Excerpt from The Elements of Navigation: A Short and Complete Explanation of the Standard Methods of Finding the Position of a Ship at Sea and the Course to Be Steered, Designed for the Instruction of Beginners

The history of the three years 1914 to 1917 has been made with astounding rapidity and no part of it has been more absorbing than that dealing with naval Operations. The position of our own country in the beginning of the great European war seemed to the casual observer to be one of perfect security. We had three thousand miles of ocean between us and the warring nations, and all we had to do was to mind our own business and nothing could happen to us.

But it slowly dawned upon all minds that unless we were disposed to mind our own business by withdrawing from the Atlantic Ocean and making no attempt to send our ships into European ports, we should presently be forced either to defend our rights or to admit that we did not have any.

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