Command at sea : naval command and control since the sixteenth century / Michael A. Palmer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Palmer, Michael A.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Command and control systems--History.

Command and control systems.

Naval history.

Command of troops.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (400 p. ) maps

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA ; London : Harvard University Press, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In this grand history of naval warfare, Palmer observes five centuries of dramatic encounters under sail and steam. From reliance on signal flags in the seventeenth century to satellite communications in the twenty-first, admirals looked to the next advance in technology as the one that would allow them to control their forces. But while abilities to communicate improved, Palmer shows how other technologies simultaneously shrank admirals' windows of decision. The result was simple, if not obvious: naval commanders have never had sufficient means or time to direct subordinates in battle.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Battle Maps

Prologue: A Regular Confusion

1. Land Warfare Afloat: Before 1650

2. The Anglo-Dutch Wars

3. At the Dawn of the Enlightenment

4. The Conundrum of the Line Ahead

5. The Advent of Numerary Signaling Systems

6. The Zenith of the Age of Fighting Sail

7. The Age of Steam through the Great War

8. From 1918 through the Second World War

9. The Cold War and Beyond

Conclusion: The Crucial Paradox of Knowledge

Notes

Acknowledgments

Index

Notes:

Originally published: 2005.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780674266384

0674266382

9780674041912

0674041917

OCLC:

1013954095