News, Articles and Comment

Ed. Our correspondent continues his narrative of Operation HIGHMAST during the recent transit of the Red Sea, reflecting on developments in those tense waters. A 5 minute read.

Ed. Churchill’s final volume of his war memoirs is titled Triumph and Tragedy: the theme of the volume is “how the great democracies triumphed and so were able to resume the follies which had so nearly cost them their life.” What did Churchill mean by tragedy? Was he referring to the incredible loss of life caused by the firestorms of Dresden and Tokyo or by the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Or was he lamenting the tragedy that, for most of Eastern Europe, he foresaw that one jackboot was to be replaced by another. As it wasn’t just the democracies that triumphed, the most successful victor of the Second World War was indeed Stalin claiming territories and spoils both in Europe and in Asia. Once again, we risk another tragedy as it looks increasingly likely the jackboots are on the rise.

Ed. The author revisits the issue of seablindness [112/2, p. 264], comparing the history of defence unification in the UK and US and taking stock of the situation today. A 30 minute read.

Ed. Our correspondents elaborate on the meaning of intelligent disobedience in the context of staff work, and reconsider a long-held position on nuclear deterrence.

Ed. Originally published in November 1952 [40/4, p. 373], the author examined the then recent history of destroyer operations and derived far-sighted conclusions that remain relevant today . A 30 minute read.

Ed. Reproduced from the NR’s archives for Merchant Navy Day, the author in this article from 1931 [19/4, p. 641] engaged with an ongoing discourse then popular in the NR regarding the future of the Royal Naval Reserve, that Service having been vital to the conduct of the First World War at sea. A 10 minute read.

Ed. Our correspondent proposes a challenge for the NR’s readership: The author, who is aged 89 and has contributed many articles over the years to the NR, more in a humorous vein than a serious one, takes a look back at the Royal Navy in war and peace over the past century and ponders some of its lighter social changes. A 5 minute read.

Ed. Our correspondent replies to another of Cdre Jermy’s recent articles [112/1, p. 21], with regard to the geopolitical and diplomatic conditions surrounding the origins of the Russo-Ukraine War.

Ed. The author comments on Cdre Steve Jermy’s recent article regarding the imperative for a negotiated solution to the Ukraine War.