The Solomons naval campaign: a paradigm for surface warships in maritime strategy.
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Authors
McKearney, T. J.
Subjects
Solomons Naval Campaign
surface combatant task forces
World War II
war gaming
surface combatant task forces
World War II
war gaming
Advisors
Hughes, Wayne P. Jr.
Date of Issue
1985-09
Date
September 1985
Publisher
Language
en_US
Abstract
This thesis examines the naval campaign in the Solomons
during World War II with an emphasis on the relationship
between the campaign strategy and the tactics employed. The
strategic background is reviewed within the context of the
War in early 1942. A central theme developed is that in the
Solomons campaign both sides employed cruisers and DD ' s as
principal naval forces in place of the fully integrated
"battle fleets" envisioned as part of pre-war strategy. The
role of war gaming in American preparations for the war is
shown to explain in part the failure of American commanders
to modify existing doctrine in a timely manner during the
campaign. Data from the naval battles fought in the Solomons
is compiled in an original way and analyzed to explain the
factors which consistently influenced the outcome of the
eleven battles. Conclusions reached address the nature of
modern campaigns undertaken to widen a conflict ("horizontal
escalation" ) and the forces that may be required to pursue
such campaigns. The parallels between the use of surface
combatant task forces in World War II and their projected
employment today are noted and discussed.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
National Security Affairs (NSA)
Organization
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Format
276 p.
Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.