German Submarine Warfare 1914-1918 in the Eyes - British Naval ...
German Submarine Warfare 1914-1918 in the Eyes - British Naval ...
German Submarine Warfare 1914-1918 in the Eyes - British Naval ...
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1 200<br />
1 000<br />
800<br />
600<br />
400<br />
200<br />
0<br />
96<br />
Table 1: The <strong>German</strong> Navy 1900-<strong>1914</strong> <strong>in</strong> 1,000 BRT 13<br />
B (battleship) C (cruiser) D (destroyer) U (submar<strong>in</strong>e)<br />
138 164<br />
218<br />
1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 <strong>1914</strong><br />
Numbers of ships by column: B-battleships; C-cruiser; D-destroyer, torpedo<br />
boats, m<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g vessels; U-<strong>German</strong> submar<strong>in</strong>es. The total size of <strong>the</strong> Navy is given <strong>in</strong><br />
Brutto Register Tonnage (BRT).<br />
With characteristic <strong>the</strong>atricality and no small amount of dis<strong>in</strong>genuousness<br />
Churchill announced before <strong>the</strong> war<br />
“All sorts of sober m<strong>in</strong>ded people <strong>in</strong> England began to be profoundly disquieted. What did<br />
<strong>German</strong>y want this navy for? Aga<strong>in</strong>st whom, except us, could she measure it, match it, or<br />
use it?” 14<br />
“It is noth<strong>in</strong>g. It is less than noth<strong>in</strong>g. It is too foolish, too fantastic to be thought of <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
twentieth century. Or is it fire and murder leap<strong>in</strong>g out of <strong>the</strong> darkness at our throats,<br />
torpedoes ripp<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> bellies of half-awakened ships, a sunrise on a vanished naval<br />
supremacy, and an island well guarded hi<strong>the</strong>rto, at last defenceless? No, it is noth<strong>in</strong>g. […]<br />
It would be a pity to be wrong. Such a mistake could only be made once – once for all.” 15<br />
“The <strong>British</strong> Navy is to us a necessity and, from some po<strong>in</strong>ts of view, <strong>the</strong> <strong>German</strong> Navy is<br />
to <strong>the</strong>m more <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> nature of a luxury. Our naval power <strong>in</strong>volves <strong>British</strong> existence. It is<br />
existence to us; it is expansion to <strong>the</strong>m …” 16<br />
<strong>Naval</strong> plann<strong>in</strong>g at this time was driven by numbers: number and speed of<br />
ships, number of guns carried, <strong>the</strong>ir calibre and range, numbers of departments and<br />
personnel, and so forth. It was axiomatic <strong>in</strong> those years that a fleet one third<br />
stronger than its opponent would annihilate an enemy. Brita<strong>in</strong> only needed to build<br />
more ships than <strong>German</strong>y and ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong> a forty percent advantage. “Two keels for<br />
13 Numbers based on: Groener, Deutsche Kriegsschiffe.<br />
14 Churchill, World Crisis, p. 23.<br />
15 Churchill, World Crisis, p. 30.<br />
16 Churchill, World Crisis, p. 61.<br />
268<br />
2<br />
364<br />
6<br />
520<br />
12<br />
710<br />
xiii