Mahan and the Jeune Ecole
Torpedo cruisers, avisos, and other dead-ends
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For most of the 19th Century, naval thinkers had regarded it as a given that ships meant naval area control, and those with the biggest ships could prevail in any future conflict. Though there is no literature on the subject, policy and usage suggest that people regarded the pre-WWI battleship as the male lion of warships, which were built to fight each other for supremacy of the open seas. That was their role, and all they were good for in a fight. The rest of the ships in the fleet tended to the battle line and, in a manner of speaking, acted as the battleship’s "pride" … literally and figuratively. When not in battle, the big ships were simply showpieces.
Though not strictly at odds with this idea, American Alfred Thayer Mahan's The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783 (1890) added the factor that cruiser advocates needed. Mahan described a colonies/ports/trade/fleets/and repeat cycle of economic growth that depended on sea trade and protected sea lanes more than on the battle line (which he saw as decisive only in titanic, decisive battles). Preying on enemy communications in Mahan’s time meant long-ranging cruising vessels, not privateers (that Mahan dismissed as undisciplined rabble). He believed all warships, regardless of role, should have been regularly commissioned vessels.
Mahan was wildly popular among naval enthusiasts for half a century.
As a counter to the idea that big fleets and ships were supreme, the Jeune Ecole (New School) in France, especially, pointed out the weaknesses of the battle line and their vulnerability to explosive ammunition and undersea weapons. Explosive ammunition, quick-firing guns, torpedoes and torpedo boats, submarines and mines became popular as counters to Britain's formidable battle line, even if the technology was a long time in coming. Experiments showed some promise in mine-carrying vessels and submarines, but they could not yet discourage the British or challenge their sea control supremacy. It also suggested cruisers over battleships for multi-role sea superiority, which meant that Britain had to build even more cruisers.
And build they did.
Armored cruisers appeared as either first, second or third class (the difference being size and the seniority of the skipper) Protected cruisers, same thing. Then came the third-class cruisers, which were also dispatch vessels (see aviso below), scout cruisers, torpedo cruisers, coastal cruisers, minelayer-cruisers and on and on. When the Jeune Ècole concept caught on and the self-propelled torpedo became more widespread, the torpedo cruiser became popular, though exactly how it was to be used was a matter of some discussion and never resolved as none ever launched a torpedo in anger as torpedo cruisers. The first was the 1,100 ton British-built German SMS Zeiten. Shortly thereafter, they appeared in the service of all the other Great Powers (Britain’s only two torpedo cruisers were third class), plus the South American states, the Benelux countries, Japan and China.
Torpedo cruisers carried torpedo boats…sometimes.
Strategically, the inherently lower endurance of these vessels restricted them to either coastal or over-the horizon operations. Therefore, they were perfect for operations in European waters, but not for the broad reaches of the Pacific or commerce raiding. Until the 1920s, torpedoes were relatively short-ranged, and thus presented only minor threats to pre-1906 battleships: they could be spotted and blown out of the water before they reached their target. The torpedo boat destroyer developed to meet the threat of mass torpedo boat attacks. The torpedo cruiser’s short-lived history is a link between the steam-and-iron broadside ship designs of the 19th Century and the technological advances that would inaugurate the 20th. Most navies converted them into destroyers, coastal ships or auxiliaries. Japan converted the last of theirs into high-speed transports during WWII.
Avisos, frigates and corvettes: communications before radio
The aviso came out of a need for communications with the far-flung parts of empires, an evolution of the frigate/corvette of sailing days that were still built, but now they used steam and propellers. Small ships with no combat roles whatsoever, avisos carried mail and sometimes passengers to the remote stations around the world. Called dispatch vessels by some navies, barely armed (if at all) and commanded by junior officers, these little ships disappeared when radio communications improved. While the ships called “frigates” and “corvettes” lived on as, well, not-other warships (a more full explanation is not possible, ever, as the monikers have been revived and dropped at least twice since 1920), the avisos just went to the scrapyards.
The Persistent Past: Discovering The Steele Diaries
If you think all this is confusing, try to decipher what’s meant by a deadly “rum jar” during WWI, or a “77,” or “white cross” or a “smoke hood.” When a scholar finds all these in some diaries that he found in an old trunk, that’s just some challenges he faces.
And Finally...
On 29 November:
1947: UN Resolution 181 passes, partitioning Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state with Jerusalem as an international city in San Francisco, California. While the Jews accepted the resolution, the Arabs did not, leading to the 1947-48 War between the proclaimed state of Israel and all her neighbors.
1972: The console video game “Pong” premiers at Andy Capp’s Tavern in Sunnyvale, California. With a simple flat screen with two knobs for controllers, players slid their cursors across opposite ends to prevent a single electronic “ball” from leaving their end of the screen, just like ping-pong. It was the first of the coming tsunami of now-ubiquitous video games.
And today is NATIONAL SQUARE DANCING DAY in the US, when everyone grabs a partner and do-si-do’s around the room while someone yells what to do next. Well, maybe not everyone square-dances, but some do. I haven’t since, what, 3rd Grade?