Ship Shaping: How Congress and Industry Influenced U.S. Naval Acquisitions from 1933-1938

Abstract

Past studies of naval acquisitions during the late interwar period often focus on how President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the Navy Department prepared the nation for the beginning of World War II. However, Congress and the shipbuilding industry played an often-overlooked role in creating the political support needed to expand the Navy during this tumultuous period. Self-interested domestic actors were the essential connectors of the parochial needs of local communities to the country’s national interests and ultimately to the geopolitical situation of the interwar years. Studying shipbuilding politics across time can yield key insights into present-day shipbuilding acquisition issues, such as the effects of naval industry consolidation and potential “ally-shoring” of warship production on domestic political support for future naval funding.