Logistics is all the buzz these days but there is nothing new about it. Imagine you were Hannibal crossing the Alps with elephants, where does one get Elephant Food in Boerne Switzerland? Here is a column about
the Great White Voyage. Austin Bay makes it clear that this was no mere stunt. Indeed TR wanted the Japanese to know that all Western Powers were not what they experienced with the Russians. Did you know TR won the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating an end to the Japan Russian War at that time?
Logsitically TR was insistent on making this a shakedown cruise to learn what would go wrong in peactime. Certainly supplying sixteen battleships going round the world was no simple task. There is a link to the longer story on the Navy Historical Site, I suggest you read it, a fascinating glimpse back in time. But were things so really different, in the Navy article note the gag outfits worn by the sailers crossing the equator, looks like a scene right out of South Pacific!
And the theme of mercenary suppliers was one explored then and now, aka Blackwater. Back then the Navy concluded they needed their own ships. In time of war they were concerned whether private contractors would venture into Harms' Way once fighting began. This of course, is still an interesting question. You will recall that the British relied on German mercenaries during the Revolutionary War. Indeed this was a group that Washington defeated after his famous Delaware Crossing during the night.
Good stuff, logistically and in terms of managerial accounting. Imagine the logsitics of supplying 12,000 sailors going round the world in 1907, or in 2007.
