Battle Line: The United States Navy, 1919-1939

by Thomas C. Hone, Trent Hone

A portrait in words and photographs of the interwar Navy, this book examines the twenty-year period that saw the U.S. fleet shrink under the pressure of arms limitation treaties and government economy and then grow again to a world-class force. The authors trace the Navy's evolution from a fleet centered around slow battleships to one that deployed most of the warship types that proved so essential in World War II, including fast aircraft carriers, heavy and light cruisers, sleek destroyers, powerful battleships, and deadly submarines. Both the older battleships and these newer ships are captured in stunning period photographs that have never before been published. An authoritative yet lively text explains how and why the newer ships and aircraft came to be. Thomas Hone and Trent Hone describe how a Navy desperately short funds and men nevertheless pioneered carrier aviation, shipboard electronics, code-breaking, and (with the Marines) amphibious warfare - elements that made America's later victory in the Pacific possible. Based on years of study of official Navy department records, their book presents a comprehensive view of the foundations of a navy that would become the world's largest and most formidable. At the same time, the heart of the book draws on memoirs, novels, and oral histories to reveal the work and the skills of sailors and officers that contributed to successes in World War II. From their service on such battleships as West Virginia to their efforts ashore to develop and procure the most effective aircraft, electronics, and ships, from their adventures on Yangtze River gunboats to carrier landings on the converted battle cruisers Saratoga and Lexington, the men are profiled along with their ships. This combination of popular history with archival history will appeal to a general audience of naval enthusiasts.

Genres: History, American History, Naval History

304 pages, Hardcover

First published April 3, 2006

About the author

Thomas C. Hone, an executive in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, is an award-winning author of many papers and books on naval subjects, including American and British Aircraft Carrier Development, 1911-1941. He has taught at the Naval War College and the National Defense University among other institutions.

Credit: U.S. Naval Institute

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Battle Line is a very ambitious book, endeavouring to cover the development of the US Navy between 1919 and 1939 in just 188 pages (as well as a good collection of photographs with informative captions). Chapters cover subjects such as sailors, officers, managing the navy, battle line tactics, submarines, naval aviation and the effect of marines on the navy. The writing is excellent and the thread of discussion is generally very good.

That the book largely succeeds in providing a picture of the USN between the two world wars is strongly to its credit, but the many threads the authors try and draw together in such a short space of time mean that key developments (for example, dual-purpose guns as standard on destroyers, or the developments in tachymetric anti-aircraft fire control that lead to the Mk 37 director, or the impact of funding and bureaucratic issues that lead to the debacle that was the US submarine and destroyer torpedoes in 1942 and into 1943) aren’t mentioned (beyond a passing reference to torpedo issues, but with no mention from whence those issues came). While some might argue these are points of detail, things like the torpedo issues highlighted bureaucratic problems that had a material impact on the war effort, and might have been worth at least some coverage.

However, that’s not to take away from the value of the book. It’s very well researched and referenced, with the sources providing recommendations for further reading. It’s easily recommended, and a great overview of the interwar USN.

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting, but a real good overview of the US Navy between the world wars. I expected more on the development of the weapons and doctrine, but otherwise it's a solid read.

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better toward the end than in the early pages, but worth the effort to read.