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Admiral Alfred T. Mahan, a former distinguished officer of our Navy, perhaps the greatest recognized authority on naval warfare in the world, sets forth clearly in his book on "Naval Warfare" the true mission of the Navy. He states:
"In war, the defensive exists mainly that the offensive may act more freely. In sea warfare, the offensive is assigned to the Navy; and if the latter assume to itself the defensive, it simply locks up a part of its trained men in garrisons, which could be filled as well by forces that have not their peculiar skill. To this main proposition I must add a corollary, that if the defense of ports, many in number, be attributed to the Navy, experience shows that the Navy will be subdivided among them to an extent that will paralyze its efficiency. ****** The strictly defensive strength of a seaport depends therefore upon permanent works, the provision of which is not the business of naval officers. The Navy is interested in them because, when effective, they release it from any care about the port: from defensive action to the offensive, which is its proper sphere.
"In kind, preparation for war is two-fold,--defensive and offensive. The former exists chiefly for the sake of the latter, in order that offense, the determining factor in war, may put forth its full power, unhampered by the concern for the protection of the national interests or for
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