German Battlecruisers 1914–18

German Battlecruisers 1914–18

Author: Gary Staff

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2012-01-20

Total Pages: 82

ISBN-13: 178096336X

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The task of Germany's new Große Kreuzer at the beginning of the 20th century was to form an independent reconnaissance division that was able to perform special tasks. With a speed superiority of at least 3 knots, they should also be capable of fighting in the line, and would thus require heavy armour and good defensive qualities. The battlecruisers that were built did indeed have a remarkable ability to withstand battle damage, as demonstrated by the Goeben, which suffered five mine hits on one occasion. This title details all the classes of German battlecruiser, with particular emphasis on each individual ship's battle experience and deployment in conflict.


German High Seas Fleet 1914–18

German High Seas Fleet 1914–18

Author: Angus Konstam

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2023-09-28

Total Pages: 78

ISBN-13: 1472856457

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A superbly illustrated new account of how Germany's High Seas Fleet was built, operated and fought, as it challenged the world's most powerful navy in World War I. Seven years before the outbreak of World War I, the Imperial German Navy rebranded its Home Fleet as the Hochseeflotte, or High Seas Fleet. It was a force designed to take on the Royal Navy, then the world's most powerful, and for the next four years the North Sea would be their battleground. Drawing on extensive research, Angus Konstam offers the reader a concise, fully illustrated account of how the entire High Seas Fleet was designed and built, how it operated, and how it fought. The fleet was a modern, balanced force of dreadnought battleships, battlecruisers, cruisers and torpedo boats, using Zeppelins and U-boats for reconnaissance. The ultimate test between them came in May 1916, when they clashed at Jutland. Packed with spectacular original artwork, maps, 3D diagrams and archive photos, it explains how and why the fleet was built, its role, and how and why it fought as it did. From fighting doctrine and crew training to intelligence, logistics, and gunnery, this book is an essential guide to the Kaiser's audacious bid for naval glory.


German Warships of World War 1

German Warships of World War 1

Author:

Publisher: US Naval Institute Press

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 424

ISBN-13:

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Fully illustrated, this reference is compiled from a series of confidential books produced by British Intelligence during World War I.


Ottoman Navy Warships 1914–18

Ottoman Navy Warships 1914–18

Author: Ryan K. Noppen

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2015-07-20

Total Pages: 105

ISBN-13: 1472806212

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At the start of the 20th century the Ottoman Navy was a shadow of its former might, a reflection of the empire as a whole the "Sick Man of Europe". Years of defeat, nepotism, and neglect had left the Ottoman Navy with a mix of obsolete vessels, whilst the list of prospective enemies was ever-growing. An increasing Russian naval presence in the Black Sea and the alarming emergence of Italy and Greece as regional Naval powers proved beyond all doubt that intensive modernization was essential, indeed, the fate of the Empire as a naval power depended on it. So the Ottoman Navy looked to the ultimate naval weapon of the age, the dreadnought, two of which were ordered from the British. But politics intervened, and a succession of events culminated in the Ottoman Navy fielding a modern German battlecruiser and state-of-the-art light cruiser instead with dramatic consequences. In this meticulous study, Ryan Noppen presents a fresh appraisal of the technical aspects and operations of the warships of the Ottoman Navy in World War I. It is the first work of its kind in the English language produced with a wealth of rare material with the co-operation of the Turkish Consulate and Navy. Packed with precise technical specifications, revealing illustrations and exhaustive research, this is an essential guide to a crucial chapter in the Aegean arms race.


German Battlecruisers of World War One

German Battlecruisers of World War One

Author: Gary Staff

Publisher: Seaforth Publishing

Published: 2014-11-29

Total Pages: 1161

ISBN-13: 1848323077

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The most comprehensive English-language study of the German Imperial Navy’s WWI battlecruisers, fully illustrated with drawings, diagrams and photographs. In this in-depth study, naval historian and author of Battle on the Seven Seas Gary Staff presents a full analysis of Imperial Germany’s battlecruisers. Known as Panzerkreuzer, the eight ships of this class were involved in several early North Sea skirmishes before their historic victory against the Royal Navy in the Battle of Jutland. Staff details the design and construction of these ships, and traces the full-service history of each one, recounting their actions, largely from first-hand German sources and official documents. Detailed line drawings and maps augment the text throughout, as do a wealth of contemporary photos that depict the vessels at sea as well as in dock, where many aspects of their design—as well as damage sustained in action—can be viewed in close up. A superb series of full-color computer graphics show full length profiles and top-down views of each ship in precise and clear detail. German Battle Cruisers of World War One presents a major contribution to German naval history in the English language. It is a must-have volume for Great War historians and enthusiasts, as well as battlecruiser modelers.


