Scholars Ahoy

In its 174 years, the U.S. Navy has turned out plenty of fighting admirals but only one great scholar, 19th Century Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan. His Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783 (1890) was not only the nearest thing the Navy had ever had to a formal philosophy of naval power, it also won friends & influenced people in favor of a mighty U.S. fleet. Last week the U.S. Navy, which thinks it could use more friends, revealed that it was looking for some new Mahans.

Details came from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. As soon as funds are available, said the Academy, it will grant a series of five-year fellowships, named in honor of the late Defense Secretary James V. Forrestal, for research and analysis in naval history. The Academy planned to pick its Forrestal fellows both from the Navy and from university faculties. It hoped their work, like Mahan's in his day, would help in determining what the Navy's role should be. The only obstacle to making the grants at once: no Government funds were available. The Navy was looking for contributions.

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