Randolph (CVA 15) - Naval Cruise Book

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I of world history was expanding rapidly. The develop- ment of tht sea-going ship to replace the land-bound galley played at great part in this expansion. 'l'he gal- ley could not carry more than three or four day's sup- ply of water for its crew, but the ship could remain at sea for months. Naval strategy and tactics were dras- tically revised. The English and the Dutch were both nations of first-rate seamen, but gradually, in the course of three long naval wars, the greater wealth and population of England prevailed. ln the eighteenth century Great Britain acquired India and found herself on the path of Empire. Im- mediately naval control of the Mediterranean became the principal concern of British policy, and the story of seapower returned to its birthplace. At this time France was by far the greatest military power in the world. During the XVar of the Spanish Succession at the beginning of the century she could be held in check only by a vast alliance of all the other European powers. Frances interest was primarily continental, which induced her rulers to under-estimate the im- portance of the navy. In the end the policy of dis- counting sea power was to prove fatal to France. Great Britain maintained a fleet in the Mediter- ranean very much like the Sixth Fleet today, but she did so for hundreds of years, during which time her sailors fought innumerable battles. XfVe shall look at only one of these, the most important of them all and the one that settled the issue, Lord Nelson's Battle of the Nile. Nelson's reputation as the greatest of the world's Hghting sailors rests principally on three smashing victories, the Battles of the Nile, of Copenhagen, and of Trafalgar. The second of these, the Battle of Copenhagen, was a diversion made necessary when Denmark and Russia threatened to reverse their alli- ance and join with Napoleon's France against Great Britain. It was the Battle of the Nile which made the Mediterranean a British lake, and the Battle of Tra- falgar which hnally crushed the French navy. Before the Battle of the Nile Nelson had an excellent reputa- tion in the service, but thereafter he was all the world's darling, and the spirit of the French navy had suffered a blow from which it never fully recovered. At the beginning of the year l798 Nelson was in England recovering from the amputation of his right arm, after four and a half years of service in the Medi- terranean. Although Great Britain had recently been successful in several sea battles, her overall military situation was grave. Napoleon's amazing campaign in northern Italy had forced Austria ont of the war, and the new Emperor of Russia, Alexander Il, was waver- ing in his alliance. YVhen Nelson sailed to rejoin the Mediterranean fleet in April, rumor was spreading that Napoleon was mounting a great amphibious force in Toulon' its destination was only conjectural. Ns soon is IN: lson in Vangumfl came up to the fleet, which was blockading Cadiz, Lord St. Vincent, the commander-in-chief, dispatched him with two other ships to Toulon to investigate the activities of the French fleet. This was a detached command of the greatest importance, and St. Vincent passed over a number of more senior officers, who complained loudly to the Admiralty, in selecting Nelson. As soon as Nel- , Zfig 1 , A W I I ,ff ' ,lf ,- 4 ,O Y .flpfi lf AX ci , , C I c 6 I f xv- 1 Saracen son had entered the Mediterranean and was approach- ing his station off Toulon he ran. into the first of the hard luck that plagued him in this operationg Van- guard lost her masts in a storm. The ships made an emergency anchorage in Sardinia where all three crews contrived to jury-rig her masts in three days, but most unfortunately the senior officer in Nelson's frigates had assumed that Nelson would have to return to Gibraltar, and had done so himself. Nelson was shortly reinforced by ten more line-of-battleships, but he was without his fast reconnaissance vessels when his first crucial task was to find the French. It became apparent from news from passing mer- chantmen that the French were at sea. Nelson rounded Corsica to the north and put in at Naples for