German Submarine Warfare In World War I

Author : Lawrence Sondhaus
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 279 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2017-08-11
Category : History
ISBN : 9781442269552

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German Submarine Warfare in World War I by Lawrence Sondhaus Pdf

This compelling book explores Germany’s campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare in World War I, which marked the onset of total war at sea. Noted historian Lawrence Sondhaus shows how the undersea campaign, intended as an antidote to Britain’s more conventional blockade of German ports, ultimately brought the United States into the war. Although the German people readily embraced the argument that an “undersea blockade” of Britain enforced by their navy’s Unterseeboote (U-boats) was the moral equivalent of the British navy’s blockade of German ports, international opinion never accepted its legitimacy. Sondhaus explains that in their initial, somewhat confused rollout of unrestricted submarine warfare in 1915, German leaders underestimated the extent to which the policy would alienate the most important neutral power, the United States. In rationalizing the risk of resuming the unrestricted campaign in 1917, they took for granted that, should the United States join the Allies, German U-boats would be able to stop the transport of an American army to France. But by bringing the United States into the war, while also failing to stop the deployment of its troops to Europe, unrestricted submarine warfare ultimately led to Germany’s defeat. Because US manpower proved decisive in breaking the stalemate on the Western Front and securing victory for the Allies, Sondhaus argues that Germany’s decision to stake its fate on the U-boat campaign ranks among the greatest blunders of modern history.

Author : John Abbatiello
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 257 pages
File Size : 54,8 Mb
Release : 2006-05-02
Category : History
ISBN : 9781135989545

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Anti-Submarine Warfare in World War I by John Abbatiello Pdf

Investigating the employment of British aircraft against German submarines during the final years of the First World War, this new book places anti-submarine campaigns from the air in the wider history of the First World War. The Royal Naval Air Service invested heavily in aircraft of all types—aeroplanes, seaplanes, airships, and kite balloons—in order to counter the German U-boats. Under the Royal Air Force, the air campaign against U-boats continued uninterrupted. Aircraft bombed German U-boat bases in Flanders, conducted area and ‘hunting’ patrols around the coasts of Britain, and escorted merchant convoys to safety. Despite the fact that aircraft acting alone destroyed only one U-boat during the war, the overall contribution of naval aviation to foiling U-boat attacks was significant. Only five merchant vessels succumbed to submarine attack when convoyed by a combined air and surface escort during World War I. This book examines aircraft and weapons technology, aircrew training, and the aircraft production issues that shaped this campaign. Then, a close examination of anti-submarine operations—bombing, patrols, and escort—yields a significantly different judgment from existing interpretations of these operations. This study is the first to take an objective look at the writing and publication of the naval and air official histories as they told the story of naval aviation during the Great War. The author also examines the German view of aircraft effectiveness, through German actions, prisoner interrogations, official histories, and memoirs, to provide a comparative judgment. The conclusion closes with a brief narrative of post-war air anti-submarine developments and a summary of findings. Overall, the author concludes that despite the challenges of organization, training, and production the employment of aircraft against U-boats was largely successful during the Great War. This book will be of interest to historians of naval and air power history, as well as students of World War I and military history in general.

Author : Charles River Charles River Editors
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Page : 60 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2018-02-28
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1986065634

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Submarine Warfare in World War I by Charles River Charles River Editors Pdf

*Includes pictures *Includes accounts of fighting *includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading Submarine warfare began tentatively during the American Civil War (though the Netherlands and England made small prototypes centuries earlier, and the American sergeant Ezra Lee piloted the one-man "Turtle" vainly against HMS Eagle near New York in 1776). Robert Whitehead's invention of the torpedo introduced the weapon later used most frequently by submarines. Steady improvements to Whitehead's design led to the military torpedoes deployed against shipping during both World Wars. World War I witnessed the First Battle of the Atlantic, when the Kaiserreich unleashed its U-boats against England. During the war, the German submarines sent much of the British merchant marine to the bottom. Indeed, German reliance on U-boats in both World War I and World War II stemmed largely from their nation's geography. The Germans eventually recognized the superiority of the Royal Navy and its capacity to blockade Germany's short coastline in the event of war. While the British could easily interdict surface ships, submarines slipped from their Kiel or Hamburg anchorages unseen, able to prey upon England's merchant shipping. The sleek hunter-killers lurking beneath the waves, using periscopes to close in unnoticed on their prey, added a new, nerve-wracking element to naval warfare. The mere threat of submarine attack immediately altered naval tactics and strategies employed by both the Western Allies and the Central Powers, shifting them towards a more cautious approach, especially at the war's start when the submarine threat remained untested. During World War I, German U-boats operated solo except on one occasion. Initially, the British and nations supplying England with food and materiel scattered vessels singly across the ocean, making them vulnerable to the lone submarines. However, widespread late war re-adoption of the convoy system tipped the odds in the surface ships' favor, as one U-boat skipper described: "The oceans at once became bare and empty; for long periods at a time the U-boats, operating individually, would see nothing at all; and then suddenly up would loom a huge concourse of ships, thirty or fifty or more of them, surrounded by a strong escort of warships of all types." (Blair, 1996, 55). World War I proved the value of submarines, ensuring their widespread employment in the next conflict, but by using U-boats against the shipping that kept Britain supplied, it might have ultimately cost Germany and Austria-Hungary the war by providing a reason for President Woodrow Wilson to bring the United States into the struggle. Submarine Warfare in World War I: The History and Legacy of the German U-boats and Allied Efforts to Counter Them analyzes the underwater fighting. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about submarine warfare in World War I like never before.

