The Royal Navy in the Age of Austerity 1919-22: Naval and Foreign Policy under Lloyd George (Bloomsbury Studies in Military History)

third-party websites referred to or in this book. All internet addresses given in this book were correct at the time of going to press. The author and publisher regret any inconvenience caused if addresses have changed or sites have ceased to exist, For my father, who taught me to respect the Sea Drake's Drum DRAKE he's in his hammock an' a thousand miles away, (Capten, art tha sleepin' there below?) Slung atween the round shot in Nombre Dios Bay, An' dreamin' arl the time O' Plymouth Hoe. Yarnder lumes the Island, yarnder lie the ships, Wi' sailor lads a-dancing' heel-an'-toe, An' the shore-lights fl ashin', an' the night-tide dashin', He see et arl so plainly as he saw et long ago. Drake he was a Devon man, an' ruled the Devon seas, (Capten, art tha' sleepin' there below?) Roving' tho' his death fell, he went wi' heart at ease, A' dreamin' arl the time o' Plymouth Hoe. 'Take my drum to England, hang et by the shore, Strike et when your powder's runnin' low; If the Dons sight Devon, I'll quit the port o' Heaven, An' drum them up the Channel as we drumm' d them long ago'. Drake he's in his hammock till the great Armadas come, (Capten, art tha sleepin' there below?) Slung atween the round shot, listenin' for the drum, An' dreamin arl the time o' Plymouth Hoe. Call him on the deep sea, call him up the Sound, Call him when ye sail to meet the foe; Where the old trade's plyin' an' the old fl ag fl yin' Th ey shall fi nd him ware and wakin', as they found him long ago! Sir Henry Newbolt (1862-1938) Preface viii Preface xvii Today that time lag may be even longer. In 1919 a new capital ship was expected to have a life of twenty years: in the twenty-first century HMS Queen Elizabeth is considered good for half a century. The commanding officers of HMS Queen Elizabeth in her closing years in the latter twenty-first century have not yet been born. Decisions affecting naval policy thus cast long shadows across futures yet shrouded in darkness, and as Kipling noted in 1893 (echoed in sentiment by Elvis Costello in 1982), blood is the ultimate price of Admiralty when they go wrong. 22 This book represents the culmination of more than twenty years' worth of research. Conversely the first draft was written at almost indecent speed during the summer of 2014. Prompted by the Daiwa Foundation's gracious decision to have Plymouth University host a symposium on Anglo-Japanese relations in September 2014, I volunteered to give a twenty-minute paper. Over that summer a twenty-minute paper grew into a 9,000-word article. That in turn grew into this book, as the subject matter forced me to make connections between disparate areas of research that I had investigated since starting a PhD in the 1980s. Diplomatic and military history would meet industrial and maritime history, political history would meet social and economic to try to come up with a broader, innovative and wide-reaching reading of Britain's strategic position, and naval policy, in the aftermath of the First World War. In this endeavour there are many people and institutions that have assisted my research over the past twenty years. My colleagues at Plymouth University (those still active, those who are retired and those who are no longer with us) have invariably been a great help. In this context I would especially like to thank Dr Jonathan Mackintosh whose hard work and ideas led to Daiwa's decision to hold the symposium in Drake's hometown. Daiwa have been very supportive and I would also like to pay tribute to them and to the invaluable work that they do in bringing together two peoples on opposite sides of the globe. "This book thoroughly explores and analyses naval policy during the period of austerity that followed the First World War. During this post-war period, as the Royal Navy identified Japan its likely opponent in a future naval war, the British Government was forced to "tighten its belt" and cut back on naval expenditure in the interests of "National Economy". G.H. Bennett draws connections between the early 20th century and the present day, showing how the same kind of connections exist between naval and foreign policy, the provision of ships for the Royal Navy, business and regional prosperity and employment. The Royal Navy in the Age of Austerity 1919-22 engages with a series of important historiographical debates relating to the history of the Royal Navy, the failures of British Defence policy in the inter-war period and the evolution of British foreign policy after 1919, together with more mundane debates about British economic, industrial, social and political history in the aftermath of the First World War. It will be of great interest to scholars and students of British naval history."-- Provided by publisher Cover Half-title Title Copyright Dedication Contents Preface Acknowledgements Introduction 1. The Navy and the Nation 2. Japan as a Factor in British Strategic Thinking 3. The Impact of the First World War 4. Politics, Politicians and Whitehall 5. The Need for Economy 6. Washington, Tokyo and British Interests in the Pacific 7. Framing British Naval Policy 8. Lee of Fareham’s May Memorandum 9. Next-Generation Battleships 10. Washington Conference 11. Geddes and the Amery Memorandum 12. Repercussions 13. Aftermath Conclusion Afterword Notes Sources Index