Shipbuilding and power: some reflections

Summary

ABSTRACT.Shipbuilding and state power were more closely associated in the case of Britain than any other major naval power. Elsewhere naval or commercial domination was not necessarily built on a dominant shipbuilding industry, and few of the leading modern shipbuilding nations are also naval powers. Weapons and systems rather than hull and engines constitute the high technology of a modern warship.

RÉSUMÉ.La Grande-Bretagne plus qu'aucune autre puissance navale de taille constitue l'exemple le plus significatif de l'association de la construction navale et de la puissance étatique. Partout ailleurs, la domination maritime ou commerciale ne se construisit pas nécessairement sur l'industrie nautique, et aujourd'hui, peu de nations leader en construction de navires sont en parallèle des puissances maritimes. Ce sont désormais les armements et les systèmes plus que les coques et les moteurs qui témoignent d'une technologie avancée en matière de bâtiment de guerre.

In The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus(1604) Christopher Marlowe coined the image of Helen of Troy as “the face that launched a thousand ships”. Its poetical power aside, the image implies that a lot of shipbuilders were employed in the preparation of the Trojan campaign. The fleet they knocked together in no time was a splendid display of power. Even if it were to be proved untrue in this particular instance, the possibility of such a building effort is supported by other historical examples of sudden, sometimes miraculous, maritime development. So one observation in considering the relationship between shipbuilding and power is that a nation or society can acquire the ability and start building ships in a surprisingly short time and virtually from scratch. Think of the huge building programmes accomplished by the USA in both world wars. Other telling examples are the fluctuating state of the Russian fleet in the 19th century, Germany's naval and commercial rise after 1870 and recently South Korea's and China's industrial rise. These examples also show that continuity is a problem. Besides its birth, we need also to consider the industry's growth and decline.

The Trojan myth goes on to relate that ships alone were not sufficient for the campaign to go ahead. The Greeks still required permission from the forces above, the UN council on Mount Olympus so to speak, before the Trojan War could begin.