World War One at Sea
It is broader than you think it is and have I just commenced a stupidly large project?
The War at Sea in the First World War is a vast and complex conflict with so many aspects and theatres from the frigid Northern seas to tropical Pacific Islands. It is the Maritime supply lines and foreign based warships that helps to make this a World War rather than just another European conflict.
It is easy to write off the War at Sea in the same way people do with the land war in France and Flanders with:
“Its just nothing happening for long periods of time punctuated by a few battles like the Somme (or Jutland)”
Like the land campaigns the General public could probably name one or two Sea battles or a major event and maybe one or two personalities. As many great writers and historians are writing to change this and show that something is always going on for the land war is it time for this to change for the War at Sea?
Ok so maybe something wasn’t going to happen every day… Sometimes the weather is bad and no one can put to sea but most of the time something is going on somewhere. There are some personalities who have had a major impact that many people won’t have heard of and battles and operations that are really obscure. For example, how many people know that units of the German Navy occupied Easter Island for a few months?
So what are the main theatres of the conflict?
The obvious one is the North Sea and British territorial waters.
In 1914 the Naval world held its’ collective breath for the long awaited grudge match at sea; Germany’s High Seas fleet vs. Britain’s Grand Fleet in an epic sea battle like Tsushima Strait.
By 1918 the conflict had changed massively amd although the two fleets were still on the table and a threat there were advances in technology and the way it was used. Submarines are good example as they go from a novelty to a world changing weapon which has an immeasurable impact.
You also see aircraft going from a curiosity into a vital tool with anti-subamrine patrols, ship carried aircraft used to launch attacks on German targets and spotting for warships to aid in accuracy of their shots in non-line of sight conflict.
The cat and mouse game between the two powers in the region was vital to winning the war. All the while Britain held the initiative the blockade could be maintained slowly starving the Vaterland.
BUT if Germany got the upper hand then they could counter blockade Britain and could sever the vital supply line to not only the Home Island but also to the BEF across the Channel. This was a long play however with Germany starting with a numerical disadvantage.
The Baltic - Without hurting British pride, the High Seas Flet was fighting other people in Europe too.
Some might argue that the Baltic was a more serious and winnable theatre for them as the High Seas Fleet was, on paper, far superior to the Russian Baltic fleet. However the success of the fleet had to be linked with the success of the Armys on the Eastern Front.
The main priority for Germany however was to protect the Scandinavian Ore imports which were imperative for the War effort.
The Med, Black Sea and Adriatic
I’ve sort of lumped these all in together for ease as the Royal Navy and French force (later joined by the Italians) were fighting on two to three fronts either side of the Mediterranean Sea.
In the rear, as it were, was the Austro-Hungarian surface fleet holding the Adriatic Sea which needed containing as well as their U-boat force, joined by German submarines which were a major threat to Allied shipping in the region travelling from the Suez to home ports.
At the other end you have the Ottoman navy based around the battlecruiser Yuvuz/Goeben at first on the back foot with the Allies trying to press into the Dardanelles to counter attacking at times and also fighting off the Russian Black Seas fleet.
The Colonies
So this is the much wider scope but there is a uniting theme of securing the sea lanes from German auxiliaries and overseas stationed cruisers. The mere existence of German warships abroad and the threat to Imperial redeployment and trade lead to land campaigns having to be carried out to secure German colonies, wireless stations and friendly ports in the Pacific and Togoland.
How dangerous was a German cruiser operating abroad? The Emden intercepted some thirty odd ships in three months and carried out two bombardments of ports, the Karlsruhe intercepted a similar number and the Leipzig, although only stopping a handful of vessels, single handedly shut down shipping along the west coast of the North and South American continents by her mere passing and even caused an invasion panic in Canada.
These main campaigns also see the Royal Australian, New Zealand and Canadian Navies in their first real actions and a massive expansion of Canadian forces. You also see the Japanese star rising as they begin absorbing the former German island colonies with many familiar names being fought over in the Second World War.
The Scope for this is immense and whenever you look for a single book on the subject youll be left seriously wanting and anyone who tries to cover this in a single volume will be forced to omit many things. The best ones are multi-volume tomes like Marder’s Dreadnought to Scapa Flow or Corbett'/Newbolt’s Naval Operations.
But why am I writing this?
Well when I started I was just thinking about writing something new and a general introduction to the War at Sea in the First World War… Now… I’ve had an idea.
Basically I’ve not known quite what to write on this platform beyond what I’m working on at the moment or something I’ve thought was interesting at that particular time but now - and God help me - I think I’ve got an idea that will give me something to write regularly and also feed my interests (read obsession) and write posts that will ultimately fill in the gaps and tell as complete a story of the First World War at Sea as I can. Obviously this is going to take a long time and take years to write so look forward to many posts on the Maritime campaigns.
As much as I would like to write chronologically that won’t always be possible and so it will be dotted all over the place.
“How will that help me, the reader, keep track of what is going on?” I hear you mutter.
Well what I’m proposing to do is use the Tags as a way of helping navigate about with the four main ones being the theatres:
North Sea, Baltic, Mediterranean and The Colonies.
There will also be one for each year of the war so you will be able to navigate it all if/when I finish the project - though let’s be realistic this could be a massive project that could take forever.
This December I’m hoping to write several posts on the Battle of the Falklands trying to write as complete a history as I can, including personal testimonies from the various ships involved for the 110th anniversary.
I’m also going to be doing posts on some of the lesser known battles and engagements, looking at ship design and some of the personal everyday life stories of life aboard or in port - there look to be some great stories of Chatham on the IWM sound archive!
One day I’ll tackle Jutland but I think that is a massive project that will cover multiple posts over several months.
Anyway, I hope that sounds good as a proposal!
If it is something you like the sound of then feel free to subscribe or follow and you’ll get the articles when they come out.
Sounds amazing, can't wait to read them Chris.
Great idea! Looking forward to reading them.