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Article: APOSTLE OF AMERICAN SEA POWER ALFRED T. MAHAN'S INFLUENTIAL BOOK STRESSED THE IMPORTANCE OF A STRONG NAVY.(OUR MILLENNIUM)
- Article from:
- The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA)
- Article date:
- May 30, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 The Virginian Pilot-Ledger Star. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of the Dialog Corporation by Gale Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: JOHN-HENRY DOUCETTE, STAFF WRITER
IN THE YEARS before the last century turned, it was amusing nautical knowledge that the guru of American sea power was given to seasickness. Perhaps less amusing to the crews beneath and the admirals above Alfred Thayer Mahan was his distinction as one of the most incompetent seafaring officers to ever man a bridge.
In 1861, he was deck officer of the Union ship Pocahontas as it slammed into an anchored Union sloop. Eight years later, he rejoiced upon bringing the USS Iroquois into a Japanese harbor without hitting another ship. He had less luck in 1883, when he led the USS Wachusett into a smaller craft with the ...