Sea Power and Maritime Affairs

1
Sea Power and Maritime Affairs

• Lesson 11 The U.S. Navy and the World at War,
  1914-1918

2
Entangling Alliances

• Triple Entente (Allied Powers)
• Great Britain, Russian Empire, France
• Plus Italy (1915-16)
• U.S. (1917)
• Japan (Pacific)
• Triple Alliance (Central Powers)
• German, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman (Turk)
  Empires
  
• Plus Bulgaria

3
Major Events

• July 1914 Heir to the Austrian throne Archduke
  Ferdinand assassinated
  
• July 28 Austria declares war on Serbia
• July-August Serbia/Russia mobilize against
  Austria
  
• Russia had a mutual defense pact with Germany.

4
Major Events

• Imperialistic Germany sees its chance declares
  war
  
• 1 Aug Russia
• 3 Aug France
• 4 Aug Belgium
• Germanys war plan called for a two-front war to
  overwhelm France before Russian could fully
  mobilize.
  
• Britain declares war on Germany

5
German Navy

• Germany
• Built a large Mahanian battle fleet in order to
  bring about an alliance with Britain which would
  leave France open to invasion
  
• Plan backfired and led to a building race with
  Britain
  
• Of note, Germany had less than 50 U-boats at the
  start of the war

6
Royal Navy

• Britain
• Expanded building program
• Had consolidated ships into a reduced number of
  fleets with the home-fleet being the largest
  
• When war began, an idea was to use the added
  advantage of the mobility of the Navy to hit
  continental targets (similar to Pitts Plan
  during the seven years war). However, it was
  later concluded that a continental army was
  necessary to defeat Germany.
• Result Both Germany and Britain had large battle
  fleets at the start of the War

7
Surface Action Strategies
Both Germany and Britain were disciples of Mahan

• Germany
• Mines and forts for coastal defense
• Hopes for war of attrition
• Guard the German Coast
• Weaken the British Fleet

• Britain
• Relied heavily on its Navy a major naval defeat
  could prove disastrous
  
• Blockade with stronger Grand Fleet

8
British Royal Navy

• First Lord of the Admiralty
• Similar to U.S. Secretary of the Navy
• Winston Churchill
• First Sea Lord
• Similar to todays U.S. Chief of Naval
  Operations
  
• Admiral Sir John Fisher

9

• Grand Fleet
• Admiral Sir John Jellicoe
• Sea-lift of British Army to France
• Distant blockade of Germany
• Avoid German mines and torpedo boats near the
  coast
  
• Scapa Flow - Main Grand Fleet base in the Orkney
  Islands
  
• Goal Destroy High Seas Fleet in a large
  engagement

10
German Imperial Navy

• High Seas Fleet
• Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz
• Numerically inferior to the British Grand Fleet
• North Sea defenses
• Mines
• U-boats (unterseeboots) - submarines
• Not used for commerce raiding early in war
• Goal
• Defeat portions of the Grand Fleet in small
  engagements
  
• Fleet in Being
• Threatens Allied operations by its presence in
  port
  
• Ineffective commerce raiding by German cruisers

11
Major Naval and Maritime Events Preceding WWI

• Germany announces unrestricted submarine warfare
• Lusitania sunk by U-boat (May 1915)
• ANZAC landing Gallipoli (1915)

12
Gallipoli Campaign - 1915

• German-led Ottoman Turk Fleet
• Closes Dardanelles - Entrance to the Black Sea
• Allied line of communication with Russia is cut
• Winston Churchill
• Advocate of amphibious assault on Gallipoli
  Peninsula
  
• Objective Constantinople
• Admiral Sir John Fisher
• First Sea Lord resigns in protest
• Dardanelles
• Mines in sea lanes
• Guns emplaced on shore covering the straits
  manned by the Ottoman Turk Army

13
Campaign for Constantinople

• Was a plan to open supply route to Russia
• First attempt was to drive up the Dardenelles
• Second attempt was an amphibious assault on
  Gallipoli
  
• Failures to make any progress led to British
  Evacuation and revolution in Russia

14
GallipoliCampaign1915

• Winston Churchill proposes opening supply route
  to Russia through the Black Sea.

