World War I: Naval Warfare 1914 - 1918 by Tim Benbow

World War I: Naval Warfare 1914 - 1918 by Tim Benbow

At the start of the war, the German Empire had cruisers scattered across the globe, some of which were subsequently used to attack Allied merchant shipping. The British Royal Navy systematically hunted them down, though not without some embarrassment from its inability to protect Allied shipping. However, the bulk of the German East-Asia squadron did not have orders to raid shipping and was instead underway to Germany when it encountered elements of the British fleet. Soon after the outbreak of hostilities, Britain initiated a naval blockade of Germany. The strategy proved effective, cutting off vital military and civilian supplies. The 1916 Battle of Jutland developed into the largest naval battle of the war, the only full-scale clash of battleships during the war. The Kaiserliche Marine's High Seas Fleet, commanded by Vice Admiral Reinhard Scheer, squared off against the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet, led by Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. The engagement was a standoff, as the Germans, outmaneuvered by the larger British fleet, managed to escape and inflicted more damage to the British fleet than they received. Strategically, however, the British asserted their control of the sea, and the bulk of the German surface fleet remained confined to port for the duration of the war. German U-boats attempted to cut the supply lines between North America and Britain. The nature of submarine warfare meant that attacks often came without warning, giving the crews of the merchant ships little hope of survival. The U-boat threat lessened in 1917, when merchant ships entered convoys escorted by destroyers. With the last few men who served in World War I now dying out, and the 90th anniversary of the Armistice coming in November 2008, there is no better time to revaluate this controversial war and shed fresh light on the conflict. With the aid of numerous black and white and colour photographs, many previously unpublished, the World War I series recreates the battles and campaigns that raged across the surface of the globe, on land, at sea and in the air. The text is complemented by full-colour maps that guide the reader through specific actions and campaigns.

Tim Benbow is a Senior Lecturer in the Defence Studies Department of King's College London, at the Joint Services Command and Staff College of the UK Defence Academy. He took a BA at Brasenose College, Oxford, and then an M.Phil. and a D.Phil. at St. Antony's College, and also studied for a year at Harvard as a Kennedy Scholar and a year at King's College London. After being awarded his doctorate, he taught international relations and strategic studies at Oxford and then spent two years at Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth prior to joining the Defence Studies Department in 2004. He is deputy director of the Corbett Centre for Maritime Policy Studies and Maritime Historian on the Higher Command and Staff Course. His research interests lie in British naval history and strategy in the Second World War and afterwards. He is the general editor of the Helion `Naval Staff Histories of the Second World War' series.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781906626051
ISBN 10	1906626057
Title	World War I: Naval Warfare 1914 - 1918
Author	Tim Benbow
Series	The History Of World War I
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Amber Books Ltd
Year published	2008-09-15
Number of pages	224
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.