World War I Naval Warfare

Naval warfare in World War I is usually slithered by in textbook coverage. The focus in World War I is generally on the land strategies. Perhaps a nod is given to the Battle of Jutland or Gallipoli, but that is all. Submarine warfare is described most often because of the role it played in the U.S. entry into World War I. However, the tactical operations of submarines seem to get lost as textbooks focus on the diplomatic and humane impact of this new form of warfare. During the past year I have been doing a bit more reading on this topic and just finished Robert K. Massie's mammoth work, Castles of Steel. While Massie is not considered a traditional historian and his footnoting is non-existent, he very ably captures and communicates the character and feel of the events and personalities he describes.

Probably the Battle of Gallipoli has been most personal to me because of family stories. My grandmother's brother served with the courageous Australian troops fighting there and was one of the survivors who lived to talk about it. I do believe this was not Churchill's finest hour.

I have also joined the camp that believes the Battle of Jutland was a British victory, although it obviously did not achieve the desired destruction of the entire German fleet.

A few of the impressions left from my reading:

1. While the casualties do not match the numbers of the western front, it is hard to imagine cruisers sinking and losing 800-1,000 men at one time. I don't know if today a comparable feeling would result if America lost one its aircraft carriers to a terrorist act--crews and air wings often number 5,000+.
2. In addition, many of these losses can be attributed to incompetent commanders and admirals or just to the inability to communicate effectively. The public today is far more likely to know what is happening in a battle than the public of this era and also be alerted to possible incompetence.
3. The bravery of both German and British officers and men is indisputable. In the fighting around the tip of South America the bravery of both Admiral Craddock [British] and Admiral Spee [German] is beyond question--both engaged in battles they knew they would probably lose and went down with their ships. There are multiple stories of gun crews continuing to fire even though their turrets have been hit, the magazines have caught fire, and they will face incineration and certain death.
4. The use (manipulation) of the press by officers to undermine rivals. Leaks are not unique to modern Washington.

Interesting Quotes:

--Admiral Fisher: "Any fool can obey orders!"
--Admiral Milne: "They pay me to be an admiral. They don't pay me to think." [I am not so confident of the accuracy of this quote, but it is just too good.]