Table Of Content* *
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN "TRACY
,.-··
Father of the Fighting tyavy
Modern~merican
by
Benjamin Franklin Cooling
ARCHON BOOKS
1973
* *
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN TRACY
Secretary ofthe Navy, 1889-1893
[Official Navy Department portrait by Ayer Whipple, 1896;
official U.S. Navy photo J
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ic an figllling Navy.
Bibliography: p.
I. Tracy, Bmjarnin Franklin, 1830-1915. 2. United
States. Navy-History. I. Title.
E664.T72066 353.7 [B] 73-6645
ISBN 0-208-01336-9
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©1973 by Benjamin Franklin Cooling
First published 1973 as an Archon Book by
The Shoe String Press, Inc.,
Harnden, Connecticut 06514
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
To my mother for her patience and confidence
through the arduous doctoral program
Contents
PREFACE IX
AcKNOWLEDGEMENTS xu1
ABBREVIATIONS XV
Formative Years on the Southern Tier 3
2 ForgedontheAnvilofWar 13
3 The Road toN ational Recognition 35
1 National Service Leads to a Policy Revolution 16
5 Implementing a Program with Ships 79
6 Navy Yard Reform and Cruiser Diplomacy at Midterm 102
7 Defeat at the Polls Cuts Short a Program 125
8 A Distinguished Citizen in Active Retirement 150
NoTEs 167
SouRCB 189
INDEX 203
Tables
1 Elmira Prison Camp, 1861-1865 29
2 Relative Strength of Navies
(Built and Building) 59
3 Tonnageofthe New Navy 1881-1893 111
4 Relative Strength of Navies
(Built or Building) 1893 118
5 Effective Fighting Ship Strength
(Built or Building) 1898 157
VII
Illustrations
Benjamin Franklin Tracy, Secretary of the Frontispiece
Navy
Colonel Benjamin F. Tracy, U.S.V. 17
Elmira Prison Camp 27
Pridt.•ofthcOld Navy-lJ.S.S. Hartford 49
Squadron of Evolution 55
U.S. Coastal Defense-Late Nineteenth Century 71
Coastline Battleship-U.S.S. Oregon 86
Fleet-In-Being-U.S.S. Boston 109
Sea-Going Battleship-U.S.S. Iowa 129
Armored Cruiser-U.S.S. Columbia 143
Tracy at Harrison's Wedding 153
VIII
Preface
Benjamin Franklin Tracy explained his contribution to the re
naissance of American naval power to a New York Herald reporter
shortly before his death. The old gentleman told the newsman on
June 27, 1915:
The defence of the United States required the creation of a
fighting force. I felt that we must be able to divert an enemy's
force from our own coast by threatening his own, for a war,
though defensive in principle, may be conducted most effective
ly by being offensive in its operation. So I advocated right from
the start a fighting plan that meant taking the offensive. That's
why, I guess, I've been called now and then the "Father of the
Fighting Navy."
The term "fighting navy" means different things to different peo
ple as anyone may attest who has witnessed the various applications
of American seapower in the twentieth century. Tracy's contribu
tion from 1889 to 1893 lay in the best tradition of John Paul Jones,
Stephen Decatur, Isaac Hull, and others, although it also implied
a dramatic departure from the traditional naval policy of commerce
destruction and coastal protection under which those heroes labored
for God and country.
ix
X BENJAMIN FRANKLIN TRACY
Tracy obviously could not work alone. He was but one of six very
able secretaries who, in unparalleled succession, contributed to the
rise of the "New Steel Navy"-William H. Hunt (1881-1882), Wil
liam E. Chandler (1882-1885), William C. Whitney (1885-1889),
Tracy, Hilary A. Herbert (1893-1897), and John D. Long (1897-
1902). Moreover, other supporters of a strong navy in Congress, in
the service itself, and among the general public, sought to revitalize
America's first line of defense during this era.
It was Tracy, however, who, by shrewd maneuver and by co
operation with other enthusiasts, introduced at a key moment sev
Nal dements demanded by the new technology and by the nation's
development-the concept of a balanced battle-fleet deterrent; nick
el steel armor and armament superior to that of foreign navies;
and a full appreciation of professionalism. Tracy translated the
latter into abandonment of the spoils system in the navy yards,
federal support for the state naval militia, merit promotion within
the officer corps, and better, education and training for all ranks.
His term was too short to see successful completion of all these en
deavors, but he worked actively for their enactment.
Research in naval history of the period indicates that it is not
enough to speak merely of strategic policies and types of ships.
Examination must be made of the personalities and ideas of the
secretaries, their ability to manage daily tasks, to negotiate con
tracts for materiel, and to project the overall ability of the depart
ment to construct a fleet and to direct the men and vessels consti
tuting that tool of national power. Tracy's career, from small-town
lawyer, Civil War veteran, and municipal figure, presaged his ser
vices at national cabinet rank. He matured in his career, partici
pating in the expansionist diplomacy of the administration of Ben
jamin Harrison. The aggressive diplomacy of the Harrison period
was a prelude to the expansionism and imperialism at the turn of
the century and can be understood more fully by examining the
role of Secretary of the Navy Tracy. His intense nationalism and
drive to establish American power in the eyes of the world reinforced
the bold if bumbling posture in foreign affairs assumed by the Chief
Executive himself.
One of the last human links with the Tracy era snapped in 1971
with the death of Admiral Richard Harrison Jackson, a hero of
the Samoan hurricane of 1889, who retired as commander of the
U.S. Battle Fleet in 1930. Still another link remains, not just in the
PREFACE XI
form of the modern nuclear navy as an awesome strike force, but
also in continued preservation of the last of the steel fighting ships
of the "New Navy" of the late nineteenth century. U.S.S. Olympia
Admiral George Dewey's flagship at Manila Bay, the opening battle
of a conflict which symbolized America's naval renaissance-lies
berthed as a national historic shrine at Philadelphia. It forms the
best monument to Tracy and his contemporaries who sought to pro
ject the national power and prestige of the United States before the
eyes of an expansionist-minded world.