more information, where he learned that the French were attacking Malta. Transiting the Straits of Messina, Nelson spoke a ship on 22 June which informed him that the French had taken Malta on 15 june and sailed the next day. A council of war was called to de- cide where in the vast sea to search for the elusive French fleet. Judging from the facts that the wind was westerly and that the latest news was six days old, it was decided to search the Eastern Mediterranean. Nelson's imagination settled on Alexandria, the route of an army destined for India. The passage to Egypt was very fast, 800 miles in six days. Nelson was dismayed to find Alexandria harbor empty' he had brought his fleet far away from his station, and still had no real knowledge of the enemy ll7

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X I k xx .Nh bigger, more sophisticated, and armed with primitive cannon, although the ram was still a major weapon. As in ancient times, the fleets were able to ignore the wind and deploy like land armies. The decision was still won by hand-to-hand fighting, the fire of their cannon being highly ineffective at anything greater than point-blank range. The greatest innovation, which perhaps decided the battle, was that Don John caused to be built fifteen very large, heavy ships called galleasses, in which speed and maneuverability were sacrificed for strength and Hrepower. The Christian fleet assembled slowly at the Straits of Messina, the Turkish admiral has been criticized for not striking Hrst while the Christians were still weak, but he was content to wait in his home waters in Greece. YVhen Don .Iohn's fleet was formed it pro- ceeded Hrst to Corfu, and then stood southwest to where the Turkish Crescent lay in the Gulf of Corinth, its horns supported against either shore. The Chris- tian fleet of 300 ships and 80,000 men found itself con.- fronted with 400 ships and 120,000 men. Until the Battle of Jutland in the First XiVorld X'Var, the world would not see another naval battle on such a vast scale. Ali carrie near to escaping by an admirable maneuver. He turned his squadron outboard as though to out- flank the Christian fleet, thus drawing Andrea Doria away from the center. Suddenly the Turks turned back and raced for the widening breach in the line. ln the nick of time Santa Crux brought up the reserve squadron to Hll the gap, like an alert linebacker in a football game. ln the end few of Ali's ships escaped: all the rest of the Turkish fleet were sunk or captured. Preparations had been made to relay the news across Europe, and the Pope received word of the victory that very night. 8000 Christians had been killed, and 16,000 woundedg Turkish casualties were uncounted, but at least 25,000 were killed. More than anything else, Christendom rejoiced to learn that 15,000 galley slaves were released from the Turkish ships. Turkey's overlordship of the Mediterranean was permanently ended. Don John of Austria was the most celebrated hero of his century, but today his name is not a familiar one. However, there was in his fleet a gentleman serv- ing as a private soldier whose left hand was maimed in the battle, and who had therefore to turn to writing to support himself. The book he wrote is one of the world's greatest treasures, and his name much greater than that of his illustrious admiral. The name of the V gentleman was Miguel de Cervantes, and the name of . the book is Don Quixote. Sometimes the pen is ',' . . 9 mightier than the sword. The Battle of Lepanto marked the climax of the H 5: development of Spanish seapower. Philip II was a 155 , 'VY - I-W, glorious monarch, and he was also an extraordinarily u p' l,-qi devout Catholic. Having crushed the infidel in the 1--f 1 l'y7Z-'2'fIf2f- East, Philip's next thought was to stamp out the 3 heretic in the North. England had recently pro- H X L- Iv E claimed herself a Protestant state, and at the same A ' 1 A155 X, g time her sailors were becoming an increasingly annoy- x s ' ing threat to Spain's commerce with her American xg X empire. Seventeen years after Lepanto, in 1588, Catho- N53 X lic Europe led by Spain again put forth its naval might in the Great Armada. Hifi The story of how the superb seamanship of the English and