One of the challenges our navy faces it that we have not had a serious challenge at sea for generations. Throughout human history, a recurring theme at war is having to relearn – and some cases reinvent – the forgotten tactics, tools, and methods of previous conflicts. Some things almost disappear or are forgotten for the most basic reasons – they are not sexy or are difficult to justify in peace.
In our post 9/11 conflict, some of my favorites on the land side are the utility of military working dogs, RPG cages, and long-range marksmanship. For the maritime side, the top of my list is Riverine.
What other things are out there we should be thinking about if we are looking at the need to challenge a regionally dominate Communist Chinese naval force in their backyard at the other end of the Pacific?
Earlier this week I stumbled in to an almost forgotten example from WWII that is worth a moment or two of thought; decoys, trickery, and spoofing.
For the first couple of years of WWII in Scapa Flow, the Royal Navy needed to do two things;
1. Have the Kriegsmarine think there was more of a threat up north if they tried to escape in to the North Atlantic than there actually was.
2. Dilute attacks by air coming from the German bases in Norway, or even the off chance another German submarine managed to sneak in.
Making the best of what they had, they kept the combat ineffective WWI-era battleship HMS Iron Duke looking viable, and scraped together enough spare lumber and canvas to convert some merchants in to passable battleships and carriers.
It was a success on both accounts.
They drew the attention of attacking JU-88s that otherwise would have gone to combat effective warships, but they also impacted the course of history and the lives of almost 3,500 British and German Sailors in the battles resulting from Operation Rheinübung by getting inside the head of an Admiral already beset with fatalistic doom.
As described in his book, Bismarck: The Final Days of Germany’s Greatest Battleship, Niklas Zetterling states that German reconnaissance of Scapa Flow that showed so many “capital ships,” is what convinced Admiral Lütjens to take Bismarck and Prinz Eugen through the Denmark Strait. We all know what followed from there.
I like to say if you scratch a Sailor, you’ll find a pirate. The naval services throughout history have a distinguished record of disguise, deception, and trickery. Mostly in the visual realm … but in an age where the electronic is as important if not more so than the visual … I would hope smart people have this domain ready to spoof as well.
Like JU-88 bombing a derelict Iron Duke or clapped out merchants covered in canvas and plywood, wouldn’t it be nice if the Communist Chinese dumped the balance of their 1st and 2nd wave ASCM & ASBM on the 21st Century version of the same?
How fast can you make an old container ship look and radiate like a CVN, large deck Amphib, or T-AKE? How would we do that?
I have ideas … and I’m sure I’m not alone.
