The planning that allowed for the successful amphibious landings at the end of World War II actually began during the 1880s as the Marine Corps sought to define their role in the new Steel Navy. Over sixty years, officers from the Marines, the Army and the Navy braved skepticism, indifference and outright opposition to develop a credible amphibious warfare doctrine. Each service brought its own contributions to the drawing board - the Marines, experience with Advance Base Force and landing operations; the Navy, research on naval gunnery and ship design; and the Army, work with logistics and engineering.From the 1898 War with Spain through the disastrous 1915 Australian landing to the successful assaults in the Pacific and northwest France in 1945, this chronological history explores the successes and failures pivotal to the concept of amphibious warfare through the lives and careers of fourteen officers instrumental to its development. The profiles include General George S. Patton, Jr.; rear Admiral Walter C. Ansel, USN; Lieutenant John A. Lejeune, USMC; Admiral William Sims, USN; and Colonel Robert W. Huntington, USMC.