15
18 March 1915 Naval Action
16
Allied Landings25 April 1915
17
Allied RetreatfromGallipoliNovember-December
1915
18
Campaign for Constantinople

• ANZAC Army Corps
• Mustafa Kemal commands Turk counter-attack
• Failure due to
• Mismanagement, hesitation delay
• Use of inadequate minesweepers
• Inability of NGFS
• Underestimation of Turks
• Sheer hard luck

19
Failure of Allied Assault

• USMC studies lesson and mistakes of Gallipoli
• Lessons learned in defeat
• Unity of command
• Control of local waters
• Element of surprise
• Rehearsal
• Beach reconnaissance

• Shore bombardment
• Specialized landing craft
• Ship-to-shore movement
• Aggressive exploitation of the beachhead
• Commitment of reserves
• Winston Churchill resigns in failure

20
Course of the War - 1915

• Ground war continued stalemate on fronts
• British blockade of German coast continues
• Britain - Stop, search, and seize policy
• Declaration of London - 1909
• German counter blockade of Great Britain
• International Prize Law - Q-Boats
• Unrestricted Submarine Warfare - February 1915
• Ocean War Zone
• Lusitania - May 1915
• Woodrow Wilson - U.S. Protests against
  Unrestricted Submarine Warfare - Germany
  suspends
  
• Give up submarines advantage of stealth or risk
  US entry into the war

21
Course of the War - 1916

• Ground war in France continued stalemate
• German U-boats continue commerce raiding
• Very effective, especially in Mediterranean Sea
• February 1916 - Resume Unrestricted Submarine
  Warfare
  
• Sussex sunk March 1916 - Wilson protests again
• Tirpitz relieved of duty
• Kaiser Wilhelm imposes restrictions on U-boat
  attacks again
  
• British raids on German coast
• New German High Seas Fleet commander
• Vice Admiral Reinhard Scheer
• Commences raids on British coast

22
U-boats
23
Commerce Raiding

• German U-boats threaten to cut off all maritime
  supply of Great Britain.

24
War Against Shipping

• First U-boat campaign
• 1915
• Waters around Britain declared a war zone.
• Destruction of enemy merchants, and warning sent
  to neutrals
  
• Lusitania, Arabic sunk
• US protest leads to German declaration of
  immunity for ocean liners to avoid war with US

25
War Against Shipping

• Second U-boat campaign
• 1916
• Attacks only on armed merchants
• French unarmed steamer Sussex sunk (March)
• Sussex sinking leads to German Sussex pledge All
  U-boats would conduct attacks IAW prize law
  
• Prize laws didnt work for U-boats

26
War Against Shipping

• Unrestricted warfare
• December 1916
• With German manpower strained and the blockade
  beginning to have an effect, Germany was losing
  the war and U-Boats were the only weapon not yet
  fully utilized
• Germany plans to knock out Britain before US aid
  can be mobilized
  
• The Campaign ALMOST worked

27
War Against Shipping

• British ASW
• -No effective means of ASW at start of war
• Decided not to use convoys
• Blockade, patrol sea lanes, attack German sub
  bases
  
• "Q-ships", mines, nets
• All efforts proved ineffective
• Germany sinking 150 ships/month

28
War Against Shipping

• German Surface Raiders
• The two most successful
• Emden
• Karlsruhe
• Radio made surface raiding hard because warnings
  were easily spread.
  
• Eventually, all German surface raiders were
  caught and by 1915 the threat was essentially
  ended

29
Major Naval and Maritime Events Preceding

• Sussex pledge to restrict submarine warfare (Mar
  1916)
  
• Battle of Dogger Bank (Jan 1915)
• Battle of Jutland (May-June 1916)

30
Surface Action North Sea

• Heligoland Bight
• 28 Aug 1914
• British ambush, attempted German counter ambush
• British victory results in cautious use of the
  German fleet
  
• German U-boats avenge defeat British now fear
  U-boats

• Dogger Bank
• 24 Jan 1915
• British warned of German Sortie after Russian
  divers find a German code book.
  
• Germans attempt another ambush counter ambush
• British victory but could have been much more.
  Victory was lessened by poor communications

31
Battle of Dogger Bank- 1915
32
Admiral Sir John Jellicoe
Battle of Jutland
33
Battle of Jutland31 May - 1 June 1916

• High Seas Fleet sorties to attack merchant
  shipping to Norway
  
• Jellicoe intercepts in the North Sea with Grand
  Fleet
  
• Battle cruisers used for scouting
• Jellicoes Grand Fleet Crosses the T of the
  High Seas Fleet
  
• High Seas Fleet maneuvers back to port at night

34
Battle of Jutland31 May - 1 June 1916

• Largest naval battle to date ends in a tactical
  draw
  
• Only large fleet action of the war
• Last great battle between battleship fleets
• Jellicoe fails to win a victory
• Afraid of stern chase over mines/submarines
• Turned away from torpedoes
• Would not risk fighting at night
• Minor strategic importance to the outcome of the
  war
  
• Tactical lesson Speed and long-range gunfire
  outstripped the commander's means of observation
  and control of forces
  
• Stalemate German fleet retires for war German
  morale boost

35
Battle of Jutland
36
Crossing or Capping the T
Fleet A

• Fleet A has the advantage
• All gun turrets can be used simultaneously.
• Able to deliver raking fire (from bow to stern)
  against enemy ships - higher probability of
  damage.
  
