This post-WWII U.S. Navy film attempts to justify the continued existence of the fleet, by showing WWII examples of situations where naval strength made an enormous difference. Such films were viewed as necessary in the late 1940s and 50s because diminishing national treasure put enormous pressure on budgets, and resulted in mothballing or scrap of many ships that had operated in WWII. The building of a reserve fleet and air power became increasingly important with the dawning of the Cold War.
Also important to remember in the context of this film, is the idea that atomic weapons might make fleets of surface ships irrelevant. This film ignores the dawning of the atomic era altogether, but predicts (accurately as it turns out) that conventional naval weapons will still be relevant.
We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example like: “01:00:12:00 — President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.”
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit