World War I was all it took to prove the importance role submarines would play in battle. Before the war, underwater warfare was unheard of. That all changed on January 9th, 1917 when the use of submarine warfare was introduced. The German U-Boats enjoyed a great deal of success and were responsible for the destruction of half of all the food and supplies the British were attempting to transport. This new weapon had a big impact on World War I because it was a major cause of America joining in the war. When the news came that the German submarine U-9 sunk three British cruisers, the entire world paid attention.
There was immediately a stronger interest in Germany and their new weapons of war. U-boats changed the war by giving new battle opportunities, new war tactics, and making it almost impossible for anyone to fight back because their weapons had not been designed to fight underwater. The first U-boats used in World War I were diesel powered, which are very different than the ones of today. Submarines had four torpedo tubes in the bow and two in the stern. They came equipped with 16 cm guns and equipment to plant mines. The hulls were made of carbon steel, with a 100 metre maximum depth.
These ships could reach a depth of 30 to 75 metres with a speed of 7. 5 to 8. 5 knots when underwater and a surface speed of 18 knots. The first hydrophones, which are devices that can listen to or pick up the acoustic energy underwater, were used to locate submarines and icebergs. Being a member of a U-boat crew had its hardships. The U-boat crew would be made up of roughly 55 men, although the ships were not equipped with enough beds for every crew member. This shortage resulted in long nights and forced the men to sleep in hammocks, while others slept on the floor.
The Term Paper on Global Wine War 2009-New World Versus Old
In the 1960s, 1970s or even 1980s, if you ask someone, which countries produce the best wine in the world? They would have said France, Italy or Spain. However, if you ask someone the same question nowadays, the answer would be different. The new wine industry players such as Australia, the United States and Chile are changing the global industry structure, leading the global industry trend, and ...
Because the crew members had such a difficult job, not just sleeping arrangements but living in confined quarters under the sea, they received almost double the pay of what an average sailor would receive. Like many other ships that were used in battle, submarines were used to attack military targets and other enemy ships. Because there was not anything designed at the time for defense against these new warships, submarines often were not detected until they started to attack. In May of 1917 the Allies came up with the most useful defense system against submarines; the convoy system.
During the first world war, merchant ships were heavily targeted by the German submarines. Because there were so many ships and not enough destroyers to protect each individual one, convoys were made. Many ships would join together and be protected by escort vessels in case of an attack. But When in battle U-boats would form a deadly chain in which the above water convoy of ships could not escape from. The goal was for the sub that saw the first convoy to shadow it until the other submarines could join together for a massive attack. The use of U-boats played a major role in why America joined the war.
Germany declared unrestricted submarine warfare during World War I. This meant that Germany would sink any ship in British waters without any warning. Germany sunk a passenger ship name the Lusitania that killed 1,198 people onboard, 128 of them being Americans. Unrestricted submarine warfare was suspended after public commotion in the US, but was returned in 1917. This led to the American declaration of war on Germany. In 1917, German submarines sank 2,439 allied ships; this was an amazing surprise to everyone compared to the 234 sunk by mines or surface ships.
All together throughout the First World War German submarines sank nearly 5000 ships. This is extremely impressing because the German submarine fleet never had more than 140 vessels. In August 1914, a fleet of ten U-boats sailed from their base in Heligoland to attack British warships, making this the first ever submarine war patrol in history. They didn’t have much of a strategy so they depended on luck resulting in their first attack being unsuccessful. The only attack was when U-15 fired a torpedo at HMS Monarch and missed, resulting in two of U-boats being lost.
The Essay on The Great War Germany Germans America
... President Wilson was in opposition to Germans policy of the outright sinking of ships by submarine. International law at that time stipulated ... Turkey/Ottoman Empire and other small nations from 1914 to 1918. World War One began from a series of tumultuous events, that ... this took away the element of surprise and the attacking submarine chanced their demise by incorporating this process. With the ...
Then, on September 22nd 1914, the U-9 had better results. While guarding the Broad Fourteens, U-9 found a squad of three old British cruisers which were guarding the English Channel to prevent German surface vessels from entering. The U-9 fired all six of its torpedoes, causing the three cruisers to be sunken in less than one hour. After World War I was over, Britain had lost 54 submarines but by 1918 had 137 in service with another 78 under construction. The German Navy had 149 operational U-boats during the war, which were able to kill more than 5,400 people.
The introduction of Submarines as a military weapon majorly changed naval warfare during World War I. Instead of destroyers fighting against each other in plain sight, submarines were the invisible force below the water. These were weapons that the other countries were not prepared for and had no way prepared to defend against because their weapons at the time were not designed to fight below the water. Submarines were not seen as a threat at the beginning of the war, but it did not take long before they proved everyone wrong.
