Do European Navies Traditionally Perform Well?
The USN's ability to thus far repel the Iranian antiship ballistic missile attack should not conceal the fact that virtually no other European navy could do so to the same degree. Consider the French Charles de Gaulle. A normal CdG group includes at least one Horizon-class… — wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) September 10, 2026 The post above raises interesting historical questions. Note its conclusion: "To those steeped in the tradition of European maritime superiority these [that European navies would not fare well against Iranian drone attacks] are surprising results." I've been asking myself for a while whether "the tradition of European maritime superiority" is overrated. This brings us to A T Mahan : In 1890, Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan, a lecturer in naval history and the president of the United States Naval War College, published The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660–1783 , a revolutionary analysis of the importance of naval power as ...