What is the Chesney Gold Medal?

Introduction The Chesney Gold Medal is an award given by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) awarded to “any especially eminent work calculated to advance the military sciences and knowledge”. The following people have received the Chesney Gold Medal: This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesney_Gold_Medal >; it is used under… Read More

Who was Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840-1914)?

Introduction Alfred Thayer Mahan (27 September 1840 to 01 December 1914) was a United States naval officer and historian, whom John Keegan called “the most important American strategist of the nineteenth century.” His book The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660–1783 (1890) won immediate recognition, especially in Europe, and with its successor, The Influence… Read More

What is ‘Command of the Sea’?

Introduction Command of the sea (also called control of the sea or sea control) is a naval military concept regarding the strength of a particular navy to a specific naval area it controls. A navy has command of the sea when it is so strong that its rivals cannot attack it directly. This dominance may… Read More

An Overview of Naval Strategy

Introduction Naval strategy is the planning and conduct of war at sea, the naval equivalent of military strategy on land. Naval strategy, and the related concept of maritime strategy, concerns the overall strategy for achieving victory at sea, including the planning and conduct of campaigns, the movement and disposition of naval forces by which a… Read More

What was Kantai Kessen?

Introduction The Decisive Battle Doctrine (艦隊決戦, Kantai Kessen, “naval fleet decisive battle”) was a naval strategy adopted by the Imperial Japanese Navy prior to the Second World War. The theory was derived from the writings of American naval historian Alfred Thayer Mahan. In the Decisive Battle Doctrine the Japanese navy would win a war by… Read More

What is a Battle of Annihilation?

Introduction Annihilation is a military strategy in which an attacking army seeks to entirely destroy the military capacity of the opposing army. This strategy can be executed in a single planned pivotal battle, called a “battle of annihilation”. A successful battle of annihilation is accomplished through the use of tactical surprise, application of overwhelming force… Read More