That view was a product of the writings of Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840-1914). The strategies of both sides rested in part on the idea that a decisive fleet encounter between the powers would decide the war at sea. The contest between these two powers proved not to be the one envisioned by the naval planners of either side at the outbreak of the conflict. Most of the naval operations in World War I unfolded in the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean between Great Britain and Germany. The Surface War in the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean, 1914-1918 ↑ The Naval Strategies of Great Britain and Germany ↑ Even so, World War I proved a contest where naval force exercised by both the Allied Powers and the Central Powers had a great impact on the course of the war. In sum, the naval forces of the Allies were far greater than those of the Central Powers. The naval force the Ottoman Empire consisted of two pre-dreadnoughts, two cruisers, and eight destroyers. In 1914 Austria-Hungary operated three dreadnoughts, three semi-dreadnoughts, six pre-dreadnoughts, seven cruisers, eighteen destroyers, and five submarines. The naval forces of Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, being the other Central Powers with naval forces, were substantially weaker than those of the Allied powers. It comprised ten dreadnoughts, twenty-three pre-dreadnoughts, thirty-four cruisers, fifty destroyers, and eighteen submarines. The United States, while not a belligerent power until 1917, possessed a sizable force at the outbreak of the war. The Japanese force in August 1914 counted two dreadnoughts, one battle cruiser, ten pre-dreadnoughts, thirty-three cruisers, fifty destroyers, and twelve submarines. The other Allied powers were non-European, being Japan and the United States. Italy’s force in 1914 (although they did not declare war as an Allied power until 1915), centered on three dreadnoughts, eight pre-dreadnoughts, twenty-one cruisers, thirty-three destroyers, and twenty-two submarines. Russia’s fleet, being split between the Baltic and Black Seas, comprised ten pre-dreadnoughts, ten cruisers, twenty-five destroyers, and twenty-two submarines. In terms of the other Allied powers, France possessed four dreadnoughts, six semi-dreadnoughts, fourteen pre-dreadnoughts, twenty-eight cruisers, eighty-one destroyers, and seventy-five submarines. The other belligerent powers had lesser naval forces that they utilized in the conflict. It comprised fifteen dreadnought battleships (an additional five were under construction), five battle cruisers (three more were under construction), twenty-two pre-dreadnoughts, forty cruisers, ninety destroyers, 115 torpedo boats, and thirty-one submarines. The German High Seas Fleet was numerically inferior to the British Navy. It comprised twenty-two dreadnought battleships (an additional thirteen were under construction), nine battle cruisers (an additional one was under construction), forty older pre-dreadnoughts, 121 cruisers of varying types, 221 destroyers, and seventy-three submarines. By 1914, the British Royal Navy was the largest in the world. The two nations had been locked in a naval race since 1898 when Germany embarked on the construction of a blue water navy that Britain viewed as a threat to its far-flung imperial interests around the globe. ![]() Upon the outbreak of the war, most of the naval force of the belligerents rested in the fleets of Great Britain and Germany. The major powers mostly viewed these vessels as suited primarily for reconnaissance. Finally, the new technology yielded submarines armed with self-propelled torpedoes. The advent of the torpedo produced first torpedo boats and then larger torpedo boat destroyers. Among other classes of ship were smaller cruisers to perform not only reconnaissance, but also protect and raid commerce. Some fleets also incorporated battle cruisers, being vessels possessing battleship-sized armament mounted on a hull that sacrificed armor protection for the sake of greater speed. The core of the battle fleet was the all-big-gun dreadnought battleship, first introduced in 1906 with the launch of HMS Dreadnought by the British. The close of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, however, to 1914 was a period of technological change that transformed warship design and consequently most aspects of naval war.īy 1914 these technological innovations produced far more powerful and capable warships than those of the Age of Sail. Throughout most of the Age of Sail from the 17 th century to the mid-19 th century, technology, tactics, and life at sea had changed little. ![]() Fort sumter battle winner.The naval war of World War I was a conflict unlike any previous one with the exception of the brief Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905).
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