An Analysis of The Relationship Between Technology and Strategy and How They Shaped The Confederate States Navy.

Abstract : This study investigates the use of technology by the Confederate States of America to develop naval strategy and ultimately the Navy during the American Civil War. The study concentrates on the building and use of: ironclads to break the blockade and coastal defense, torpedoes (mines) for coastal defense, and Submarines to help break the blockade at Charleston. The use of technology had a significant influence on the Confederate Navy not only on the strategic, but also on the operational and the tactical levels of war. Operational campaigns were planned and executed around the presence or absence of confederate ironclads by both the North and the South. Battles were won, lost, or never fought due to the presence of confederate torpedoes laid in southern harbors. The threat of Confederate submarines caused Union blockading squadrons to reduce the capabilities of catching runners by moving the fleet out of the submarines tactical range. Today's Navy, in its quest for new technology, faces a similar situation as the Confederate Navy did in 1861. We must seek new technology to enhance our warfighting skills not to look for the "ultimate weapon," as Mallory first thought of the ironclad.