The Nation Needs a Shipbuilding Revolution
Envisioning and then taking action to lead what could be a revolution in shipping is imperative for regaining U.S. maritime strength.
By Captain Brent D. Sadler, U.S. Navy (Retired)
February 2025 Proceedings Vol. 151/2/1,464
The U.S. Navy is in a fight for survival, a quickening battle being waged from the halls of the Pentagon to the boardrooms of industry to hearings on Capitol Hill. The consequence of this contest will determine if the nation is destined for maritime irrelevance and the laying of its prosperity at the whims of autocrats a world away. At the core of the battle are these questions: What sort of Navy does the nation need; and how can it be built?
Fleet composition is a perennial debate, but it is meaningless if there are not enough shipyards or workers to build that fleet. And so, the bigger question is how to recapitalize a shipbuilding industry to produce the required new capabilities and warships. The Royal Navy’s experience in the years prior to World War I is illuminating.
The Royal Navy’s Shipbuilding Revolution
The Royal Navy was going through growing pains that eventually would usher in the modern navy early in the last century. At the center of the modernization were Sir Winston Churchill and Admiral of the Fleet John “Jacky” Fisher. They would lead a revolution in naval warship design and construction that ensured British naval dominance for another three decades. Delivering the navy required then necessitated new shipyard construction techniques, radio-enabled operations, and targeting of long-range naval cannon.1 Not everything needed was adopted.
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2025/february/nation-needs-shipbuilding-revolution
