Page 330 - Il Mediterraneo quale elemento del Potere Marittimo - Atti 16-18 settembre 1996

316 PAOLO E. COLEITA

aircraft carriers would be pitted against Soviet air power and shore objectives from
floating bases near littoral coasts.
America's posr-World \Var II naval presence in the Mediterranean began on
5 Aprii 1946 when the Bartleship Missottt·i called at lstanbul co deliver che remains
of che Turkish ambassador, who had died in Washington during the war, and at
6
the Piraeus < >. Those calls, an d che later Truman Doctrine, supported Turkey and
Greece against Soviet efforts to gain contrai of the Turkish Straits and aid Greek
revolutionaries <7>.
The first American carrier arrived in the fall of 1946. Soon, however, there
would be ebree of che best carriers, of the Midway class, there. Carrier planes, able
as early as 1947 to carry atomic bombs, provided both sea control an.d power pro-
jection. Naval power thus bolsrered che foreign policy of containment.
The rescoration of wartorn Western Europe was then greatly aided by che Mar-
shall Pian. Russia refused aid offered it and prevenced ics puppets from doing so.
Fifteen nacions of che Atlantic community, eleven with navies, chen banded coge-
cher in che Norch Atlantic Treacy Organizacion, 1949. The Sixth Fleet is not under
NATO command buc, with rhe Uniced States a member, its ships could use French,
ltalian, Moroccan, Grek, and Turkish ports. These ships showed che flag in NA-
TO'S "souchern flank" and were prepared to react to crises or the needs of Ameri-
can cirizens in che area. At 25 knots, rhey could reach Lebanon from Gibraltar
in there days and nine hours. U.S. naval aviators meanwhile familiarized themsel-
ves with che littoral areas of the entire Medicerranean.
Perceiving Korea as a sideshow for Communist expansion in Europe, in 1951
President Truman doubled the size of che Sixth Fleet. With NATO co ics wesc and
Americans occupyingJapan, it appeared co che Soviets chat they were being subjec-
red co "capitalist encirclement". That encirclement expanded when the United Sta-
tes made agreements with many of the world's other free nations. Ics navy's
responsibilities thus became worldwide. The Soviets countered with che Warsaw
Pace and Cominform, building 'up their naval surface, and having their large mer-
chant and fishing fleets spy on American warships. They could also launch formi-
dable attacks on seaborne trade and oppose naval surface forces with their numerous
fleet submarines. With surface-to-surface and antiaircraft missiles, Sovier ships could
- operate beyond the protecting fringe of land-based air coverand thus support glo-
bal Soviet interests <>.
8
Adm. Sergie G. Gorshkov assumed command of che Soviet Fleet in 1956. Dee-
ming heavy cruisers and carriers inordinately expensive, he eschewed a balanced
fleet and relied upon submarines, on shipboard missiles rather than guns, and on
missile-laden aircraft. Submarines patrolled the Mediterranean out of VIone, Alba-
nia, beginning in 1958, until that base was lost in 1961 <9>.
Although NATO would be weakened when France withdrew from it, the Cy-
prus issue pitted Greece against Turkey, and Spain reduced American base righrs,
che inability of che Soviet navy to counrer Western naval forces in the Suez crisis