Iranian Navy threatens, fires warning shots at cargo ship

Ya,but Israel's PM is stupid enough to, and while Israel may suffer consequences Iran will be too bloodied to notice.

 

How is it that our Navy came to be so good? Was it by design? Is it always better to have your Navy be the strongest part of your military?

 

[video=youtube;4Uj3zitETs4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Uj3zitETs4[/video]

 

You have to control the ocean to be a super power. You have to protect trade routes and projection of force.

China has a huge army but have little ability to project it.

 

Some of the reasons it came to be so good was the dominance and development of carrier groups, the infusion of German submarine technology into an already formidable American submarine program, and simply advancing relevant technologies at an unmatched rate.

When your only neighbors are Canada and Mexico, and your enemies are global, yes it was by design.

I imagine Switzerland would not find it's navy being the strongest the most useful. For the US, it makes perfect sense.

 

Yep. America's first foreign war was with the Barbary coast, to defend our merchant ships. We sent frigates and projected force in such a way as to convince those Barbary States to sign a treaty. They obviously didn't think we could touch them before that.

 

Good points.

 

There used to be a casino in Vegas by that name.

 

I just like that war because that was the treaty in which the FF plainly stated we were not a Christian nation. They said it because there was a Jihad element to the Barbary pirates. It was a nation of mostly Christians, not a Christian nation.

 

Also, our missile techntechnogy has been second to none since WWII.

 

Again, German boost. The Americans and Soviets took in a lot of German scientists.

 

And we benefitted even more than the soviets because so many of the great scientists fled west away from the Red Army.

 

This honestly goes back a bit to the 16-1700s.

The UK was always good at Army but excellent at Navy. France spent the 16-1700s with a superior army (especially artillery) over the Brits. What the Brits had, however, was unparalleled superiority on the high seas and countless diplomatic ties due to this and trade that gave them more allies (and dependents).

This came to somewhat of a halt in the early 1900s when the British found the Germans had caught up. The premise was still true... the seas control the movement of goods and trade. The US had unquestionably taken over as the premier naval power by 1943. While the Japanese had a good bit of power in the Pacific... the US had to flex and cover both oceans which no other naval power did effectively if at all.

Naval power still is the truest military form of "soft power" at least until the space race really heats up. It controls trade routes in peacetime and is a great way to tap that big stick as it allows you to have unhindered access to anywhere in the world with as much firepower as nations have in their entire militaries.

So, it is very much by design. The thing we must be careful with is not being left behind like the Brits were 100 years ago. We're the preeminent power now but with the advent or robotics and drone technology... we can't stay married to the carrier doctrine like the British did staying married to battleships.

 

TL;DR Naval Power and Logistics are the 2 things the US did the best by a long shot in WW2 and the US has continued this dominance. Logistics is, without a doubt, the most overlooked important aspect to fighting a war.

 

Dr. Strangelove.