The Great Naval Race

The Great Naval Race

Author: Peter Padfield

Publisher: Thistle Publishing

Published: 2013-10-01

Total Pages: 422

ISBN-13: 9781909869400

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More than the story of the intense battleship-building competition between Great Britain and Imperial Germany before the First World War, this is a study in envy: Kaiser Wilhelm II, grandson of Queen Victoria, reflected Prusso-German resentment at Britain's world power, and longed for a fleet to rival the Royal Navy. It is a fact, disgracefully unrecognised by the historical establishment, that his admiral, Alfred Tirpitz, designed the German battlefleet from the start as an instrument to smash the British fleet. Britain's First Sea Lord, Admiral 'Jackie' Fisher, and Winston Churchill, when appointed First Lord of the Admiralty, reacted by laying down more, larger and better battleships. Tirpitz was forced to respond, but the escalating costs of the competition lost him the support of the Army and other interest groups. Almost alone, Wilhelm continued to back him, thereby ensuring that Britain would be an enemy when war came in 1914 - a war which Peter Padfield shows with irrefutable evidence from the German naval archives was provoked by Berlin. 'Mr Padfield is much more than a skilled populariser. He has his own specialised contribution to make on the development of the battleship, especially its gunnery equipment.' Times Literary Supplement 'Important, readable and scholarly new book... adds immeasurably to our understanding of the events which carried much of the civilised world into the war of 1914-18.' Texas Times 'A fascinating story, well told.' The Seafarer


Germany's High Sea Fleet in the World War

Germany's High Sea Fleet in the World War

Author: Admiral Reinhard Scheer

Publisher: Frontline Books

Published: 2014-04-30

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 1848322097

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Anglo-German naval rivalry before 1914 had been expected to culminate in a cataclysmic fleet action in the North Sea once war was declared, a battle upon which the outcome of the war would depend: yet the two fleets met only once, at Jutland in 1916, and the battle was far from conclusive. ??In his own account of the war in the North Sea, first published in 1920, Admiral Scheer, the German commander at Jutland, gives his own explanation for the failure of either fleet to achieve the decisive victory expected of it, particularly the failure of his own operation plans that resulted in the battle of Jutland. ??This book is an invaluable account of one of the most important theatres of the First World War, written by one of its most senior commanders.


The German Submarine War 1914-1918

The German Submarine War 1914-1918

Author: R.H. Gibson

Publisher: Periscope Publishing Ltd.

Published: 2002-11

Total Pages: 526

ISBN-13: 9781904381082

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This account of the U-boat campaign in the World War I represents the official British history of the war against the German submarine attack on shipping. From a few fragile craft, the U-boats grew to become the greatest menace to Britain's survival.


Jutland

Jutland

Author: Michael Epkenhans

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

Published: 2015-10-23

Total Pages: 413

ISBN-13: 0813166063

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During the first two years of World War I, Germany struggled to overcome a crippling British blockade of its mercantile shipping lanes. With only sixteen dreadnought-class battleships compared to the renowned British Royal Navy's twenty-eight, the German High Seas Fleet stood little chance of winning a direct fight. The Germans staged raids in the North Sea and bombarded English coasts in an attempt to lure small British squadrons into open water where they could be destroyed by submarines and surface boats. After months of skirmishes, conflict erupted on May 31, 1916, in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark, in what would become the most formidable battle in the history of the Royal Navy. In Jutland, international scholars reassess the strategies and tactics employed by the combatants as well as the political and military consequences of their actions. Most previous English-language military analysis has focused on British admiral Sir John Jellicoe, who was widely criticized for excessive caution and for allowing German vice admiral Reinhard Scheer to escape; but the contributors to this volume engage the German perspective, evaluating Scheer's decisions and his skill in preserving his fleet and escaping Britain's superior force. Together, the contributors lucidly demonstrate how both sides suffered from leadership that failed to move beyond outdated strategies of limited war between navies and to embrace the total war approach that came to dominate the twentieth century. The contributors also examine the role of memory, comparing the way the battle has been portrayed in England and Germany. An authoritative collection of scholarship, Jutland serves as an essential reappraisal of this seminal event in twentieth-century naval history.