* World War II: American Pre-War Naval Rearmament--Roosevelt Administration (1933-41)








World War II: American Pre-War Naval Rearmament (1930s)


Figure 1.--The United States during the 1930s as Japan and the United States drifted toward war had an impressive fleet of battleships, but most were older types, many dating to World War I. This is the 'USS Arizona' in the East River off New York in 1916. These ships were bordering on obselence at the time the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. New ships were under contruction but lagged behind Japanese ship contruction. Source: Image courtesy of the Military History of the 20th Century.

The U.S. Navy was not prepared for World War II, but of all the services it was probably the best prepared. The Treaty Navy in the 1920s was limited by arms limitations treaties and Congressional resistance to defense spending. As a result, the United States began the 1930s with a sizeable fleet of battleships which were sen as the key capital ships. The American battleships were, however, were World War I-era ships. The Navy was badly in need of modernization Most of the battleships sunk at Pearl were older classes from World War I and early 1930s. The failure of efforts to renew the Washington Arms Treaties at the London Talks, because the Japanese wanted to expand naval construction, meant that America had to proceed with the expansion and modernization of the fleet. The Navy would begin to construct newer and larger classes of battleships and innovative air craft carriers. President Roosevelt was a strong proponent of a strong Navy. Funds were at first limited by the New Deal's focus on social spending. The United States also began improving their submarine fleet from the small S types to the larger fleet classes that had the range to operatecin the Pacific Ocean. Naval construction still left the U.S. Navy dangerously inferior to thr Imperial Fleet in the Pacific, but just strong enough to contain the Japanese in thecPcific and keep the Atlantic life lines to Britain open until a massive wave of new ships from American shipyards could reach the fleet (1943).

National Industrial Recovery Act (1933-34)

One of the principalinitial efforts of President Roosevelt's New Deal was the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) in 1933. The NRRA Blue Eagle appeared on business around the country. Economists now generally critize the NIRA, as in effective because it disrupting the free market. The Depression could have prevented needed reamramnent to deal with the dictators. And Among the provisions funded in 1934 was some $238 million for 70 new US Navy ships. Among the vessels was two new Yorktown Class aircraft carriers. These proved to be two of the most famous carriers of World War II (USS Yorktown (CV-5) and USS Enterprise (CV-6). (The Yorktown played a key role at the Battle of the Coral Sea. Yorktowm and Enterprise were two of the three American carriers at the Battle of Midway that devestated the Hito Butai carroers.) President Roosevekt since boyhood has an interest in the Navy. He had served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy during World War I. In his desire to modernize the Navy, the President had a strong Congressional ally--Georgia Congressman Carl Vinson. Vinson became chairman of the House Naval Affairs Committee (1931). He helped and Florida Senator Park Trammell guided the Vinson-Trammell Act through Congress (1934). The bill created badly needed jobs in American shipyards but also ptovided the ships that proved critical in staving off the Japanese and Germans when war came. It provided the first large number of new ships the Navy received since World War I. Congressional isolationist and peace forces, however, fought untiringly to limit funding for the Navy. As a result, when war came all but one of America's battleships (USS North Carolina was launched in 1941) as well as many cruisers and destroyers were World War I relics and badly outclassed by modern Japanese vessels. (The eight American battleships destroyed or damaged at Pearl Harbor had been built between 1914 and 1921.)

Vinson-Trammell Act (1934)

The Vinson-Trammell Act of 1934 estabkished a regular program of naval ship constructiion and modernization to bring the Navy to the maximum Treaty limitations. Japanese aggression in the Far East ptomted comvern and Comgress wanted the Navy to expamd as nug as it wa allowwed. President Roosevelt took a special interest in Naval matters. [Howarth, pp. 357–58.]

Pacific Bases

The Naval Limitation Treaties was not restricted to ships. There were also provisios applying to bases. There was also ageneral reluctance to spends money on Paciugfic island bases in the middle of the Depression. Congress only approved building seaplane bases on Wake Island, Midway Island and Dutch Harbor. It rejected additional funds for bases on Guam and the Philippines. A factor affecting bases was that the Navy was designing ahios with greater endurance and range which permitterd them to operate at graeter distanes from bases and between refits .[Morison, pp. 21–23.] The Navy also had a presence in the Far East with a naval base in the Philippines. nd it operated river gunboats in China on the Yangtze River. This led to the Panay incident when Japanese air craft bombed and machine-gunned the gunboat Panay, clearly identified as an American ship while it was at anchor in the Yangtze River outside Nanking (December 12, 1937). [Perry] The Japanese had just invaded China proprr a few months earlkier.. Nanking was the Natiomlit capital. The Japamese were under the illusion that Chang Kai-chek would seek peace adterbhis capital was takem. The day after the Panay was attacked, the Japanese began an orgy of attacks on the civukaubns in Nanking. men, women, and childrem--,as raprsand nurder. The ensuing Rape if Nanking is one of the horific atrocioes of World War II. The Japanese Government quickly apologiezed and provided compensation.

