Ernest King’s Reading List
I’m a very big fan of the Ernest King. “Uncle Ernie” as he
was known when he commanded Lexington
in the ‘30s, was a sonofabitch. Even his grandson called him that. He never
said the famous quote “when they get into trouble they call the SOBs” but his
Chief of Staff, McRea, did. There’s little doubt that he was a fighting
sonofabitch. He shaped the Navy’s two ocean war and played shepherd to post-war
American maritime power. He was a champion of naval airpower from his days
commanding aircraft carriers. He built more ships than he had personnel for. He
fought tooth and nail to keep the Navy out from the overall command of MacArthur
and under the auspices of Nimitz. He was an authentic SOB who wrinkled many
egos including the British. He was quick to anger and prone to a streak of
assholishness. King was also quick to recognize subordinates who could do the
job and was content to let them do it without interference, hence Nimitz. He was a man of many different faces and
subtleties. It’s a crime that there is no super carrier named after him, he
laid the ground work for the modern US Navy after all.
This post though is not really about Uncle Ernie. It’s about
his reading list, if he had one. Today professional reading lists are a staple
for NCO and officer development in the US military. Not so much in the 30s and
40s. What I decided to do is mix classic and modern works together to try to
represent what he would have released, had there not been a world war on. King
knew the US was at the cusp of hegemony and with a free hand built a Navy the
likes of which the world will never see again. What would he recommend to read?
Influence of Sea Power upon History by Alfred Thayer Mahan.
Of course this needs
to be on any list worth its salt. Mahan uses history to prove his case that
Seapower is essential to building and maintaining an empire. King would have
most likely read this and digested it. His vision of the US Navy certainly does
a good job of proving what Mahan was talking about.
The First World War: Volume 1: To Arms by Hew Strachan.
If you need historical
confirmation of why Seapower is important, look no further. The first volume of
this wonderfully massive work confirms the fact that if you don’t have a navy
or willing to use the navy you can
kiss your territories bye. The German colonies were essentially cut off from
the Fatherland the minute war was declared. While the land campaign in Africa
varied in its effectiveness the Royal Navy’s control of the oceans voided any
German attempts to supply or reinforce their colonies. Strachan is an excellent historian and this
project three volume work has already been distilled into a condensed book.
Lee’s Lieutenants
King actually did own this book, based
on a conversation with one of his grandchildren. Lee’s Lieutenants chronicles the top generals in the Confederate
Army and how they fought the civil war. It still holds relevance as a survey of
how the strategic war was fought by the Confederacy. Some authors have put out
some pretty decent work on how the concept of gallant officers would alone save
the Confederacy. Lee’s Lieutenants does
reinforce that belief and paints a picture of a mixed bag of officers who could
pull off victories but fail at intelligence and logistics.
Street without Joy by Bernard Fall
While
the French ended Indo-China nearly five years after King’s death, I can easily
imagine this book on his list. Fall was invested in Indo-China in a way that so
many authors were not. In addition he’s actually a good writer, somebody who
lets his cynicism shine through about the French effort. With the recent issues
in Afghanistan and Iraq Street Without
Joy needs to be read and re-read by everybody thinking about modern
insurgencies and how to fight them. Ideology may have been replaced by religion
but the methods are often then same.
The Gettysburg Campaign by Edwin Coddington
Coddington’s
book is a classic strategic level analysis of the entire campaign surrounding
the epic three day battle. I suspect King was interested in the Civil War and
would have appreciated the grand strategic view Coddington offers.
The Sea Heritage: A Study in Maritime
Warfare by Sir Admiral Fredric
Dreyer
Slightly biased
on this one. Dreyer and his brother developed the advanced,
for its time, range finder system for the HMS Hood. He captained Beatty’s flagship
during Jutland and in the Second War he served as the heard of the Armed Merchant
Fleet. While King disliked the British he would have had to appreciate their
grasp of naval strategy, however flawed it was at times. Dreyer offers a neat
view of how Jutland developed from the perspective of someone who was there.