the deplorable seamanship of the Spanish combined to the utter destruction of the Spanish Knight of St, John Armada is familiar to everyone who speaks the English language. The English ships were faster and handier than the Spanish, and the men in them were all ex- The Turkish center was commanded by their ad- perienced sailors. The English guns were of longer miral Ali Pasha, their right by Mahomet Sirocco, and range, more accurate, and more numerous than the their left by Uluch Ali. Don John led the Christian Spanish, and their gunners were better shots, The van with a Venetian named Veniero on his left and a English lost 200 men and no shipsg the Spanish lost Genoese named Andrea Doria on his right, the Mar- everything. quis of Santa Cruz commanded the reserve squadron. During the seventeenth century the naval contest The battle WHS met by the violent assault of Don John's was between England and Holland, and was fought galleasses, which threw the Turks into consternation. mainly in northern waters. Before the defeat of the The Christian left wing soon obtained the upperhand Armada the story of naval warfare took place almost Over their opponents, but on the other wing Uluch exclusively in the Mediterranean, but now the stage fn. , 116

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TOULON I I 1. E.. I . s m ' ,x 1 X f I A v Il X I , X xxx Il X , ,I I 1 7 1 . :i , , S A ., 1' Nxz 1 x '-11 I X ' N 1x2-.. z,. .- ' .7' 1 sX.' . x -+A mf . 1 : x , X ag, :- , . 'Q ' , I E u'.'.'3' 3 5. . N 'i ,X : ' xx-..-07' .Q..2' '-1:I gf. ' f' Q Y Q Q23 ..-if' -- . 'la 'I E I N -is U ..,X.:..: O .I fl 4 - xx 5.5, 9 ' 32.4, Q a 'ia' f X TG EL -.aw ' ' ' ':f1. ll: If JUNE ,X Q .f-.a:I. PV -was 9 Q 2 ',...:1z:: .2 1 '51 23 v 6 , ' 5: Lg ,, 'ix 4,125 o e Q fff ' nt. - xx X 1 ' N. .- '-P- ' '3'-3. - x::T'-N NNN Q ,-.--f I n',, NI -. X '---- -- - -- -v I f I . 'I-..-sp MALTA xx XX 'I ,f I un, xxx N-N..,.,--,,,f' I ue JUNE! Nc, X ,' as FN- X , , ,I ' x ,,-' 1 ----- BRITISH en N-cs i ,J 'f:5.:. ' N-NN 'X '17-I AUG .I 'i ' NN N fre. FRENCH ' SCALE KMIJ 200 400 600 n,:,f, Nl... '---r- -11' ,.., -4 :FALEXANDRIA ze JUNE The Sea Chase Having come this far he resolved to search the eastern shore, although he was not optimistic. His luck was very bad again, for had he turned back immediately he would have run into the heart of the French fleet. lt had actually left Malta on I9 -Iune, giving it only three days lead instead of six, and Nelson's fast war- ships had passed the slowytransports hull- .,..x X K i xx--Wy' ,fl down over the horizon in the night. Nel- I 'MJ xxx 'N ff! son had arrived at Alexandria on 28 June, I , H ,,,. ,,,, 5 ,XX F' at which time the French were right behind .wif ND XX- him. Nelson returned to Sicily on 18 July, l-X a whole month gone by without a scrap of 1' A Xxx. ,,' information. Four days were spent replen- rjzf' fxxx XI ' ,,,' ishing, still without news, during which R, f.f'N,X SHOAL WATER X-I ' nflflf time Nelson concluded that if there were -'mx all in 'N'--XX. IFN-f rr ,cfflf I no news at Sicily the French must indeed Lx I A Xi k 'm'F i7Z5 - ,ll I' I : have sailed to the East. xx, .ff T! iff, Il I' f F l It was part of Nelson's genius that he was ,..,. 5 I i I I i more than willing to sail to the ends of the I li B l : I l : earth to find the enemy. Later, before Tra- .ff Il s Xxx I I I : I lalgar, he was to chase the French across the I! I ' NI Q 1 I I I Atlantic to the XfVest Indies and back again Ii lx i B 5 I I I before succeeding in bringing them to ac- xxxx I I : tion. Now he sailed back again to the East. X I3 ' I I this time going by way of Greece. There I' I he learned that Napoleon was invading N 0 I I Egypt, and again he rushed to Alexandria. G, 6 I' This time the British were elated to find If the harbor full of French shipping, until 0 I they realized that the ships there were all ,f transports and merchantmen, the French 0 f fleet was gone. Nelson was heart-broken: . Q f - -I he had given Napoleon more than a month BRIIHSH 0 ls i'N ! in which to conquer Egypt, and had al- Q FRENCH 0 I' ,fy lowed the fleet to get off scot-free. W'ith- -,-' ff' Ollt much hope, the British continued cast, 0 I LVN ,lf--Nw ,ff I-.-.X ,KW 0 N .1 1' f' X' l H3 .... r 1 K f - 'I