It was not until the United States Navy had fallen dangerously behind the other nations of the world that attention turned to modernization. ![]() Click on the image for additional information, and to see the full newspaper cover.įirst Awkward Steps Towards Modernization On the side of Uncle Sam's raft, multi-million dollar patches can be seen, a statement on corruption in government during the period. This cover cartoon from an 1882 edition of the newspaper “The Judge” mocks the relative size of the United States Navy in comparison to Britain's Royal Navy. By the 1880's, the United States Navy was outclassed by numerous other navies around the world. Very few new ships were constructed, and the soon antiquated Civil War fleet of gunboats and ironclads was held in reserve. Navy was content with the undemanding mission of showing the flag in foreign ports. While other nations around the world continued to experiment with iron and steel hulled armored ships, and improved steam engine technology, the once powerful U.S. ![]() ![]() That bloody conflict had seen stunning technical advances in naval design, but the nation was too exhausted from war, and too pre-occupied by Reconstruction and Westward expansion, to spend much money on naval technology. In the years following the Civil War, the United States Navy fell into decline.
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