War at Sea

Propaganda Posters

Naval Power Before WWI, Britain was considered to be the ultimate naval power Germany also wanted a huge navy this led to a naval race (arms build up)

German Strategy The German strategy was to “choke off” supplies from entering or leaving Britain This led Germany to use U-boats (submarines) Lusitania (an American passenger ship) was sunk by German submarines This prepared the way for American entry into war

U-Boats Short form of Unterseeboot (undersea boat) Could be an efficient fleet weapon against enemy naval warships. Most effectively used as a naval blockade for convoys bringing supplies to enemy areas.

British Strategy British strategy was to blockade Germany Blockade was very successful, as many German supplies began to run out Germany declared “unrestricted submarine warfare” USA enter the war

Fig 1 – Blockading Germany and supply lines to Britain.

The U-boat campaign: restricted submarine warfare Germany made very effective use of its small U-boat fleet (only 23 at the start of the war). At first, the Germans stuck to the rules of war by sinking only merchant ships belonging to Britain and her allies. This resulted in a small number of sinkings: only ten by Feb. 1915. After Feb. 1915 the Kaiser ordered a change of tactic.

Un-restricted submarine warfare, Feb-Oct 1915 From Feb. 1915 the Germans declared that any ship in British waters (even neutral ones) would be attacked – this was unrestricted submarine warfare Sinkings shot up – in August 1915 alone, U-boats sank 42 merchant ships. One of their victims was the British passenger, the Lusitania, torpedoed in May, 1915. Among the 1200 civilian dead were 128 Americans The sinking was a public relations disaster for the Germans and US opinion was outraged. After the war, it became known that the Lusitania was carrying munitions for Britain – a breach of the rules of war

What risk do you think the Germans were running with their un-restricted submarine warfare campaign? Why, nonetheless, do you think they went ahead with it? Why was the sinking of the Lusitania a public relations disaster for the Germans? What does the poster suggest was another benefit for the British?

German propaganda disaster The actual sinking of the Lusitania was enough of a disaster. It was made even worse when a German medal-maker decided to cast a medal to celebrate its sinking. The British circulated copies as further evidence of German ‘barbarism’. The German government ordered all German copies to be destroyed – but too late.

This, in fact, is the second edition of the medal. The first had the wrong date for the sinking (5 May instead of the 7 May)

April 1917: US enters the war The Germans suspended their campaign in September 1915 because of the hostile reaction of neutral (especially American) opinion. However, the British naval blockade of Germany’s ports was causing terrible shortages of food and there was pressure to resume the campaign. In February 1917 the Germans resumed their campaign. US opinion was further angered by the publication by the British of the Zimmerman telegram in the same month. In this secret telegram the German gov. promised Mexico three US states if they would declare war on the US! This scheme finally drove the United States to declare war on 6 April, 1917.

Blockades & Convoys To counter the German submarines, the Allies moved shipping into convoys (to accompany for protection) Ships were guarded by destroyers (smaller, faster, battleships) Blockades (an obstruction of passage; often surrounding areas prevent movement) and minefields were laid Aircraft patrols also monitored the U-boat bases

Convoy system RAF aerial photograph of a convoy of five ships, 16 August 1918. In response to the damage wrought on Allied shipping by the German campaign of 'unrestricted submarine warfare', the Royal Navy introduced a convoy system in June 1917. As this photograph illustrates, it worked by providing escort vessels for individual ships. These escorts not only guarded against surface gunfire attacks, but also dropped depth charges in areas where German 'U-boats' were known to operate. The convoy system resulted in a rapid decrease in German attacks on Allied shipping during the last 17 months of the war.

Depth charges exploding

Battle of Jutland (Denmark) •The Battle of Jutland was the only major naval encounter of WWI •It was a British victory although they lost more ships

Rationing

Canada’s Contribution •Canada supplied many ships to the British during WWI •enlistment in the Royal Canadian Navy increased

Halifax Explosion

The Mont Blanc, carrying 200 tonnes of TNT, entered the Halifax harbour on December 6, 1917 At the same time as the Mont Blanc sailed in, a second ship – the Imo - prepared to leave port and head to the open ocean Through a series of mixed signals, a collision took place right next to one of the busiest wharves in Halifax. At 09:05 the Mont Blanc exploded. It was the largest man-made explosion until the atomic bomb in 1945, causing a mini-tidal wave to fan out from the spot of the explosions The explosion could be heard up to 300 miles away

Deaths: over 1600 men, women and children killed Injuries: 9000 people Buildings Destroyed: 1630 Buildings Damaged: 25,000 Help came from all over the world totaling about $30 million

"My Grandfather used to walk along the shore in the mornings "My Grandfather used to walk along the shore in the mornings.“ My grandfather was down on the shore when the explosion occurred. The concussion of the explosion threw him up against rocks on the shore. Fortunately, he was able to scramble up the rocks before the tsunami hit the Dartmouth shore. The harbour parted, the wave went right over him, but he hung to a lamp post, a great big post along the railway track. He hung on for dear life around that post. Then the wave receded, but just when he got his breath, it came back and went over his head again. The third wave was just to his waist, and then it gradually receded. This all occurred just where the old North Ferry used to be at the foot of Jameson Street.

An anchor beam from the Mont Blanc weighing 1140lb and flew 2.3 miles Over 10% of the population of Halifax was homeless after the explosion. Most of these were working class people. Why do you think these people suffered the worst from the destruction? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= MPrGL9Xt-ds (22:00)