• Fleet B is at a disadvantage
• Aft turrets are masked by ships
  superstructures.
  
• Vision obstructed by smoke from engine exhaust
  and friendly gunfire and fires caused by enemy
  gunfire.

Fleet B
37
U.S. Enters World War I

• Germany announces Unrestricted Submarine Warfare.
  (February 1915)
  
• Lusitania (May 1915)
• Sussex (March 1916)
• Germany resumes Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
  (January 1917)
  
• Calculated risk
• U.S. unable to affect war for at least one year
• Need to cut off British food supplies

38

• U.S. declares war (6April 1917)
• U.S. Navy - First rate power, BUT
• Unprepared for anti-submarine warfare
• Planned for fleet engagement in Caribbean Sea

39
Backing Up

• US Naval strategy in World War I period of
  Neutrality (August 1914-1917)
  
• Woodrow Wilson The United States will remain
• neutral in thought and deed.
• Favorable balance of payments for U.S. with
  Europe
  
• Desire to trade with Allied and Central Powers

40
U.S. in World War I

• Naval matters enter American consciousness
• Wilson converts to pro-Navy viewpoint
• Forty-eight capital ships planned for U.S. Navy
  by 1920
  
• Naval Construction act of 1916
• Impact of Jutland
• Assistant Secretary of the Navy
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt
• Experiences will influence World War II policies

41

• Causes for U.S. entrance on side of Allies
• Shift in European balance of power
• Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
• Cultural and economic ties to Allied nations
• Wilson sees chance for peace in outcome

42
Course of the War - 1917

• U.S. Navy Plans
• Atlantic (defeat the submarine)
• Troop Transport
• Reduce Emphasis on battleships
• Submarine chasers
• Merchant Ships
• Mine laying
• Integrated into convoy system
• 20-25 merchants and 6-8 destroyers
• Change from hunt-and-kill patrols to a convoy
  system
  
• Rear Admiral William Sims, USN - convoy
  proponent
  
• Admiral Sir John Jellicoe
• Appointed First Sea Lord, Chief of Naval Staff
• Convoys proved to be more effective in countering
  U-boats
  

43
Allied Convoys in the Atlantic
44
U.S. Navy's Major Contributions

• Convoys Admiral Sims
• Takes no longer to form than to sanitize
  shipping lanes
  
• Scheduling allows efficient use of ports
• Merchant officers capable of station keeping
• 12 Independent ships sunk for every 1 sunk in
  convoy

45
Effects of Allied Convoys in the Atlantic
46
End of the War (1918)

• Failure of Constantinople campaign leads to
  Russian collapse on Eastern Front
  
• Bolshevik Revolution in 1917
• Germany tries last desperate attack on Western
  Front using reinforcements from the East.
  
• U.S. presence on Western Front allows Allies to
  repulse Germany in second Battle of the Marne

47
End of the War (1918)

• Blockade of Germany took its toll
• US advocated convoy system defeats U-boat threat
• Western front pushed into Germany
• Revolution imminent, Kaiser abdicates
• Germany surrenders November 11, 1918
• Armistice Day (Veterans Day)

48
New Weapons of Naval Warfare

• Submarines
• Germany lost 187 U-boats, however
• Sank 5,234 merchant ships
• Sank 10 battleships, 20 destroyers, and 9
  submarines
  
• Allied Neutral Ships Lost 1914-18
• 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918
• 3 396 964 2,439 1,035
• Aviation
• Anti-submarine warfare
• Early attempts at power projection
• Strikes on German naval bases
• Did not practice anti-surface warfare

49
Effect of World War I on Mahanian Theory

• Support in two areas
• Commercial antagonism and rivalry cause war
• Faith in the battle fleet for command of the sea
• Unrestricted Submarine Warfare's implications
  ignored
  
• Commerce raiding can affect the course of the
  war
  
• Importance of convoy system to protect against
  submarine attacks

50
Discussion
Next time Naval Strategy and National Policy,
1919-1941