The War at Sea

1. FORGOTTEN
WRECKS OF THE
FIRST WORLD WAR
The War at Sea

3. The First World war was the first truly global conflict, involving countries from every
continent on earth. But most of the fighting actually took place in Europe.

4. But the war at sea was what took the fighting around the world. Significant actions that
would affect the course of the war took place in every ocean in every corner of the globe.

5. The first year of the war
was dominated by
‘cruiser warfare’. Isolated
German warships based
at foreign ports in
Germany’s young empire
began to attack British
and Commonwealth
merchant ships around
the world.

6. SMS Emden, a German
cruiser, was one such
ship, which successfully
captured or sank 26 ships
in the Indian Ocean
before it was caught and
defeated by the
Australian cruiser HMAS
Sydney in November
1914.

7. In the Pacific Ocean, a
small squadron of vessels
under Admiral Graf von
Spee defeated a British
Squadron off Chile,
sinking two British
cruisers with all hands. It
was the first defeat
suffered by the Royal
Navy in 100 years and
1,600 men were lost.
Already the war at sea
had produced a disaster
on a worse scale than the
loss of the Titanic two
years earlier.

8. The Royal Navy, shocked
and stunned by the
defeat, sent a new force
to find von Spee’s
squadron. Less than a
month later, at the
Falkland Islands, the
German force was
annihilated with the loss
of 1,900 men.

9. In home waters, both
Britain and Germany
tried to blockade their
enemy.

10. In home waters, both
Britain and Germany
tried to blockade their
enemy.
In 1914 Britain
established a distant
blockade of the North
Sea and situated the
Grand Fleet at Scapa
Flow.

11. In home waters, both
Britain and Germany
tried to blockade their
enemy.
In 1914 Britain
established a distant
blockade of the North
Sea and situated the
Grand Fleet at Scapa
Flow.
Merchant traffic to the
North Sea would have to
pass through the Dover
Straits where it could be
searched for contraband.

12. The German High Seas
Fleet was based in its
ports on the north coast.

13. The German High Seas
Fleet was based in its
ports on the north coast.
Each side wanted to use
their fleet to force a
battle where they would
have an advantage in
numbers. In 1914 and
1915 this created a series
of skirmishes in the
North Sea.

14. The German High Seas
Fleet was based in its
ports on the north coast.
Each side wanted to use
their fleet to force a
battle where they would
have an advantage in
numbers. In 1914 and
1915 this created a series
of skirmishes in the
North Sea.
In 1916, both fleets
found themselves facing
each other at the Battle
of Jutland.

15. Jutland was the largest
battleship encounter in
history. Whilst many
Second World War
battles involved more
ships, in terms of
tonnage committed to
direct action with one
another, Jutland is the
largest.
However, although the
German fleet sank more
British ships than it lost,
it was unable to break
Britain’s blockade.

16. But Germany had an
alternative weapon with
which to fight a blockade:
the U-boat.

17. But Germany had an
alternative weapon with
which to fight a blockade:
the U-boat.
At the outbreak of the
war, neither side had
expected much from U-
boats and only expected
that they may serve as
scouts for the big
battleship fleets.

18. But Germany had an
alternative weapon with
which to fight a blockade:
the U-boat.
At the outbreak of the
war, neither side had
expected much from U-
boats and only expected
that they may serve as
scouts for the big
battleship fleets.
That changed when one
U-boat sank three British
cruisers in 90 minutes,
with the loss of 1,500
lives.

19. In 1915 and 1916, Germany
used its U-boats to attack
merchant ships, in an effort to
force Britain to lift its blockade,
which was starting to impact on
the German population and
industry.
Both campaigns were supposed
to be conducted according to
the rules of war, and merchant
crews were to be made safe
before ships were sunk. This
was not always observed.
However, neither campaign
succeeded.

20. In 1917, Germany tried a
new tactic. They declared
all of the seas around
Britain a war zone within
which ANY ship – military
or civilian, British or
neutral, would be
attacked without
warning.
Germany hoped that by
sinking as much
merchant shipping as
possible, Britain would be
starved out of the war by
the end of 1917.

21. The U-boat campaign had
a very serious impact on
British merchant trade.
British politicians and
admirals became worried
that without more
supplies reaching the
country, Britain would
not be able to continue
the war into 1918.

22. Two things saved Britain:
• New technology
• New tactics

23. New Technology
New weapons like the
depth charge, invented in
Britain in 1915, had
started to become more
advanced and more
successful.
Britain finally had a
weapon with which to
fight under water.

24. New Tactics
In 1917, the Allies started
to group their ships into
convoys. This made it
harder for U-boats to find
isolated ships, and easier
for the Royal Navy to
protect them.

25. The U-boats were
defeated in 1918, but
even so their impact was
spectacular.
They were even more
successful in the First
World War than they
were in the Second

26. And Britain was the
maritime power that
suffered the most. By
1922, with the loss of so
many vessels and as a
result of treaties
designed to govern the
size of fleets around the
world, the US overtook
Britain to become the
worlds leading maritime
superpower.

27. It is difficult to put any sort
of number on the lives lost
in the war at sea.
For Britain and her Empire
(today’s Commonwealth)
the best way to establish the
cost is by looking at the
Commonwealth War Graves
Commission figures.

28. The Merchant Navy
memorial in London lists
more than 12,100 names
of merchant seamen and
women who died in the
war.
Commonwealth War
Graves Commission

29. The three Royal Navy
memorials in Chatham,
Portsmouth and
Plymouth list 25,500
names of those lost at
sea.
Commonwealth War
Graves Commission

30. In Southampton the
Hollybrook memorial lists
1,900 names of soldiers
and airmen lost at sea.
Commonwealth War
Graves Commission

31. Around the world are the
graves of another 17,600
men and women from
Britain and the
Commonwealth who
died at sea.
Commonwealth War
Graves Commission

32. The total figure is therefore approximately 57,200.

33. The German Navy suffered more than 78,000 casualties, including 21,000 deaths.

34. Fur ther Information
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