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6 - The US New Navy Wins a Race – Finally

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2024

Thomas M. Jamison
Affiliation:
Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California
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Summary

The Pacific not only inspired early investments in the New Navy but the region also offered a series of crises in which the United States could deploy naval assets. As of 1890, the New Navy could muster only five modern warships into its model “Squadron of Evolution.” As a collective, it was a force that mattered little to the North Atlantic balance of power. In the Pacific, by contrast, New Navy ships were sufficient to force Chile – a longtime antagonist – into diplomatic settlements during the Chase of the Itata (1891) and the Baltimore Incident (1891–1892). These successful acts of “cruiser diplomacy” delivered political results. Naval proponents cited operations in the Pacific as evidence of the New Navy’s efficacy and necessity. By 1893, as its sailors and marines intervened in the Hawaiian Coup, the New Navy already had a record of coercion in the Pacific. Such results undergirded celebrations and naval reviews from Astoria, Oregon to New York City, as officials displayed the New Navy and its achievements to the public and the world.

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The Pacific's New Navies
An Ocean, its Wars, and the Making of US Sea Power
, pp. 127 - 151
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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