Predicting the naval future

Naval history is a striking example of constant adaptation to technological development—steam warships, ironclads, dreadnoughts, submarines, aircraft carriers, and nuclear submarines. As Eric Grove shows in this survey of naval developments in the UK before as well as after Hiroshima, the atomic bomb and the end of empire have combined to make naval staffs rethink their strategy and the designs of their warships. His conclusion is that the only acceptable predictions are those that take account of contemporary trends—political and economic—however unwelcome they may appear.