which is chock full of knowledge, insight, and understanding.... Boyd not only brings in the human dimension to this fascinating history--he also mixes in the understanding of politics and economics as vital and inseparable parts of an unfolding history. Readers will better understand the motivations of Russia, France, Italy, the United States, and Japan as well as Great Britain--through their national personalities as well as each economic and political development. British Naval Intelligence is refreshing in seeking and obtaining an all-around understanding." --Travel for Aircraft

"Highly recommended both as an essential summary of British naval intelligence operations, strengths, and limitations, and also as a source of a good many insightful commentaries on major aspects of the history of British naval policy, strategy, and operations." --Warship International

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