The Potency of Sea Power and the 100,000 Ton Nimitz Aircraft Carrier
Ever since the Greeks launched a 1000 ships to bring back Queen Helen who had eloped with Paris, the Prince of Troy, to the modern age the potency of sea power as the route to the domination of the world is stark and clear. The navy is the key to world domination. The Ottoman empire thrived on the back of a strong navy as they converted the entire Mediterranean Sea into their lake. Much later in history, the British navy popularly called the Royal Navy established and policed an empire that was global and without a doubt the greatest empire in world history. Ruling the waves is synonymous with power and this the Indian kings never realized. Vasco de Gama sailed all the way from Lisbon to India, but no Indian went even to East Africa, going to Europe was not even imagined.
The turn of the 20th century saw the ebb of the British empire and the emergence of a global power in the United States of America. The USA concentrated on a strong navy which soon dominated the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. This navy enforced the Monroe Doctrine in the Southern hemisphere and became a potent power. After World War I, the USA became the dominant power and had earlier even colonized the Philippine islands. The Pyrrhic victory of the UK over Hitler drained the British and they could not sustain their navy and lost the colonies as well as their empire.
The USA filled the vacuum and set about dominating the world. It is a moot point that the USA has its presence in 154 countries of the world and their navy is a potent force in all the 7 seas. For the last nearly 80 years the US navy is the unchallenged leader in the world. There was a brief challenge when the Imperial navy gave a fight to the US navy during World war II, but after the Battle of Midway ( 1942), the Imperial fleet was just a shadow as the US navy gained superiority.
The US naval power is awesome and is centered around 22 aircraft carriers, which are state of art machines with latest ECM measures and aircraft. These carriers help the US act as the world's policeman. It is a respected policeman as many nations look to the USA for safety and security. With China breathing fire in the South China Sea and nations like the Philippines and Vietnam feeling threatened it is the US navy's 7th fleet that calls the Chinese bluff. It is also the deterrent against a Chinese invasion of Formosa. The US navy also operates in the Baltic Sea and the Atlantic as it reassures peripheral nations that Uncle Sam will look after them.
The strength of the US navy is based on a class of carriers called the Nimitz class. These carriers weigh 100,000 tons and are the biggest ships afloat in the world. The aircraft carrier has a crew of over 5000 and is a veritable township. Its state of art ECM can recognize a threat 500 miles away and it can launch fighter jets at 20-second intervals. This type of carriers are almost invincible and are nuclear powered, needing to be refueled once in 20 years!
The Nimitz are machines that a nation will love to own. India's lone aircraft carrier the Vikramaditya is a puny child before the Nimitz. It's a good thing that Yahya Khan lost heart and General Niazi surrendered as the 7th fleet with the aircraft carrier Enterprise was moving into the Bay of Bengal to establish a bridgehead in East Pakistan. This was on the orders of Nixon and there was an element of fear in the Indian ranks. But Nixon had to eat the humble pie as Niazi surrendered, with the fleet some hundreds of miles away.
The Navy is the key element of world domination and that is one reason that China and Russia are at best regional powers and cannot operate at great distances from the Chinese mainland. There are reports that the Russians realizing the potency of sea power coupled with air power are building an aircraft carrier bigger than the Nimitz. But the Americans have an ace up their sleeve as a bigger version of the Nimitz, the George Bush class of carriers with a displacement of over 110,000 tonnes is on the way. The US domination is assured for the 21st century.The US is also the only power that can bottle up the ISIS and extremist Muslim groups and the adventurism of China. No wonder Modi is all gungho for a strategic partnership with the USA. Indians cannot match China militarily and need the USA.
The USA has a navy that is the only true blue water navy in the world. India must look to its military and the Navy as well. India should be the dominant power in the Indian Ocean, but America has the biggest base at Diego Garcia. The British are also constructing 2 of the biggest aircraft and the writing is clear; whosoever controls the oceans rules the world.
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