The Marines have landed at Nantucket, and the situation is well in hand...
The Marines have landed at Nantucket, and the situation is well in hand... In July and August of 1901, the residents of Nantucket may have been alarmed to see scores of Marines swarming the sand dunes of the eastern reaches of the island and warships at anchor in the sound. As part of the North Atlantic Squadron’s summer exercises, a detachment of Marines landed and set up a defense of an “advanced base” where the Navy would be able to refuel, rearm, resupply, and treat their wounded. Mostly overlooked in the narrative of the evolution of the Marine Corps mission, the Nantucket advanced base exercises demonstrated an early and earnest effort by the Marines to contribute to the ability of the Navy to conduct fleet operations against a hostile navy in foreign waters. The Spanish-American War of 1898 had been a proof-of-concept template for 20 th century U.S. Navy doctrine, and the culmination of two decades of evolution. Following war plans developed at the Naval War College, the