The War At Sea Submarine Warfare

Why was Britain vulnerable? Obviously Britain is an island and as such it relies on the outside world to get it’s supplies

1914 – At the beginning of the war, German U-boats focused mainly on military targets. Civilian or cargo ships would be stopped and searched and the passengers be given a chance to abandon ship Torpedoes were not wasted if at all possible

February 1915 There was a change in German government policy. Germany announced that there would now be a ‘war zone’ around Britain. Any ships now found in this area would be blown out of the water. War Zone

May 1915 The Lusitania Despite posters published in America from the German embassy warning people not to travel on British ships the Lusitania passenger liner set sail from America and was blown from the water just south of Ireland. 1,198 people were drowned The debate still rages to this day about whether the Lusitania carried any cargo or not. After the Lusitania incident, Germany’s biggest fear was that America would get dragged into the war on the side of Britain. Germany decided to once again stop and search ships.

March 1916 Germany were getting very desperate by this point. Russia was not yet defeated and Italy had just switched sides. Germany decided that Britain had to be defeated at all costs so they once again decided to sink ships from all countries.

1917 ‘Unrestricted Submarine Warfare’ campaign stepped up Many of Britain’s ships were being sunk The result??? Britain found new ways to defeat the U-boats American entry into the war

Defeating the U-boats Anti-Submarine nets Curtains of mines Q-ships Hydrophones Convoys Depth Charges

The effect of depth charges