The U Boat Threat A blockage simply stops something getting through. In the case of World War I, blockades were set up to restrict the amount of supplies getting through to enemies ports. In earlier history surface ships simply blocking ships entering or leaving a port did this. 2. Unrestricted submarine warfare was set up in February 1915. It meant that any vessel heading for an English port would be fired upon. This was because it was thought that some ships carrying food were also carrying supplies for the war effort. 2 b. As the Germans could not break the British Naval blockade in the North Sea on German ports, they turned to using submarines to starve the British into submission, by destroying Allied shipping carrying food and raw material. Source 4 shows that the German Admiral Tirpitz thought that by also blockading our supplies, Britain would face a similar situation as their country. 3. The chart is source 2 shows three main points. Firstly, the graph starts at only 0.3 million tons of Allied shipping loss. This rises gradually due to the increase in German U Boats. Secondly, it can be seen that in 1917 the reintroduction of unrestricted submarine warfare has had a great effect on the quantity of Allied shipping sunk. The graph peaks at 6.25 million tons. Lastly, it is apparent that the anti submarine tactics dramatically reduced the amount of shipping lost. Depth charges were very effective, second only to mines. It is also thought that the decrease is due to destroyers travelling with large convoys in order to protect them. 4. There were a few serious food shortages and riots around Britain. This informat... ... middle of paper ... ...ut of bodies. Adults were not the only ones to receive this propaganda. Patriotic books and toys were made for children, to encourage further support for the war effort. Another important factor in defeating the U Boat threat was threat the Germans did not have enough of them. Historian, Holger Herwig stated that with an average of twenty to thirty U Boats in the vast expanses of sea around Britain they were simply "insufficient do the job". However the German Admiralty may have realised that with a 50% loss rate they would have needed several hundred U Boats and they knew that the raw materials for U Boat building could be used elsewhere, such as in munitions and gun production. The Germans may have also been put off from building more U Boats as Britain quickly overcame the immediate threat with new technology.
While the naval war is usually known for only little attention in histories of World War I, the Royal Navy's blockade of Germany played a dangerous role in the War. The U.S. Navy linking with the Royal Navy played a significant role in overcoming the German U-boats in the North Atlantic. The Germany Navy while technically effective disastrously diminished the German war effort. Germany's building of a High Seas Fleet was one of the causes that public view on Britain turned against Germany and that Britain come unto the War. Yet, the small U-boat fleet, showed a key competition to the British. In the early war, U-boats drowned three British cruisers, shocking the people of both England and Germany. The U-boat campaign was a major reason that public opinion in America turned against Germany and that America entered the War. Despite the huge investment, the German Navy accomplished nothing in return to counter balance the cost for Germany.
Firstly, there had been enough warning given for the authorities to take preventative measures. But despite the fact that war had been raging for six months, and a warning from the Imperial German Embassy that was published in the papers (See Document 8) cautioning those travelling in the Atlantic on British ships that they were at risk, the ship still took passengers and sailed. Although the Germans are not to be excused from their part in the tragedy the authorities still had time to take action to protect lives, either by cancelling the voyage or providing adequate protection when reaching the warzone. On top of that British Intelligence had intercepted the recent German code and was able to decipher the messages sent from the submarine to the German head-quarters, which enabled them to know where the U-20 was. There had also been recent attacks on British ships in that area, on the 6th of May the Candidate at 7am and the Centurion at 1pm. (See Document 22 g.)
In the thirty-eight years of the United States Naval Submarine Service no United States submarine had ever sunk an enemy vessel. With the ignition of the Second World War the poorly equipped and poorly trained Silent Service, nicknamed for the limited access of the media to the actions and achievements of the submarines, would be thrust into the position American submariners had longed for. The attack on Pearl Harbor left the United States Navy with few options for retribution. The three remaining aircraft carriers were to be “the last line of defense.” Commander Stuart S. Murray made the precarious situation clear to his skippers, captains, upon sending them on their first war patrol. He stressed the importance of smart sailing by warning them not “to go out there and win the Congressional Medal of Honor in one day. The submarines are all we have left.” We entered the war with 55 submarines, 27 at Pearl Harbor and 28 at Cavite in the Philippines. At first our submarine strategies lacked ingenuity and failed to use our subs to their full potential. United States subs were assigned to reconnaissance, transporting supplies, and lifeguard duty, picking up downed airmen and sailors. They were even, on occasion, sent to rescue high profile Americans on the run from the enemy or from islands under enemy siege. Although their ability was, unfortunately, wasted in our entrance to the Pacific Theater the Silent Service would soon gain the recognition its men yearned for.
During the Interwar period between WWI and WWII Britain and US took separate paths to prepare their navies for future conflicts. The British were complacent and the US was keen to prepare. Initial causes came from how the two countries evaluated the threat after World War One. Great Britain saw no single nation’s navy as their rival in contrast to the United States who assessed that Japan would be their foe in the next war. At the end of WWI Germany had scuttled its active ships. The Treaty of Versailles had further restricted Germany’s ability to build more ships and man them to such an extent the characterization at the time was that Germany had been destroyed as a sea power. British Naval planners saw the threat posed by the Germany Navy to be relegated to a coastal defense navy, which would not be able to challenge the supremacy of British Navy on the high seas. The Treaty of Versailles and later the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 gave Great Britai...
Hamburg was largely responsible for the production of German U-boats. Subsequently it was the target of numerous air raids. In an attempt to protect the fragile industry, three huge anti-aircraft artilleries were built.
Goering’s plan for the defeat of Britain consisted of three phases. First, the Luftwaffe would bomb the British Navy and any merchant ships crossing the English Channel. The goal of this was to cause a shortage of supplies and a weakened morale in Gre...
