The War at Sea (AQA GCSE History)

The War at Sea - Timeline & Summary

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Before the First World War, Britain and Germany competed in an Anglo-German naval race, building powerful navies which created tension. This contributed towards the start of the First World War. Both nations understood the importance of their navies for controlling trade routes, transporting troops, and blockading enemy supplies.

During the war, Britain created a naval blockade on Germany, cutting off vital supplies and causing severe shortages. This weakened Germany's war effort. In response, Germany used 'unrestricted submarine warfare' to target Allied ships, sinking any ship that entered the North Sea. This strategy caused significant losses but risked bringing neutral nations like the United States into the war.

The Battle of Jutland in 1916 ended without a clear victory. However, the continuation of Britain’s blockade after the battle proved effective as it contributed to Germany’s defeat in 1918.

The Allied blockade of Germany

• The control over the seas was vital during the First World War

  • The import of vital resources as countries were not self-sufficient

  • The protection of supply ships and the transportation of soldiers

  • To prevent the enemy from getting their supplies

    • This was known as a blockade

• Germany had a small coastline in the north of Germany

  • This limited its ability to import necessary resources into Germany

• The North Sea became a war zone and the British Navy formed a blockade to prevent German ships from getting to Germany

  • British sailors stopped any ships in this area and seized their cargo

• The British Blockade was very successful and devastated Germany

  • Germany industry declined

    • The import of oil, coal and steel was prevented by the blockade

  • Food supplies in Germany were low

    • There was a short supply of fertilisers used for crops

    • The winter of 1916-1917 was known as the 'Turnip Winter' as a poor German harvest and the blockade resulted in Germans eating turnips

    • By 1918, approximately 420,000 Germans died from starvation

  • Germans protested against the German government

    • German citizens' support for the war declined

• The British blockade was a very significant factor in the Allied victory over Germany

The Battle of Jutland, 1916

• In the early years of the First World War, there were several small clashes between the British and German navies

  • However, both Britain and Germany spent most of the first two years of the war patrolling the areas close to their naval bases in the North Sea

    • Neither side wanted a large-scale battle at the sea

    • Their navies had cost both Britain and Germany so much money and neither side could afford to lose their navies

The causes of the Battle of Jutland

• In May 1916, Germany decided to change their approach

  • The German Navy had a new Admiral, Reinhard Scheer created a plan

    • Scheer's plan aimed to bring the British navy out into the open and attack them

Germany's plan for the Battle of Jutland

• Scheer planned to bring the British Navy out into the North Sea by:

  • ordering German ships into the North Sea as bait

    • Drawing the British Navy out to attack the German ships as they have done in the past

  • an hour and a half later, the rest of the German fleet would leave their ports and sail behind the British ships and attack them

  • the British Navy would be encircled and the German fleet could destroy them

The events of the Battle of Jutland

• On the 31st of May 1916, a small fleet of German ships left their ports and went into the North Sea

  • The German commander, Rear Admiral Hipper, led this small fleet

  • An hour later, Vice Admiral Scheer followed Rear Admiral Hipper with the rest of the German Navy

• The British sent a small fleet of ships into the North Sea

  • The British had a German code book and were able to intercept and decode all the German radio messages

    • The British commander, Vice Admiral David Beatty met Admiral Hipper's fleet and they opened fire

  • Before Vice Admiral Scheer arrived, four British ships were sunk

    • An additional British ship was sunk before the British arrived

  • The British fleet, led by Admiral John Jellicoe, arrived and the Germans sailed north

    • The British Navy did not follow as they believed it was a trap

    • The British intercepted some German ships which they believed were on their route back to their naval base

  • British and German ships opened fire on each other twice more before Germany went back to its naval base

    • The battle was over

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Significance of the Battle of Jutland

• There is not a clear winner of the Battle of Jutland

• In the immediate aftermath of the battle, it looked as if Germany had won

  • Germany lost :

    • a battlecruiser

    • a battleship

    • three destroyers

    • four cruisers

    • approximately 2,550 sailors

  • Britain lost:

    • three battlecruisers

    • eight destroyers

    • three cruisers

    • approximately 6,100 sailors

• However, in the long term, Britain seems to have won the Battle of Jutland

  • Immediately after the battle, Britain was ready to fight

    • The German fleet needed to make significant repairs to their ships

  • The British blockade was not affected by the battle and continued to be effective

  • The German warships did not leave their ports for the rest of the First World War

The U-boat campaign

• After the Battle of Jutland, Germany relied more on U-boats to achieve their objectives in the North Sea

  • A U-boat was a German submarine which was used in the First World War

• Germany declared that all ships entering the North Sea would be attacked by German U-boats

  • This was known as 'unrestricted submarine warfare'

• The British used several tactics to defend themselves against the German 'unrestricted submarine warfare'

  • Minefields

    • Close to the German coastline

  • Q-ships

    • Q-Ships were heavily armed merchant ships which lured German submarines to the surface so they could attack them

• The German U-boat campaign had a great impact on Britain

  • German U-boats sank on average two British supply ships a day

    • This affected British resources, supplies and food

• Germany's 'unrestricted submarine warfare' had serious consequences in the war

  • In 1915, the RMS Lusitania was sunk by German U-boats

  • Many British civilians died including 123 Americans

    • This attack along with several other U-boat attacks on American ships persuaded the US to join the First World War

The convoy system

• In February 1917, the German Navy started a second U-boat campaign which was very successful

  • By April 1917, Britain had 500 supply ships destroyed by German U-boats

    • Britain claimed that they only had six weeks of food supplies left

• Britain reacted by creating a convoy system

  • A large group of supply ships would sail close together whilst being protected by British warships

• The British also attacked U-boats by using:

  • depth chargers

  • long-range aircraft to detect U-boats

• The convoy system was a success

  • Between July and August 1917, only five out of 800 British supply ships were sunk by U-boats