Royal Navy Strategy in the Far East 1919-1939: Planning for War Against Japan / Edition 1

by Andrew Field

Overview

Between the ending of the Great War and the start of the Second World War in 1939, the Royal Navy remained the largest in the world. But with the League of Nations seeming to offer a solution to all future conflicts, a country weary of war and without an obvious enemy there seemed no need for a large battlefleet. The strategic focus shifted eastwards, to Japan, with its growing battlefleet as the new threat to the British Empire and to the Royal Navy's supremacy.

From 1924 a strategic plan, War Memorandum (Eastern), was written and refined. The plan called for the Royal Navy, still the largest in the world, even after the Washington Naval Treaties, to move eastwards to a defended base at Singapore, cut off Japan and force her battlefleet into a decisive fleet battle.

As a strategy War Memorandum (Eastern) had many flaws. Its real importance lay in the fact that it provided a justification for the Royal Navy to maintain its leading position in the world and to be in the forefront of the development of new tactical thinking. Through planning for a war with Japan the Royal Navy was able to test its readiness for a future war. Many of the lessons learnt during this period were ultimately put to good use against a different foe in 1939.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780714653211
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/20/2004
Series:	Cass Series: Naval Policy and History , #22
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Andrew Field gained an MPhil at the University of Leeds on the subject of the Royal Navy during the 1920s and 1930s. He is trained as a teacher and has run history departments in Suffolk schools since 1977.

Table of Contents

1. The Influence of a Far Eastern Strategy on British Naval Policy 2. A Far Eastern Strategy; War Memorandum (Eastern) 3. Admiral Richmond and War Memorandum (Eastern) 4. Developing the Far Eastern Strategy; War Memorandum (Eastern) & Changing Circumstances, 1931-1941 5. Battle Fleet Tactics and a War in the Far East 6. The Royal Navy's Strategic & Tactical Exercises 7. Japan's Naval Strategy & Tactics in the Far East 8. Main Fleet to Singapore: The sinking of HMS Prince of Wales & HMS Repulse and the end of War Memorandum (Eastern) 9. Conclusion: War Memorandum ( Eastern ) and the Royal Navy's Strategic, Operational and Tactical Development

Editorial Reviews

"There is some useful information found between [the book's] hard covers." --International Journal of Maritime History

From the Publisher