The unsinkable fleet : the politics of U.S. Navy expansion in World War II
In this policy study of the U.S. Navy's expansion from 1939 through the end of the war, the author reveals some of the political and strategic complexities that come into play when a nation allocates finite resources to seemingly limitless needs. He examines policy formulation at the highest levels, focusing on the political problems faced by Navy leaders in their attempts to ensure that their building program proceeded despite resistance. The book begins with the original decisions about requirements for combatant ships and prewar attempts to integrate the Navy's building plans into the overall national program for wartime mobilization. As the strategic picture brightened and resource shortages worsened, critics accused the Navy of building a fleet beyond the needs and means of the nation, unnecessarily consuming manpower, materials, and labor
Print Book, English, ©1996
Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Md., ©1996