The U.S. Naval Institute Wheel Books provide valuable information, pragmatic advice, and cogent analysis on topics important to all naval professionals. Drawn from the U.S. Naval Institute's vast archives, the series combines articles from the Institute's flagship publication Proceedings, selections from the oral history collection, and Naval Institute Press books to create unique guides on a wide array of fundamental professional subjects.

THOMAS J. CUTLER, series editor, has been serving the U.S. Navy in various capacities for more than fifty years. The author of many articles and books, including several editions of The Bluejacket's Manual and A Sailor's History of the U.S. Navy, he is currently the Director of Professional Publishing at the Naval Institute Press and Fleet Professor of Strategy and Policy with the Naval War College. He has received the Naval History Lifetime Achievement Award, the William P. Clements Award for Excellence in Education as military teacher of the year at the U.S. Naval Academy, the Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Naval Literature, the U.S. Maritime Literature Award, the Naval Institute Press Author of the Year Award, and the Commodore Dudley W. Knox Naval History Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the U.S. Naval Historical Foundation.

The U.S. Naval Institute Chronicles series focuses on the relevance of history by exploring topics like significant battles, personalities, and service components. Tapping into the U.S. Naval Institute's robust archives, these carefully selected volumes help readers understand nuanced subjects by providing unique perspectives and some of the best contributions that have helped shape naval thinking over the many decades since the Institute's founding in 1873. With the Panama Canal currently undergoing a major expansion, it is appropriate and enlightening to look back to the early days of this remarkable and somewhat presumptuous project. With its substantial maritime impact, it is not surprising that the canal was the subject of much thought-provoking dialog in the Naval Institute's unique forum.