Ahoy Shipmates

What was the perceived threat that was the primary catalyst for this cruise?

In simple terms the perceived threat in the Pacific was Japan.

The year was 1906 and the Russo-Japanese War had just been concluded. The United States problems with Japan arose shortly after Teddy Roosevelt mediated the Treat of Portsmouth in 1906 which concluded the Russo-Japanese war. An achievement that he later received a Nobel Peace Prize for.

In that war the Russian naval fleet had come off second best against the Japanese. However despite the agreed treaty terms and having triumphed over the Russians the Japanese remained resentful because in many ways they felt they did not get everything they deserved as victors at the peace table and held Roosevelt responsible for this.

At the same time strong anti Japanese sentiments were prevalent in the state of California. The San Francisco Board of Education had taken the rather extraordinary step of ordering segregation of all immigrant and descendent Japanese school children. When this news reached Japan anti US sentiment soared and protests broke out. Roosevelt managed to persuade the Board of Education to discontinue its segregation policy in exchange for an agreement from Japan to reduce its stream of immigrants to America.

Roosevelt did not want relations to totally deteriorate with Japan as the United States was not prepared for a naval war in the Pacific. Most of the US Fleet was concentrated in the Atlantic and there were only a handful of naval cruisers in the Pacific. It was considered that in the event of a conflict with Japan the US Asia/Pacific battle fleet maybe forced to abandon the Philippines and return to the safety of the US West Coast ports until the fleet was strong enough to resume an offensive campaign.

Roosevelt’s solution was to impress Japan with the fact that the US Navy could effortlessly shift from the Atlantic to Pacific. He also wanted to find out the true condition of the fleet after completing such a journey. As he was recorded as saying prior to the Great White Fleets Departure “I want all failures, blunders and shortcomings to be made apparent in time of peace and not in time of war”

He also felt that a successful cruise of this size would provide the American people and the rest of the world with a clear exhibition of US Navy preparedness, strength and range. He considered that such an impression may subdue Japan and perhaps influence US opinion and generate enthusiasm/support to allow him to build four more battleships.

In the next instalment we will look at whether everyone agreed that this was all a great idea?

Regards


Sean