Stalin’s
Keys to Victory: The Rebrith of the Red Army in WWII by Walter Dunn
King would have
appreciated this book, methinks. As he was instrumental in building the US Navy
he quite possibly would have interested in seeing how Stalin forged a new Red
Army from the remains of the old. The rise of US Naval power and the Cold War
Navy was largely founded on King’s desire to mold a force powerful enough to
take on two seas at once. At one point there were more ships than men, a
situation that must have pleased King.
Zulu Rising by Ian Knight
The Zulu War
is a conflict in the mold of classical British colonial wars. The planning and
strategy were all flawed and this resulted in the single greatest disaster to
befall a colonial Army, Isandlwana. Knight is one of the top historians on the
war and this book is a culmination of decades of research. King would have
liked it quite possibly as a warning to the hubris that can get an operation in
trouble. He was cautious for the first few years of the war and rarely forgave
unjustified mistakes. The Zulu War would provide a lesson in that.
A Harvest of Barren Regrets by Charles
Mills
The life of
Frederick Benteen is one of my favorite reads. I’m personally something of a
Benteen fanboy and I’m not really sure why. He was a solid combat veteran who shined
in a very dire situation at the Little Big Horn. He was popular but made enough
enemies up the ranks that he was eventually drummed up on false charges during
his tenure at Fort “Dushame” in Utah. I do not know if King would have shown
the same interest as me but his personal situation somewhat mirrors that of
Benteen. At the start of the war King was scheduled to be sidelined and retired
but FDR appointed him to Command the fleet instead. Hell of a switch and proves
that in dire need, the sonsofbitches will save the day.
Afghansty by Rodric Braithwaite
Braithewaite’s
new book on the Soviets in Afghanistan is not just readable but an outstanding
contribution to the rather miniscule amount of literature in English detailing
the Soviet war. It provided an excellent parallel with the on-going NATO effort
to defeat an insurgency and establish something like a stable government. King,
I suspect, would have read it and teased out the lessons the Soviets learned.
The Rhodesian War by Paul Moorecraft
The decade
long Rhodesian war can serve as a lesson of what to and what not to do. The
military operations were extremely effective, competently led and fought. The
ability to supply these operations with an embargo going on is also impressive.
The domestic issues, like a lack of strategy and ineffective coordination
between separate forces, proved too big a problem to overcome. King would have
seen this as a lesson to be applied to future operations, I would bet.
A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese
Navy by Paul Dull
I’m positive
King would have liked to have this book in early 1942. Dull’s book is a great
breakdown of how the IJN achieved its successes ad what led to its ultimate
fall and final defeat. The final two years of war are marked by incredibly
wasteful notions of honor that led to the sacrifice of thousands of Japanese
sailors in actions that were marked by the inability to engage US forces in
anything resembling a fair fight. The death of the Yamato in particular would strike any naval strategist as a waste
of men and material for no reason besides a vague notion of sacrifice and
honor. King would approve of this book as it aptly demonstrates the impact his
fleet had on destroying the IJN as a battle worthy force.
A Devil of a Whipping: The Battle of Cowpens
by Lawrence Babits
Combining
military history and analysis, this book is a refreshing approach to a battle
that can be rather neglected at times. Cowpens was a unique engagement, clearly
out of the box as far as tactics go. The resounding defeat of the British went
a long way to establishing an American presence in the southern theater. I
think King would have appreciated the creative application of the militia and
the use of the regulars as a backbone to ultimately stiffen the line. Fascinating
battle, great book.
The Last Place on Earth by Roland
Huntford
I can see this
on King’s reading list. The dichotomy of two explorers, one prepared for nearly
every contingency and finding a better way to do things no matter what versus a
man who prepared only minimally and refused to change. One was extraordinarily successful
and the other perished on the return trip. Amundsen’s polar journey was
extraordinary not for the ease which he made the pole but for the logistics and
preparation behind it. I can see this lesson applying to many operations during
the war. Amundsen made polar travel look almost easy and the ability to do that
is couched in a language of self-education and self-criticism. Scott, in
contrast, failed because he choose a path that made his trip difficult by
design. The British ability to “muddle through” should certainly be celebrated
at times but not here. Scott’s choice to muddle through killed him and his
party.
OK, I have
lots more to post but those will come later. Several folks have handed me great suggestions which I'll end up incorporating in here as well. I figure that this is enough to
begin occupying King’s resurrected bookshelf.
