The War At Sea By: Anna Lopatukhin, Vaishnavie Sivanantham, Desciree Lyog and Jennifer Le

Background ▸ : Germany attacked Belgium ▸ Britain declared war on Germany ▸ Resulted in battle of Germany vs Britain ▸ Germany did this to: ○ decrease Britain’s superiority ○ to dominate waterways ○ win against strongest Empire (Great Britain)

New Technology its effect on war

Dreadnaughts ▸ Began with the naval arms race between Britain and Germany to have the largest navy ▸ New ships→ dreadnaughts ▸ “Castles-of-steel” ▸ Quickly lost their usefulness ▸ Soldiers who were trained in the new technology now had seen their weapons become waste ▸ Detrimental to economy

German Dreadnought

Artillery ▸ Artillery on the ships was very destructive ▸ Ten 12 inch guns, eighteen 4 inch guns, five torpedo tubes ▸ Made the war much more destructive and dangerous

Navy Yard, big gun section of the shops

U-Boats (submarines) ▸ Dreadnaughts were used to transport materials by Britain ▸ U-boats could sink dreadnaughts ▸ Forced Britain to come up with new ways to transport and detect ships ▸ Triggered a domino ally affect

Example of a u-boat under construction

Complex inner machinery of a submarine

Value of the Submarine

German Counter Attack ❖ Germans plan to break blockade with “U-boats” ❖ Germans waited for enemy targets and released torpedos ★ German submarine sank 5 British cruisers ❖ Britain and Germany relied on U-boats for supplies of food, raw materials, medical equipment, artillery and more, to prevent enemies from damaging the supplies ❖ During the war submarines were fitted with deck guns ❖ British anti- submarines submarine -sank 17 U-boats during the conflict ❖ The sub vs. sub success led to British development of the R class submarine

History of U-Boats ★ Germany had a well respected, short history, of submarine building ★ Britain, America, Japan etc., all took their share of the U-Boats and used them as a template for their own versions. ❖ War went downhill for Germany in was not able to turn the war in their favor ❖ The German retreat in 1918 affected the U-boats *despite the enforcement of a massive U-boat building programmes

“ “To all U-boats: Commence return from patrol at once. Because of ongoing negotiations any hostile actions against merchant vessels are prohibited. Returning U-boats are allowed to attack warships only in daylight. End of message. Admiral”

Strategies how the war at sea played out

Trade Blockade  a vital coercive element in the maintenance of British naval supremacy  British navy moved quickly to strangle the supply of goods to Germany and it’s allies  British naval ships spent the war patrolling the North Sea  aggressive displays of maritime power lead to considerable anger in neutral countries

Trade Blockade  tension was heightened when the North Sea was considered British ‘military area’ November 3, 1914  blockade strategy worked effectively  few supplies were reaching Germany or it’s Allies  Austria’s Adriatic ports were subject to a French blockade since the first month of war

Submarine Warfare  Germany used U-boats to counter the effects of the trade blockade  U-boats were deployed intermittently against neutral and allied shipping most of the war  February 1, 1917, Germany adopted a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare  policy of attacking all ships headed to Britain with torpedoes  provoked the USA into entering war against the Central Powers  blockade continued unabated

Convoy System  Strategy based on a collection of ships travelling under armed protection  Worked by providing escort vessels for merchant ships  escorts guarded against surface gunfire attacks

Example of merchant ship travelling under armed protection.

Convoy System Merchant/neutral ships would be escorted by:  a cruiser  6 destroyers  11 armed trawlers  a pair of torpedo boats with aerial reconnaissance equipment that could detect underwater submarines

Canada’s Contribution

1914 : Canada’s Lack of Preparation ●less than 350 men in troop ●two ships: HMCS Rainbow & HMCS Niobe ○due to this lack of armed forces, Canada had limited participation ■although, thousands went to serve in Royal Navy ●canada seacrafts carried out anti-submarine operations in coast ○also supported Royal Canadian Air Force along NE seaboard of NA

Royal Canadian Army ●guards colonies & trade routes ○ensuring there are no blockades ●as war progressed, R.C.N. became 3rd largest fleet (in world) ○100,000 men (soldiers) ○6500 women (doctors/services) ○471 warships/vessels ●sunk several enemy subs (28) and vessels ●lost 24 ships/vessels but came out victorious (suffered several casualties)

18th Canadian Field Ambulance

Canada’s Significance: ●3rd largest fleet + helped defeat enemy troops ●supplied Britain with resources ●allowed Britain to win war at sea ○ and remain as the most powerful on the sea

Bibliography "WW1 Quotes." WW1 Quotes. Militarian, 24 Jan Web. 31 Mar < "British Naval Convoy System Introduced." World War 1. A&E Television Networks. Web. 1 Apr Bruton, Louise. "The War at Sea." World War 1. Web. 27 Mar "Canada's Role in WWI." Canada's Role in WWI. Web. 1 Apr "CANADA’S WAR AT SEA." Canada and the First World War. Web. 1 Apr Collins, Paul. "War at Sea: Canadian Presence in Newfoundland in World War I: Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage." Government and Politics. 1 Mar Web. 1 Apr "British Naval Convoy System Introduced." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 02 Apr Snyder, Louis. "German U-Boats: Sharks of the Sea." World War I. Synder, Louis Leo, Print. Rode-Smith, John. "The War at Sea, " Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 Jan Web. 27 Mar "The Military Conflict, " The War at Sea. Web. 27 Mar "The War at Sea." Veterans Affairs Canada. 23 Oct Web. 27 Mar

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