Author : Edwyn Gray
Publisher : Pen and Sword
Page : 367 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 1994-04-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9781473820043

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The U-Boat War, 1914–1918 by Edwyn Gray Pdf

A history of Germany’s usage of submarine warfare during World War I, by the author of Operation Pacific. In 1914, U-Boats were a new and untried weapon, and when such a weapon can bring a mighty empire to the brink of defeat there is a story worth telling. Edwyn Gray’s The U-Boat War is the history of the Kaiser’s attempt to destroy the British Empire by a ruthless campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare. It opens with Germany’s first tentative experiments with the submarines and climaxes with the naval mutiny that helped bring down the Kaiser. In between is a detailed account of a campaign of terror which, by April, 1917, had the British Empire on the verge of surrender. The cost in lives and equipment was staggering. On the German side, 4,894 sailors and 515 officers lost their lives in action; 178 German Submarines were destroyed by the allies; 14 were scuttled and 122 surrendered. According to the most reliable sources, 5,708 ships were destroyed by the U-Boats and 13,333 non-combatants perished in British Ships. World figures for civilian casualties were never released. The U-Boat War is a savage but thrilling account of men fighting for their lives beneath the sea, and of the boats that changed the face of naval warfare.

Author : Charles W. Domville-Fife
Publisher : BoD – Books on Demand
Page : 217 pages
File Size : 41,5 Mb
Release : 2015-01-09
Category : Transportation
ISBN : 9783954274420

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The British Submarine Warfare by Charles W. Domville-Fife Pdf

This fully illustrated book (the original was published 1919) describes the victory of the British fleet over the German submarines during WWI.

Author : R.H. Gibson,Maurice Prendergast
Publisher : Periscope Publishing Ltd.
Page : 526 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 2002-11
Category : History
ISBN : 1904381081

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The German Submarine War 1914-1918 by R.H. Gibson,Maurice Prendergast Pdf

This account of the U-boat campaign in the World War I represents the official British history of the war against the German submarine attack on shipping. From a few fragile craft, the U-boats grew to become the greatest menace to Britain's survival.

Author : Wesley Frost
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 284 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 2009-03
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1104131269

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German Submarine Warfare by Wesley Frost Pdf

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Author : Jak P. Mallmann Showell
Publisher : Bloomsbury Academic
Page : 232 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2006
Category : History
ISBN : STANFORD:36105127437478

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The U-boat Century by Jak P. Mallmann Showell Pdf

On a sweltering day in August 1906 U-1, or Unterseeboot 1, meaning underwater boat, was lifted into Kiel's waters for trials; 100 hundred years later Kiel still witnesses the launching of U-boats, modern submarines with fuel cell propulsion systems, built for navies worldwide. In the years in between Germany fought two world wars, in which the U-boat almost defeated the Allies. --The U-boat was one of the most potent weapons of the 20th century, and here Mallmann Showell, perhaps the world's leading U-boat historian, explains how it was developed and designed and then deployed to wreak havoc in European waters and further afield in the Atlantic and the Far East. This is not a dry technical book but a work that looks behind the scenes at the men who built and fought in them. Weapons systems, operational areas, bases, builders and fleet organisation are covered, and as well as dealing with the world wars, the author brings the story up to date with the third, latest, generation of U-boats. The text is augmented by over 300 images, many never published before. --Publisher description.

Author : Mark D. Van Ells
Publisher : Gale, Cengage Learning
Page : 9 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2018-09-28
Category : Study Aids
ISBN : 9781535864411

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Gale Researcher Guide for: Submarine Warfare and the Entry of the United States into World War I by Mark D. Van Ells Pdf

Gale Researcher Guide for: Submarine Warfare and the Entry of the United States into World War I is selected from Gale's academic platform Gale Researcher. These study guides provide peer-reviewed articles that allow students early success in finding scholarly materials and to gain the confidence and vocabulary needed to pursue deeper research.

