The U.S. Navy Has Forgotten What It’s Like to Fight

[rangerrebew]

The U.S. Navy Has Forgotten What It’s Like to Fight
The U.K.'s defeat at Jutland is a reminder of how a victorious force can get lazy.
By James Holmes | November 13, 2018, 10:37 AM
 

The popular imagination remembers World War I as a tale of trenches, mud, rats, and barbed wire. But the grinding ground war between the entrenched armies in France wasn’t the only conflict. In the east, Russia and the Central Powers fought a war of movement over vast plains. In the south, Italian and Austro-Hungarian troops froze in the white war of the mountains. On the periphery of Europe, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk frustrated the Allied thrust at Gallipoli, while far away German cruisers wreaked havoc along the South American coast.

If there was one thing shared in all these theaters, it was a leadership struggling to comprehend how quickly war had changed, and to reconcile the lessons they’d been taught with the grim realities of the ground. For most, it was a drawn-out education. But for the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy, which had assumed it would win the glory it saw as its birthright, it was a single sharp shock—one with lessons that the U.S. Navy should be heeding today.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/11/13/the-u-s-navy-has-forgotten-what-its-like-to-fight/

[Dexter]

Our Navy is so much more powerful than any other Navy on Earth that it's actually kind of comical.

[Absalom]

Suggest Jurno Holmes get real as the Royal Navy was not defeated at Jutland.
While Britain enjoyed a 3:2 advantage in warships, agree German Gunnery
was far superior, an extension of their skill with Land Artillery.
Yet because of losses the Germans Fleet did not appear for battle on Day 2 at
Jutland conceding the North Sea to Britain.

[240B]

I don't know how the U.K. Navy works, but the U.S. Navy has several distinct facets, some of which fight embedded with or in support of S.F, Marines, and Army operators. This article seems to be only talking about topwater Navy ships at sea. Which is only one single part of many parts of what the U.S. Navy in its entirety is. Using the term, "The U.S Navy", is too broad of a term to be meaningful.

[Elderberry]

I don't know how the U.K. Navy works, but the U.S. Navy has several distinct facets, some of which fight embedded with or in support of S.F, Marines, and Army operators. This article seems to be only talking about topwater Navy ships at sea. Which is only one single part of many parts of what the U.S. Navy in its entirety is. Using the term, "The U.S Navy", is too broad of a term to be meaningful.

My son served on 2 fast attack submarines and he always said that the "Cold War" never ended.

[dfwgator]

Kind of like Republicans.

[240B]

My son served on 2 fast attack submarines and he always said that the "Cold War" never ended.

It didn't. I could tell you some stories about that. The problem with a 'cold war' is that the vet is never recognized as a combat veteran, even though life-or-death situations happened every day. And there are no medals for combat or heroic behavior, many times because Washington D.C. will never admit that what happened, happened at all. Those are the drawbacks to being a cold warrior, as it is called. Those are the drawbacks to being a ghost.

Why would you give a ghost a medal? He was never there, and he never did a damn thing. We had nothing to do with that. Sometimes it will not even be recorded in their service file because it never happened. That's why you have to ship out to a combat zone as a regular for 6 months or more. Just to get it in your file.

[skeeter]

Suggest Jurno Holmes get real as the Royal Navy was not defeated at Jutland.
While Britain enjoyed a 3:2 advantage in warships, agree German Gunnery
was far superior, an extension of their skill with Land Artillery.
Yet because of losses the Germans Fleet did not appear for battle on Day 2 at
Jutland conceding the North Sea to Britain.

The body of the article correctly talks about Jutland being a draw, which to the Germans was like a win.

German gunnery was good, but more than that their ship design and damage control was far superior to the British. They'd already experience catastrophic turret explosions at Dogger Bank and by the time of Jutland had instituted measures to prevent their re-occurance. Considered by the world to be the preeminent naval power, british doctrine suffered, they had gotten lazy as the article says and many sailors paid with their lives.

[Absalom]

The body of the article correctly talks about Jutland being a draw, which to the Germans was like a win.

German gunnery was good, but more than that their ship design and damage control was far superior to the British. They'd already experience catastrophic turret explosions at Dogger Bank and by the time of Jutland had instituted measures to prevent their re-occurance. Considered by the world to be the preeminent naval power, british doctrine suffered, they had gotten lazy as the article says and many sailors paid with their lives.

-----------------------------------
Skeeter, your facts are on the mark and comments fair.
Having the mercurial Beatty at the point of attack,
did the Royal Navy no favors.

[sneakypete]

It can more correctly be stated as "The US Navy has no competition,so they no longer need to know how to fight."

[sneakypete]

My son served on 2 fast attack submarines and he always said that the "Cold War" never ended.

@Elderberry

The boomers and the boats that protect them are the exception to the rule. They are ready at any time day or night to rain damn-damn down on the heads of any nation that attacks the US.

Carriers and carrier task forces exist primarily to "show the flag" and to act as delivery trucks for jet fighter/bombers.

Another area they really shine in is evacuating people from coastal areas destroyed by storm,and restoring power and getting their civilizations up and running again. Between their own ships and the ones they have contracted,nobody can match their ability to haul cargo and people. And a US Navy repair ship full of Seabees sitting offshore from your nation can be the best thing you have ever seen if your infrastructure has been destroyed from whatever sources.

As a WAR MACHINE,the US Navy is primarily a submarine force,though.

[rangerrebew]

I served aboard the U.S.S Ranger in the early 70s and the first time the Russian Bear visited to take photos of modifications as we transited to the Philippines, it was obvious carriers were the albatrosses of the fleet.  Showing the flag in foreign ports did seem to be an important objective.