The ionosphere:: UnderminingBritain’s imperial power:Wireless and its impact ongeopolitics and navaloperations

• Peter Garland ^[1]
  1. [1] University of Portsmouth

     University of Portsmouth

     Southsea, Reino Unido

     
• Localización: International journal of maritime history, ISSN 0843-8714, Vol. 35, Nº. 1, 2023, págs. 71-97
• Idioma: inglés
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo
• Resumen

  • The transition of sea power from the battleship-dominated Royal Navy of the First WorldWar to the carrier-dominated United States Navy of the Second is a much discussed topicin current historiography. This article investigates a small but important part of that tran-sition, elements of which have been previously researched but where important connec-tions have not been made and where, in current British historiography, the full picture hasperhaps been hidden behind the achievements of one man–Guglielmo Marconi. The con-tribution of wireless to the transition of sea power had its roots in the immediate after-math of the First World War. This research reveals that it involved a somewhatclandestine effort by the United States Navy to undermine British dominance in globalcommunications, at that time based on submarine cables. It reveals how Britain’simperialobligations and a post-war need for greater control over their communications by Britain’scolonies also contributed to undermining the Royal Navy position. By a thorough reviewand new interpretations of existing historiography, plus some additional archive material,this work identifies connections between geography, economics, technology and politicalwill that were key in the United States Navy attaining a superior post-war position in wire-less technology. It shows how these connections enabled the United States Navy to bene-fitfromMarconi’s discovery of the practical use of short-wave radio.