Author : Wesley Frost
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 1918
Category : Electronic
ISBN : OCLC:643736875

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German Submarine Warfare by Wesley Frost Pdf

Author : Wesley Frost
Publisher : Uniform Press
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2018
Category : Submarines (Ships)
ISBN : 1910500240

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German Submarine Warfare by Wesley Frost Pdf

La 4e de couv. indique : "This book is a record of observations and evidence compiled by the then US Consul in Queenstown, Eire. Contains detailed testimonies of survivors from over fifty vessels attacked and often sunk by German submarines during the Great War. A vivid and accurate picture of the tactics and motives of German submarine warfare is provided in the first part of the book. The second part concentrates on the attack and sinking of RMS Lusitania. Wesley Frost's first consular post came in 1912, when he was named U.S. Consul at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. After two years, he was appointed U.S. Consul to Queenstown, near Cork. It was during his service there (1914-17), he coordinated relief operations for the survivors of the Lusitania, torpedoed by a German submarine on May 7, 1915. Many of the interviews used in his book were included as part of his official report to the United States government."

Author : Dwight R. Messimer
Publisher : US Naval Institute Press
Page : 360 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 2001
Category : History
ISBN : UOM:39015053519792

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Find and Destroy by Dwight R. Messimer Pdf

World War I was the crucible of antisubmarine warfare (ASW), and the years of trial and error between 1914 and 1918 gave rise to the weapons and tactics used by today's ASW forces. With this study, military historian Dwight Messimer examines the weapons, tactics, and organization used by all the belligerents during the war and provides some surprising findings. Because he draws heavily from personal accounts as well as from official records, his book will appeal to both serious readers seeking hard facts and to general readers who like stories about war at sea. Messimer tells the story from both sides. German survivors who escaped from sunken U-boats explain what it was like to face the newly developed ASW weapons beneath the surface, and pilots tell what it was like from above. The author describes the German's well-organized and efficient ASW organization in the Baltic and the Helgoland Bight. He also discusses the weapons developed during the war that proved to be largely ineffective or outright failures. While his evaluations of the contributions made by aircraft and Q-ships put them in the category of only marginally effective, his analysis of the effectiveness of politics deems that ASW "weapon" the most effective of all. Solidly grounded in the best primary sources available in England, the United States, and Germany, this book is the first to address the ASW of all World War I belligerents.

Author : Peter Padfield
Publisher : Turner Publishing Company
Page : 349 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 2008-05-02
Category : History
ISBN : 9780470342800

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War Beneath the Sea by Peter Padfield Pdf

Praise for War Beneath the Sea "I am truly filled with awe and admiration...fascinating and a great contribution to the entire lore of submarines.... I wish I had written the book." ?Capt. Edward L. Beach, USN (Ret.) author of Run Silent, Run Deep "Peter Padfield is the best British naval historian of his generation now working. [His] book...will now become the standard work on the subject." ?Daily Telegraph (London) "Peter Padfield has produced by far the best and most complete critical history of the submarine operations of all the combatants in the Second World War, at the same time providing vivid narrative accounts of particular actions and events." ?Lloyd?s List (London) "An excellent account of submarine warfare in 1939?45... [it] recreates the tribulations and horrors of that especially brutal form of warfare within a sturdily analytical and often critical framework." ?The Economist "[A] marvelously complete and detailed study of World War II submarine warfare...an interesting, serious, and timely book." ?Houston Chronicle "A brilliant submarine warfare study." ?Military Review

Author : Lawrence Sondhaus
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 419 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2014-08-07
Category : History
ISBN : 9781107036901

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The Great War at Sea by Lawrence Sondhaus Pdf

New naval history of the First World War which reveals the contribution of the war at sea to Allied victory.

Author : Hans Joachim Koerver
Publisher : Pen and Sword Military
Page : 520 pages
File Size : 40,9 Mb
Release : 2020-09-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9781526773876

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The Kaiser's U-Boat Assault on America by Hans Joachim Koerver Pdf

“An absorbing work for those interested in both the Great War and early submarine-based strategic theory.” —Naval History This deeply researched and engaging account of the use of U-Boats in the First World War focuses on both diplomatic and economic aspects as well as the tactical and strategic use of the U-boats. The book also examines the role played by US president Woodrow Wilson and his response to American shipping being sunk by U-boats—and how that ultimately forced his hand to declare war on Germany. Includes photos and illustrations “An excellent illumination of a multiclass, militaristic, and diplomatically inept state trying to adapt to the realities of modern war and the exploitation of new technology—and catastrophically failing.” —Naval History “Highly recommended.” —The Northern Mariner