The Wartime Diversion of U.S. Navy Forces in Response to Public Demands for Augmented Coastal Defense

Abstract

The Soviet Union might choose to operate a small number of nuclear-powered attack submarines in U.S. coastal waters during a war with the United States. The effects of such operations on U.S. public opinion could require the U.S. Navy to redeploy Navy assets away from forward operations to augment coastal defenses. During past conflicts, American military forces have, in fact, been diverted from other missions precisely to counter perceived threats to the Continental United States (CONUS). In some instances, the diversion was driven less by a purely military evaluation of the threat than by a public outcry for reassuring defensive measures. This paper examines the U.S. experience with threats to CONUS or coastal waters during four wars (the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II). It attempts to place real, present concerns about the public's possible future reaction to Soviet SSN operations off the U.S. coasts within a broader historical context.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 1989
Accession Number
ADA598478

Entities

People

  • Adam B. Siegel

Organizations

  • Center for Naval Analyses

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Counter WMD
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircraft Carriers
  • Artillery
  • Boats
  • Civil War
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Employment
  • Marine Transportation
  • Military Organizations
  • Naval Operations
  • Naval Warfare
  • Navy
  • North America
  • Personnel Management
  • Second World War
  • United States
  • Warfare
  • Warning Systems

Readers

  • Aerospace logistics and air mobility.
  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.