Failure of the London Conference (1935)

The Americans and the British attempted to convene another naval arms conference (1935). The major naval powers met in London for another round of naval talks to renew the existing limitations decided on at the Washington Naval Conference (1921-22) and London Naval Conference (1930). These limits were due to expire (1935-37). The militarsts in Japan were now in virtual control of the Government. The Japanese demanded parity with America and Britain. When this was not granted, the Japanese withdrew from the planned conference. This meant the exisiting limitations would expire. All three nations initiated battleship rebuilding programs with expiration of the treaty in 1936. Japan initiated the largest building program, a massive program to build 150 ships. The Japanese laid down two super battleships, Yamoto and Musoshi, but the actul doimensions of these massive ships were kept secret. They were 69,100 tons, twice the size of treaty limitations. Germany built Bismarck and Tirpitz at 52,600 tons. The falure of the Conference created enough concen in Congress to approve an American naval building program, although a smaller program than initiated by the Japanese, only 100 vessels. Even so the new ships would only bring the Navy up Treaty limits. Two aircraft carriers were laid down in 1936 and 1937, each within Treaty limits. (These were USS Wasp (CV-7) and the larger USS Hornet (CV-8). No one knew at the time just how importnt these carriers would be. Both would reach the fleet in 1941 in time to participate in the critical Pavific battles of 1942. The Rooevelt Administration justified the appropriations in part as they would create jobs. The Isolationists and peace lobby opposed the appropriations with the slogan "Schools, not battleships". New battleships were authorized, but actual keels were not laid until after the war began in Europe. Only the USS North Carolina (BB-55) reached the fleet before Pearl Harbor.

Naval Act of 1936

The Naval Act of 1936 authorized the first new American battleship since 1921. The first of these ships USS North Carolina was laid down (October 1937).

Naval Actb of 1938

The Naval Act of 1938 was akso called the Second Vinson Act. It authorized a 20 percent increase in the size of the Navy.

Two Ocean Navy Act (1940)

War broke out in Europe after NAZI Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland (Septenber 1939). Britain and France, Workd War I Allies, declared War on Germany. President Roosevelt was hopeful that the Allies could with stand German invasion. He worked to undo the neutrality laws wgich retricted American aid and grudually American aid became available. The President's hopes collpased with thev German Whermancht excecuted a Western Offensive that defeated the Frehch Army in a few weeks leaving the Germans in control of mucvh of Europe and thratening Britain (June 1940). Massice Soviet supplies of critical raw materilas played an important role in the German success. The Atlantic Ocean was now America's great barrier against NAZI Germany. At the same time the Japanese were making aggrevice nobes in the Far East, whivh Amnericab code breakers were able to follow as they were readingbthe Japmese diplomatic (Purple code). America was faced with a two oceaan naval war. As a result, the U.S. Congress which had been relictant to approve militarty appropriationsm turned ioen the spigots. Congress passed the Two-Ocean Navy Act (the Vinson-Walsh Act) (July 19, 1940). Carl Vinson and David I. Walsh chaired the Naval Affairs Committee in the House and Senate respectively. The $2 billion was the largest naval procurement bill in U.S. history, it increased the authorized size of the United States Navy by 70 oercent. It authorized the construction of 257 ships and mnore vthan 15,000 aircraft. Of course it wiuld take time to build the ships and planes, not as long as the Germans and Japanese calculatedm but it would take time..

Sources

Howarth, Stephen. To Shining Sea: a History of the United States Navy, 1775–1998 (Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma, 1999).

Morison, Samuel Eliot. The Two-Ocean War: A Short History of the United States Navy in the Second World War (Annapolis, Marylamd: Naval Institute Press, 2007).

Perry, Hamilton Darby. The Panay Incident: Prelude to Pearl Harbor (1969).








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Created: 8:40 PM 5/11/2012
Last updated: 10:25 PM 3/20/2020