Royal Navy – The British are about to send HMS Ark Royal to the Gulf.

• BBC: UK task force heading to Gulf
• Daily Telegraph: Navy sends 2,600-man task force to the Gulf

Background – The American Empire? – A humorous – and not so humorous – look at how the “American Empire” differs from those that came before it.

• Victor Davis Hanson: A Funny Sort of Empire

History – An interesting essay looking at the evolution of US naval thinking between WWI and WWII

• International Journal of Naval History: Building a Doctrine: U. S. Naval Tactics and Battle Plans in the Interwar Period