News, Articles and Comment

Ed. RAdm James Goldrick RAN provided the first chapter to the NR’s centenary publication, Dreadnought to Daring (2012), in which he conducted a prosopographical study of the Naval Review’s founders. A 50 minute read.

Ed. Our correspondent considers some of the formidable challenges the PLAN would need to overcome to make an amphibious invasion of Taiwan a realistic proposition, and the long-term hybrid warfare alternatives to which the PRC may turn. A 10 minute read.

Ed. Nuclear submarines, along with the aircraft carrier, have become the ultimate symbols of sea power, but their adoption and use remain not only technically complex and expensive, but also diplomatically and politically controversial. The author surveys this background in the case of the Royal Navy. Winner of the Eric Grove prize. A 5 minute read.

Ed. Firstly a bit of good news. A warm welcome to BMT Group, who have joined the Naval Review as our first Corporate Sponsor. Also, a particular thank you to our female membership and supporters who have been pulling out the stops, and as a consequence I am delighted to report that seven articles in this edition have been written, and contributed to, by women. Dr James Smith’s article on pg 264 deserves special mention, for those that follow the website Forum where we have enjoyed a serious debate over how the country failed to hold on to a maritime strategy in the 20th century. With the weight of articles we are currently receiving we are unable to reproduce this debate beyond the article in this edition, but please consider going online and joining in!

Ed. The author criticises the Future Commando Force (FCF) concept as a narrow misreading of the Royal Marines’ traditional combined arms and amphibious roles. A 20 minute read.

Ed. The author questions the necessity of Continuous At Sea Deterrence (CASD), considering the strain this has placed on boats and crew members.

Ed. With a clear-eyed appraisal of historical trends since the 19^th century, the author argues that, contrary to alarmist concerns of retrenchment, Britain today has more room to maneuver as a strategic counter-weight than has been the case for the last 80 years. Awarded the RUSI Trench Gascoigne prize and originally published in the RUSI Journal. A 25 minute read.

Ed. With his trademark dissection of the conventional wisdom, the author argues that the concept of ‘seablindness’ is merely window dressing for the fundamental misunderstanding of the principles of British national strategy that has manifested over the last 60 years. A 20 minute read.

Ed. Capt Stocker’s forthcoming Navy Records Society volume The Postwar Fleet is highly anticipated. Provided here is a sample document, written in 1949 by the Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Ralph Edwards, later Controller of the Navy and then Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean. It was circulated to the First Sea Lord and other members of the Admiralty Board. The original is held at the National Archives, Kew [ADM 205/83]. A 20 minute read.