6

Introduction

It has been said that the failure of the generals of 1914 was largely a pre-war failure. Whilst they had been able to adapt the technologies ready to hand, such as the railways, they lacked the wit to perceive the importance of new technologies, such as the internal combustion engine or wireless technology, as radio was then called. No such charge can be laid against the admirals of the years before 1914. The Royal Navy abolished sail after the Crimean War, steel replaced wood and sail gave way to piston and then turbine, with coal being replaced by oil. Guns and ships became larger with the battleship ‘Dreadnought’, launched in 1906; a ship of 18,110 tons, with ten 12 inch guns, and bringing with it a new design, which made previous big ships obsolete. By 1913 the changes continued with the latest modern battleship in the Royal Navy the Queen Elizabeth now displacing 26,000 tons, armed with 15 inch guns; and these advances in warships were copied by other major nations in Europe and further afield, in a desperate effort to keep up.

a) Pre War Events When Kaiser William II came to the throne in 1888, his main aim was to develop Germany into a world power and the Royal Navy, as the world’s largest navy, was seen as an obstacle to achieving this objective. Consequently from 1897 Germany commenced a warship building programme to increase the size of their fleet. In order to maintain naval superiority Britain also responded by increasing its warship building programme.

b) Blockade by the British on Germany

At the start of the war the decision was taken to enforce a total naval blockade on Germany and its allies to prevent food shipment and both military and non military items. All German ports and later most European ports were blockaded. This gradually caused hardship to the population and resulted in a later German counter blockade of Britain by the use of submarines.

c) The first sea battles -War in the Pacific

After unification in 1871 Germany belatedly entered the scramble for colonial territories in Africa and the Pacific. In the Pacific they collected a number of Islands, including the Marianas in which the German East Asiatic Squadron was based. At the start of war the Squadron was ordered to return to Germany as it became clear that the Germans had too few colonies and bases to sustain a worldwide campaign. They sailed for South America and in doing so learnt that a small British Squadron was close nearby to the Chilean coastal city of Coronel. They surprised the British ships and sunk two cruisers, however two ships escaped and made for Port Stanley. The Germans followed at a slower pace, but the Admiralty had anticipated problems and sent a larger force at high speed to the Falklands. When the Germans attacked Port Stanley they were surprised and endeavoured to escape. They were caught by the British ships which sank all the German ships bar one which escaped into the Pacific. Further navy action insured that all the other German armed surface ships were eliminated from the oceans by the spring of 1915.

d) War in the Mediterranean

In 1914 the cruiser Goeben escaped to Constantinople and led to the Ottoman Empire joining Germany against the Allies. Initially the French fleet assumed responsibility, cutting off the Austrian Navy, by closing the Straits of Otranto, whilst the RN concentrated on the Channel and the North Sea.

e) War in the North Sea

In order to restrict the movement of the main German Fleet the Royal Navy created the Grand Fleet, based at Scarpa Flow and Rosyth as the major bases for a North Sea campaign against Germany. Ships were also based in the Channel to protect the transportation of troops to France. The first battle occurred on 28th August near Helgoland initially involving cruisers and destroyers from Harwich and later a Battle Cruiser Squadron, the Germans lost 4 ships. This result made the Germans more cautious in using surface ships in the North Sea. Another minor scrap occurred in October near Texel Island, when a small British squadron sank 4 German vessels.

The Navy also assisted the army using 40 monitors to provide fire support for troops within range of the Belgian coast. In November German ships targeted Great Yarmouth, causing little damage. In December they returned to target Scarborough, Whitby and Hartlepool. This time they inflicted considerable damage, with 137 deaths and nearly 600 injuries.

In December the Battle of Dogger Bank occurred in which Beatty’s Battle Cruisers took on a similar German force. The Germans lost a ship, with of 3 their ships suffering severe damage and the rest retreated to base. Long range gunnery was becoming important with ranges of up to 21,000yds on targets recorded; additionally the effective use of mines also became a problem to both fleets.

In May 31 1916 the navies met at Jutland when the German Fleet left port. The battle cruisers of both fleets engaged with the Germans attempting to draw the British into the arms of the High Seas Fleet resulting in the sinking of 3 British ships. The British battle cruisers withdrew trying to entice the Germans into the arms of the Grand Fleet. After further action the Germans retreated back to port. This was not a decisive battle for the RN who lost a total of 14 ships, but the German position had not changed, with losses of 10 ships. A news correspondence compared this action to a prisoner – the German Navy, who had escaped from his cell, punched the warder on the nose – the Royal Navy, and returned to his cell, which the warder promptly locked again.

f) Blockade of Britain and extension to other shipping by Germany with the use of Submarines

Food shortages in the winter of 1914/15 led the Germans in February 1915 to announce a blockade of the British Isles and an increase in building U Boats. ‘Every enemy vessel found will be destroyed without it always being possible to warn crews or passengers of the dangers’. This caused concern in the US regard the impact on US shipping. Initially German action was insignificant in terms of allied losses. In May 1915 U20 sank the liner Lusitania off Ireland with a loss of 1198 passengers and crew, including 128 Americans. President Wilson protested and the Germans reduced their activities.

Steps to reduce the effect of submarines by the Royal Navy, included the introduction of ‘Q-ships’ from 1915/16; these were merchant ships with concealed deck guns, together with barrages for protecting ports.

g) Entry of US into War as a result of German Blockade

On 1st Feb 1917 Germany announced the start of an unrestricted U-boat campaign and allied shipping started to take a heavy toll, which reached a monthly total by April of 860,000 tons. As a result the RN started a convoy system, together with destroyers engaged in antisubmarine patrols. On April 6th the US declared war on Germany, imposing a further embargo on the Central Powers. The convoy system led to a reduction in ship losses and the safe transportation of 2,079,880 US soldiers and 7 1/2 mil tons of war material from the US to Europe up to the end of the war.

Conclusion

German failed to succeed in its blockade of the UK and failed to prevent US men and arms from joining the European battlefield losing over half of its U-boats in the process. In addition they were unable to prevent the safe passage of British and Empire troops and material to the battlefield in France.

Germany was never able to use its surface ships to any great effect and the morale of crews were reduced by lack of action.

Finally the economic blockade of Germany caused serious shortages of food and material to the war effort and helped to shorten the war.

WAR AT SEA

1914 -1918