The Importance of The War At Sea During WWI
By: Taylor Pressdee, Anna Ward, Nathan Urquidi What Was the Impact of ‘The War at Sea’?
● Opened a new kind of warfare: Submarine Warfare ● Involved civilians as well as sailors and soldiers ● One of the major reasons that the United States joined the Allies ● Influenced major events during the war: Battle of Jutland, the naval blockade, submarine warfare and the sinking of the Lusitania Who Was Affected By The War at Sea?
● “Total War” ● War At Sea affected civilians as well as soldiers ● Ship Liners, and Coastal cities were in danger of attack ● Starvation was prevalent in specifically Germany because supply ships were being sunk Timeline
May 31st 1916 September 1915 Battle of Jutland Germans stop using U-boats
February 1st 1916 Germans begin using U-boats again May 7th 1916 Lusitania Sinks Battle of Jutland Battle of Jutland
● Fought on May 31st 1916 ● Only major battle fought at sea ● Fought by the Jutland Peninsula between England and Germany ● Two Admirals in charge of both fleets: Vice Admiral Reinhard Scheer (Left) and Admiral Sir John Jellicoe (Right) The Battle
● British forces intercepted a German message containing a plan to attack them on May 28th ● However, Admiral Scheer postponed the attack due to bad weather ○ Attempted to plan another attack down by the Jutland Peninsula, however Britain intercepted this plan as well ● Vice Admiral Jellicoe moved his fleet down to the Jutland Peninsula, awaiting the attack Aftermath of the Battle
● The British suffered losses, but not nearly as many as Germany ● Germany’s fleet was damaged beyond repair, crippling their naval capabilities ● British Losses: 14 ships and roughly 6,000 men ● German Losses: 9 ships and roughly 2,500 men British Naval Blockade of Germany The Blockade of Germany
● Began in 1914 and ended 1919 ● Allied naval blockade of Northwest Germany ● Cut supply lines going into, and coming out of Germany ● Intent was to demoralise and starve resources to win the war Effects of the Blockade
● Germany and Austria-Hungary could replace most of the supplies themselves, except for food ● German and Austria-Hungarian people starve ● Outbreak of riots ● Germany implements Unrestricted Submarine Warfare to calm the people Submarine Warfare The Submarine
● Submarines were actually invented in 1620 ● The First World War was the first time that submarines were used effectively in naval combat ● Submarines could ‘sneak’ up on unsuspecting ships and sink Allied ships undetected Submarine Warfare
● In retaliation for the naval blockade, the Germans used U-boats (a type of submarine) to attack British convoys ● The British called this warfare unjustified and unfair ● Germany declares that waters around Britain are a war zone ○ The Germans attacked any ship, regardless if they were Allied or Neutral Retaliation for German Submarines
● After the sinking of the Lusitania, Woodrow Wilson persuaded Germany to restrict Submarine Warfare ○ Germany signed the ‘Sussex Pledge’ which stopped them sinking non-militaristic boats ● Germany eventually abandoned using U-boats because the restrictions were too tight ● Decided to continue U-boat warfare on February 1st 1917 Bibliography
Slide #3 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tees-30004430
Slide #5 https://www.britishbattles.com/first-world-war
Slide #6 https://ww1live.wordpress.com/tag/reinhard-scheer/
Slide #6 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/John-Jellicoe
Slide #8 http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zykwhv4
Slide #9 https://io9.gizmodo.com/was-britains-wwi-blockade-the-first-atrocity-of-the-20t
Slide # https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/americas-shift-from-neutrality-to-war--2
Slide #11 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unrestricted_submarine_warfare
Slide #12 https://www.theworldwar.org/explore/centennial-commemoration/us-enters-war/unrestricted-u-boat- warfare.