After 1871, the war atmosphere engendered by the secret alliances led to an armaments race among the powers. The race was particularly serious between 1900 and 1914, as the international situation became much worse than before. There was a significant rise in the army and naval estimates of the European powers in these years. All the Continental European powers had adopted the conscription system since 1870. Austria-Hungary had conscription since 1868 and Germany since 1870. Only Britain did not have conscription. After 1890, the deteriorating diplomatic relations among the powers accelerated their military expansion programme. Britain did not introduce conscription but had prepared her armed forces for both European expedition and for home defense. In general, all the powers increased their stocks of arms, produced more modern weapons of war and built more strategic railways. Britain and Germany were the chief rivals at sea. In the meantime, Britain produced her first Dreadnought. Dreadnoughts were large, fast and heavily armed battleships. They set a new standard in naval armaments and rendered all previous battleships obsolete. The naval race became intense. For centuries the powers of Europe had clashed over their competing interests around the globe. Du...
No Bricks and No Temples: Coping with Crisis in “The Open Boat” Stephen Crane’s story “The Open Boat” concerns four people who are trying to reach land after surviving a shipwreck off the Florida coast. During the course of the story, they face dangers that are real physical threats, but they also have to deal with trying to make sense of their situation. The characters in this story cope with their struggles in two ways: individually, they each imagine that Nature, or Fate, or God, is behind their experiences, which allows them to blame some outside force for their struggle, and together, they form a bond of friendship that helps them keep their spirits up. . In “Becoming Interpreters: The Importance of Tone in ‘The Open Boat,’” Gregory Schirmer states that “‘The Open Boat has at its center two quite different views of man: as a helpless and insignificant being adrift in a universe that is wholly indifferent to him and his ambitions, and on the other hand, as part of a brotherhood that binds man to man in the face of that indifferent universe” (222).
The errors committed by the United States in terms of inaccurate planning and overconfidence within the Bay of Pigs Invasion rose the confidence of Cuban government in its own people and intelligence services and tactics for future attacks. The Bay of Pigs debacle not only strengthened Fidel Castro's hold on power, but also brought the Soviet Union firmly on to his side, thus increasing Castro’s initiative to implement Communism ideals in Cuba. This is evident in Castro’s strong relationship with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev between 1960 and 1962. The failure of the 1961 Invasion served as motivation for Fidel Castro to start planning a counter attack on the United States Government. Immediately as the Invasion had finished, Castro acted in order to further strengthen the nation in sight of possible future conflicts. To facilitate this, he consequently approved of Khrushchev's plan to place missiles on the island, something that immediately established a political alliance between the two Communist leaders which was convenient to both. Castro needed Soviet help to protect his regi...
The Open Boat is a particularly interesting story because of the great detail that author extends and because of the solitary reflections of the characters in consideration of their demise.
The United States faces countless threats on both home front and aboard. The countries that pose the greatest threat to U.S. national security are China, Iran, and Russia. Anyone of these countries could inflict grave damage to the United States, resulting in catastrophic results. I’ll compare and contrast these countries 5 intelligence disciplines to determine which country poses the biggest threat to U.S. national security.
By December 1914 the First World War had reached a dilemma on the western front that neither the triple entente nor the triple alliance had expected. The war had reached a stalemate, a state where both sides are so evenly balanced that neither can breakthrough against the enemy. The advances in Technology played a big role in creating the stalemate through strong defensive weaponry such as Machine Guns and Artillery, this caused ‘trench warfare’ (BOOK 48). Trench war is when troops from both sides are protected from the enemy’s firepower through trenches. Many advances in technology also attempted to break the stalemate throughout the war with tanks, gas and aircraft, these however failed. Eventually the stalemate was broken through a combination of improved technology, new strategies and the blockading of the German ports.
United States during 1940 and 1941 evoke Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor is often regarded by many American’s as a ‘surprise’ attack that was gratuitous, while historical documents from principal figures on both the Japanese side and the side of the U.S, but there has been evidence and research to the contrary. Pearl Harbor is one of the most memorable events in World War II from U.S perspective. While one may debate as to whether or not the U.S would have still entered WWII (though the argument strongly leans to the former,) the attack on Pearl Harbor served as symbol of sacrifice for the American people and help contribute to the patriotism that help them win the war. The scope of this investigation will focus on U.S–Japanese relations between 1937-1941, but will make us of evidence as far back as 1919 to justify analytical interpretations as well as other perspectives. Methods used in this investigation are an examination of a public address (fireside chat) given by Franklin D. Roosevelt on December 9th, 1941, and and an Inventory of Conflict and Environment Case study (The Way to Pearl Harbor: US vs Japan) by Yuichi Arima and conducted through the American University. These two particular methods are evaluated for their origin, purpose, value and limitations. A propaganda film cited is only used for its quotes and/or facts that were then checked through multiple sources.
More than forty thousand merchant ships, and countless number of smaller coastal craft, ply world oceans which comprise nearly seventy percent of the earth’s surface. Each year approximately ten million containers of cargo, containing raw materials to finished goods are transported by seas. The ships are owned by different states, private companies or individuals and manned by mixture of seafarers from different countries, mixed together from various nationalities. These ships are perhaps the most autonomous entities on earth as rule of law allows frequent change of their allegiance or identity by choosing a flag to suit their requirement.
Maritime security traditionally focuses on maritime disputes, naval competition, Sea lines of communication (SLOCs), War at sea . The modern maritime securities after the cold war and 9/11 have been significantly changing and more complex, which is involving worldwide collaboration and mutual understanding .