The 1805 Dispatches #21.05 October 2021 6 of 6 LATE NEWS EXTRA Plus The 1805 Club Chairman Capt. John Rodgaard, addressed the topic "The Challenges of Operating at a Distance, 1750 – 1815." Our three panelists provided very interesting and informative papers, discussing how British, French, and Danish navies, operating far from home waters, met, or did not meet, extreme logistical and other operational challenges. The failures in some cases to meet those challenges provide significant lessons. Happily, a number of 1805 Club members were present this year, both in-person and virtually, including viewers from the UK, Denmark, Canada, Spain, and the US. Dr. Jakob Seerup of the Bornholm Museum in Denmark presented virtually “A Failed Danish Naval Operation on the Barbary Coast, 1753,” discussing the little-known effort of the Danish Navy to free Danes captured from vessels seized by Morocco. Although the effort involved several well-armed warships, it failed to influence an intransigent Moroccan government. After significant negotiation between far-off governments and their representatives, the Danes finally agreed to pay a large sum of money for the captives’ freedom. Tragically, the Danes lost one of their ships to fire (caused by a lit candle in the hold) as the captives were being brought off. Dr. Cori Convertito of the Key West Art and Historical Society focused on the Royal Navy in her presentation “Equipped for War? Royal Navy Supply Chain Failures to the West Indies in the 1790s.” In this presentation, Dr. Convertito detailed the severe logistical problems the Royal Navy experienced in its efforts to wrest various West Indian islands from the French, while simultaneously protecting its already extensive island possessions. The Royal Navy’s problems extended to the complete failure at times of their supply chain, often resulting in a serious lack of food and medical supplies. Often the theatre commanders were left on their own to acquire needed supplies locally at an increased cost. The final presentation was “Occupying the English in Unforeseen Points: Napoleon’s Struggle for Maritime Power Projection, 1804 – 1810”, byDr. Kenneth Johnson from Air University, Prattville, Alabama. He examined Napoleon’s struggles to bring significant force to bear to challenge British worldwide naval strength. Dr. Johnson also touched on French activities in the West Indies. The French faced many of the same logistical problems as the British, as they fought to retain the small number of islands they still possessed and to use them to strategic advantage. To wrap up this well-received session, Dr. Evan Wilson of the U.S. Naval War College summarized his takeaways from the presentations and posed questions to the presenters, allowing time for deeper dives into the presenters’ subject matter. Because the symposium was also held virtually, all the sessions were recorded and will be made available for viewing, a wonderful benefit. As attendees know, it is extremely difficult to choose which panels to attend among so many excellent offerings. Watch for emails from the Symposium on how to access the recorded sessions. The full program listing is still available at https://www.usna.edu/History/Symposium/index.php. 2021 MCMULLEN NAVAL HISTORY SYMPOSIUM U.S. NAVAL ACADEMY, ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND, USA By Pete Stark The 1805 Club members and panelists (L to R): Mrs. Catherine Lincoln, Dr. Cori Convertito, Dr. Kenneth Johnson, Capt. John Rodgaard (USN Ret.), Dr. Evan Wilson, Mr. Pete Stark And this time The 1805 Dispatches has a sixth page, which will not happen regularly!
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