"This study examines how intellectual and institutional developments transformed the U.S. Navy from 1873 to 1898. The agents of naval transformation embraced a progressive ideology. They viewed science, technology, and expertise as the best means to effect change in a world contorted by modernizing and globalizing trends. Two new cultures--Strategy and Mechanism--influenced the course of transformation."--Provided by publisher.

"Close hauled, port tack, all plain sail and steam" : The culture of the quarterdeck -- "The fleet of to-morrow" : Progress and professionalization in the postwar Navy -- "The ocean is a great chess-board" : The strategical awakening -- "The essence of intelligence work" : Strategy infiltrates the Office of Naval Intelligence -- "A real navy" : The war Navy -- "To organize victory in advance" : the Naval War College and the culture of strategy -- "The means to the end" : The Navy's culture wars, 1887-97 -- "War cannot be made by rule of thumb" : Strategic acculturation and practice in the Navy, 1894-97.