This work is the product of a gratifying cooperation between the Office of Naval Intelligence and the Naval Historical Center, which throughout the project has provided major support to Capt. Packard's researches and which saw this volume through the publication process. The joint effort is intended to provide intelligence professionals, scholars, and the general public with a detailed, topical accounting of the long and varied activities of U.S. Naval Intelligence on behalf of the nation. Equally important, it is hoped that the book's detailed references to resources for further research will spark more work in a field that has not been adequately explored by historians in the past.
The role of naval intelligence in the success of the U.S. armed forces in time of war and in periods of often precarious peace deserves wider appreciation; Capt. Packard has indeed performed a magnificent service to the Office of Naval Intelligence through his painstaking labors
Naval intelligence is the accumulated knowledge on the naval science and developments in all maritime countries; the naval capabilities, activities, and intentions of all potentially hostile and friendly countries; and the characteristics of all possible areas of naval operations. It has been a requirement within the U.S. Navy ever since intelligence was used to justify the procurement of the Navy's first ships.
Additionally, naval intelligence includes the Navy's contribution to joint military and national intelligence efforts.