{"id":3707,"date":"2013-02-01T05:00:11","date_gmt":"2013-01-31T19:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=3707"},"modified":"2013-08-22T15:36:19","modified_gmt":"2013-08-22T05:36:19","slug":"graph-of-the-week-why-fleet-size-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/graph-of-the-week-why-fleet-size-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"Graph of the week \u2013 why (fleet) size matters"},"content":{"rendered":"
Following on from last week’s graphs<\/a>, I thought it would be worth looking at some of the consequences of the decline in western naval fleets. The graph below reprises last week’s data for the size of the United States Navy since 1960, but this time overlays it against the growth in the world’s commercial fleet over the same time.<\/p>\n Clearly the trends are in different directions\u2014and dramatically so. In 1960 there were 45 commercial vessels in the world for every major combatant the USN could muster. Today the number is around 360. To be sure, not all of those commercial vessels are involved in activities that would bring them to the attention of the USN. The data set includes all vessels of 100 gross tons or more, and so includes many coastal and fishing vessels. But over half are cargo vessels<\/a> and are responsible for carrying most of the exported goods produced around the world.<\/p>\n