Sea Power and Maritime Affairs

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Sea Power and Maritime Affairs

• Lesson 9 The U.S. Navy and World War I, 1914-1918

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Learning Objectives

• Know the events leading to the entry of the
  United States into World War I.
• Comprehend U.S. strategy and diplomacy in World
  War I.
• Comprehend the effect of the events of World War
  I on Mahanian theory.

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Major Allied Powers

• US (beginning in 1917)
• Great Britain
• Russia
• France
• Italy (partially)
• Japan (Pacific)

• Major Central Powers
• Germany
• Austria-Hungary
• Turkey

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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
• Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated June
  1914.
• Bosnia part of Austro-Hungarian Empire.
• Serbia - Russia Defense Pact.

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Naval Confrontation

• British Royal Navy
• Home Fleet
• Grand Fleet

• German Imperial Navy
• High Seas Fleet

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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
• Grand Fleet
• Admiral Sir John Jellicoe

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Strategic Goals of Grand Fleet

• 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.

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Winston Churchill

• First Lord
• of the
• Admiralty
• 1914-1915

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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.

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Major Naval and Maritime Events

• February 1915- Germany announces unrestricted
  submarine warfare
• May 1915- Sinking of Lusitania
• 1915- ANZAC landing at Gallipoli
• March 1916 Sussex pledge
• Battle of Jutland

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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.

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GallipoliCampaign1915

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

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18 March 1915 Naval Action
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Allied RetreatfromGallipoliNovember-December
1915
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Failure of Allied Assault

• ANZAC Army Corps
• Mustafa Kemal commands Turk counter-attack.
• 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.

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Battle of Dogger Bank- 1915
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Battle of Jutland
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Battle of Jutland

• Greatest naval battle to date
• Minor strategic importance
• Tactical lesson
• Speed and long-range gunfire outstripped the
  commanders means of observation and control of
  own forces
• Only fleet action of war
• Seemed to fit Mahanian prescription
• British unhappy not Nelsonian Annihilation
• Admiral Nimitz says it was the battle most
  studied by NWC in interwar years (1919-1939)

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Admiral Sir John Jellicoe
Battle of Jutland
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Battle of Jutland 31 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.

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Battle of Jutland 31 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.

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Battle of Jutland
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HMS Invincible
British Battle Cruiser sunk at Jutland

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HMS Indefatigable
British Battle Cruiser sunk at Jutland
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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.

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Unterseeboots
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U-boats
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Commerce Raiding

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

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

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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.

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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
• 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

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A word on Bureaucracy

• Naval leadership wants Naval General Staff
• Rear Admiral Bradley Fiske, Captain William S.
  Sims
• SECNAV Josephs Daniels
• Fiske-Hobson measure, Act of Congress 3 March
  1915 creates CNO
• Captain William S. Benson

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Course of the War - 1917

• U.S. Navy Plans
• Atlantic (defeat the submarine)
• Troop Transport
• Reduce Emphasis on battle ships
• 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 Sowden 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.

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End of the War

• Bolshevik Revolution in Russia - October 1917
• Peace with Germany causes Eastern Front to
  disappear.
• French Field Marshal Ferdinand Foch
• Supreme Allied Commander (including U.S. forces).
• German offensive repulsed at Second Battle of the
  Marne.
• Major General John A. Lejeune, USMC assumes
  command of the Second U.S. Army Division - 1918.
• First time a Marine officer commands an Army
  Division..
• German Army defeated - morale becomes very low.
• German sailors become mutinous.
• 11 November 1918 - war ends on Armistice Day.
• Now celebrated as Veterans Day in the U.S.

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Battle of Belleau Wood June 1918

• Teufelhunde -- Devil Dogs

Retreat, hell. We just got here. Captain Lloyd
Williams, USMC
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(No Transcript)
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USS Belleau Wood (LHA 3)
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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.

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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.

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