Dwight Eisenhower once warned of an insidious collusion between industry and government that threatened to become master of United States domestic and foreign policy. His warning came too late, of course, for the threat had already become reality before he spoke. But there were and are positive elements to the merger of interests, and one of them was the infusion of civilian small craft expertise into the arena of national defense. This dissertation is an overview of the evolution of small combatant craft in the United States Navy and demonstrates that the most successful of these boats have consistently come from the civilian sector. The history of this intercourse is traced from its origins in the American Revolution through its ultimate incarnation of the motor torpedo boat of World War Two. Experience in Vietnam and ongoing counter-terror and drug interception operations worldwide, demonstrates conclusively that rugged, efficient boats for security, patrol, and combat are still an essential factor in law enforcement, homeland defense, and power projection, and the services have come to rely increasingly upon the domestic small craft industry to supply them. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2009. / Date of Defense: October 5, 2009. / World War, Torpedo, Torpedo Boat / Includes bibliographical references. / James P. Jones, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jeffrey Chanton, University Representative; Michael C. Creswell, Committee Member; Jonathan Grant, Committee Member; Peter Garretson, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_169149 |
| Contributors | Wiser, Edward H. (authoraut), Jones, James P. (professor directing dissertation), Chanton, Jeffrey (university representative), Creswell, Michael C. (committee member), Grant, Jonathan (committee member), Garretson, Peter (committee member), Department of History (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
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