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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<strong>German</strong> submar<strong>in</strong>es 1915-<strong>1918</strong>: Personnel<br />
The dreadnoughts of <strong>the</strong> High Seas Fleet were battle-ready until <strong>the</strong> last<br />
month of <strong>the</strong> war. The ships were fully equipped, ready to go out at any moment.<br />
Their last sortie was <strong>in</strong> August, <strong>1918</strong> when <strong>the</strong>y undertook a trip to <strong>the</strong> south coast<br />
of Norway. Eleven obsolete pre-dreadnought battleships had been demobilised <strong>in</strong><br />
summer 1916 to release seamen for submar<strong>in</strong>es duty, and ano<strong>the</strong>r four – <strong>the</strong> last<br />
pre-dreadnoughts – <strong>in</strong> October 1917. But nobody wanted to go fur<strong>the</strong>r.<br />
Dreadnoughts were taboo. In February, <strong>1918</strong> <strong>the</strong> High Seas Fleet Command<br />
denied a fur<strong>the</strong>r demand to decommission battleships or cruisers. 104<br />
Table 24: Officer & men <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>German</strong> Navy 1915-<strong>1918</strong> 105<br />
104 Forstmeier, Grosskampfschiffe, p. 48.<br />
105 Numbers based on: Groener, Deutsche Kriegsschiffe.<br />
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