Comments by "" (@BobSmith-dk8nw) on "The Development of US Navy Tactics (1895-1939) - From Small Beginnings..." video.

Yes. One of the things the Americans really don't get enough credit for - was going from a relatively small military after our Civil War - to one of the largest militaries in history in a very short period of time starting around the turn of the century. To a large degree, the small nature of the American Post Civil War military - was in fact sufficient to American needs of the later half of the 19th Century. The Country was largely preoccupied with assimilating what had become the western half of the nation and didn't face any real threats. The thing with the RN and it's hundreds of years of service is that the mind set which that produces is very difficult to reproduce. In fact I would submit that to this day - no one - has quite achieved that mind set, including the USN. It isn't that the Americans aren't the worlds most powerful Navy - they are - it's just that there is still ... a less developed mentality about what they are doing. With the RN - they KNOW what they are doing. With the USN ... to a degree - they're still working things out as they go. The point made about the USN not having a set doctrine - but relying on individuals to work things out for themselves - is still pretty much there. There is an advantage to that - in that the Americans adapt rapidly to changing circumstances but ... then that adaptation still needs to be made. With the RN - there really isn't much that they haven't already seen - any number of times. The problem with the RN - is that they've been impoverished by the loss of their Empire and the two new carriers bring that in focus. These ships are not nearly what they should have been. The RN will make the best use of them they can but ... the decision by the UK Politicians to not make them CATOBAR Carriers in the first place was imbecilic. .
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