Summary of Walter R. Borneman 's The Admirals

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

#1 The American battleship Oregon was sent to the Strait of Magellan in April 1898, and as it thundered toward the fabled strait, the air hung thick with rumors of war with Spain.

#2 The Leahy brothers, Michael and John, were both in the 35th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. They were both proud of their service, and for the rest of their lives, they regularly attended meetings of veterans’ groups and marched in Fourth of July parades.

#3 The town of Annapolis, Maryland, was the capital of the colony of Maryland and was renamed Annapolis in 1694. It prospered as a trading center until overtaken by growing Baltimore, but it remained a political and cultural center.

#4 The United States Naval Academy was established in 1845. It was not very grand, but it would become the place where the country’s top naval officers were educated.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Apr 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669383727

IRB Media

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Insights on Walter R. Borneman's The Admirals

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The American battleship Oregon was sent to the Strait of Magellan in April 1898, and as it thundered toward the fabled strait, the air hung thick with rumors of war with Spain.

#2

The Leahy brothers, Michael and John, were both in the 35th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. They were both proud of their service, and for the rest of their lives, they regularly attended meetings of veterans’ groups and marched in Fourth of July parades.

#3

The town of Annapolis, Maryland, was the capital of the colony of Maryland and was renamed Annapolis in 1694. It prospered as a trading center until overtaken by growing Baltimore, but it remained a political and cultural center.

#4

The United States Naval Academy was established in 1845. It was not very grand, but it would become the place where the country’s top naval officers were educated.

#5

Leahy was a solid but never stellar student at Annapolis. He was content to play tackle on the B squad in football, and he sometimes seemed to float his way through classes. But when the chips were down, he was always the one who could solve the problem.

#6

Theodore Roosevelt, who was assistant secretary of the navy, was one of many Republicans who had canvassed the country in William McKinley’s stead during the 1896 election. He was in charge of promoting increased American naval power.

#7

The rush to war with Spain was also speeded up by public opinion. On April 11, President William McKinley sent a war message to Capitol Hill, and Congress declared war on Spain on April 19.

#8

The Battle of Manila Bay was a great victory for the United States, but it was hardly the greatest naval battle on record. The Oregon’s race around South America was taken as strong evidence for the need to build the Panama Canal.

#9

On the morning of July 3, 1898, the American fleet attacked the Spanish fleet in Santiago harbor. The Spanish fleet was destroyed, with only two American casualties. Six hundred Spanish sailors perished.

#10

The Russo-Japanese War was the result of a surprise attack by Japanese destroyers on the Russian naval base at Port Arthur, China, in 1904. It was a stunning Japanese victory, but diplomatic relations between the two countries were strained.

#11

Ernest King was a builder, and he had a very straightforward and obstinate personality. His father, James Clydesdale King, was a master woodworker for the Royal Navy on the docks of Plymouth, England, before iron-hulled steamships cut into his livelihood. He, too, sought brighter prospects in America and took his wife and four eligible daughters to Cleveland in 1872.

#12

Ernest King was sent to the Naval Academy in 1897, after William D. Leahy graduated and left to serve on the Oregon. He took the usual entrance exams to validate his appointment, and joined eighty-seven classmates in the class of 1901.

#13

King was sent to sea with the San Francisco, a cruiser, as its flagship. The main Atlantic fleet had won its crushing victory at Santiago, and there was little to do but blockade the island’s northern coast.

#14

After his adventure in the war, King returned to Annapolis and became the top cadet commander in his class. He was also known for chasing women and smoking cigarettes. He eventually married another woman, but he was always interested in Mattie Egerton, the most beautiful woman at Annapolis.

#15

King was promoted to captain in 1907, and in 1908 he was assigned to the battleship Illinois, which was the U. S. flagship in European waters. He experienced a grand review of naval might representing sixteen nations off Spithead, England, for the coronation of Edward VII.

#16

King faced a political dilemma when he was assigned to be the commander of the Illinois.