British Naval Strategy and the War at Sea

Abstract

This chapter provides a long view of Britain’s naval power in the first half of the twentieth century to 1945. Johnston demonstrates the importance of maritime power as the logistical backbone to the entire Second World War effort. This chapter shows that the Royal Navy was taking on a mammoth challenge that it simply could not meet alone, particularly in escorting and maintaining enough merchant shipping to sustain the war effort of a global empire. Against expectations, Germany’s pursuit of unrestricted submarine warfare in the North Atlantic and Italy’s naval presence in the Mediterranean threatened to sever supply lines. This explains the factors that shaped the Dominion naval efforts. Johnston finishes this chapter by examining the maritime contributions of Australia and New Zealand.