U.S.N. Ships-Bases-Men as of January 1938
Cartographer:
Harrison, Richard Edes
Date of Creation:
March 1938
Unusually for Harrison, the current map, dramatically centered on the American naval base of Pearl Harbor, is presented on a Mercator Projection. A small inset orthographic projection of the North Pacific Ocean appears upper left.
The United States Navy’s worldwide presence in the years preceding their entry into WWII, is outlined in threatening detail. Of note is the relative weakness of the “Asiatic Fleet” compared with the Atlantic (though 3 of the 4 Aircraft Carriers are with the Pacific Fleet, most of which is based on the West Coast. The Navy has 597 ships, 200 of which were “Decommissioned”. 252,000 personnel were serving, almost half of which were reserves or civilians. And there were only 1.000 planes, 300 of which were assigned to Carriers. Most interesting was the depiction of a “fence” in the NW Pacific which, by “courtesy" separated the maneuvers of the Japanese and American Navies.