p. 371 It is the province of strategy to attain the national object through the complete, partial
or threatened achievement of the military aim under the existing political, economic and military conditions. The
underlying assertion is that when armed force is used... security is reached through battle or the threat
of battle.
p.372 the majority of men do not remember that security and battle are inter-related.
p.374 Colomb further held that the aim of naval war is to obtain command of the sea... Enduring
mobility is useful but not always indispensable. The need for it varies with the particular circumstances...
Colomb called permanent control "command of the sea," but he never defined the meaning of the term
p.375 a distinguished admiral is reported to have said: "I have command of the sea when I am able
to tell my government that they can move an expedition to any point without fear of interference from an enemy's fleet."
p.375 In the year 1902 the Board of Admiralty laid before the Colonial Conference a "Memorandum on sea power
and the principles involved in it." The salient passages read: -
"The importance which attaches to the command of the sea lies in the control which it gives
over sea communications. The weaker sea-power is absolutely unable to carry to success any large military expedition
oversea...." ... It is more correct to say that the sea is commanded when the enemy armed force has been destroyed
or neutralized.
p.376 "the aim of naval strategy is to get command of the sea" and that "command of the sea means
control of communications."
p.377 "...The main object aimed at by our fleet, whether for the defence of commerce or
for any other purpose, is to prevent any ship of the enemy from getting to sea far enough to do any mischief before
she is brought to action...."
p.377 "War is essentially a relationship between two powers in which one endeavours to force the
other to submit to its will by the application of some form of pressure... An attack on communications constitutes
a form of pressure, and a nation... can be coerced by this method."
The pressure is to be exerted to throttle national life, that is, to threaten
security
p.378 "In all three cases the question at issue is the control of communications in a certain area or areas.
To attain the desired end naval operations must generally be directed against the enemy's fleet, but this must not blind us
to the fact that its destruction is not an effective form of pressure in itself, but merely a means to an end...."
p.379 The main objects for which our Navy exists may be shortly summed up under four heads:
-
1. To ensure for British ships the unimpeded use of the sea...
2. In the event of war, to bring steady economic pressure to bear on our adversary by denying him the use
of the sea...
3. Similarly in the event of war, to cover the passage and assist any army sent over seas, and to protect
its communications and supplies.
4. To prevent invasion of this country and its oversea dominions by enemy forces.
The above objects are achieved in the quickest and surest manner by destroying enemy's armed naval
forces, and this is therefore the first objective of our fleet. The fleet exists to achieve victory... The
military aim is (1) to destroy or neutralize the enemy armed forces, and thus protect our sea-borne trade, military transports
and supply ships, and (2) to stop enemy sea-borne trade, military transports and supply ships.
