Title: The Great War at sea : a naval history of the First World War /
Authors: Sondhaus, Lawrence, 1958-
Year: 2014
Subjects: Naval history; World War, 1914-1918 Naval operations
Abstract: This is a major new naval history of the First World War, which reveals the decisive contribution of the war at sea to Allied victory. In a truly global account, Lawrence Sondhaus traces the course of the campaigns in the North Sea, Black Sea, Atlantic, Adriatic, Baltic, and Mediterranean and examines the role of critical innovations in the design and performance of ships, wireless communication, and firepower. He charts how Allied supremacy led the Central Powers to attempt to revolutionize naval warfare by pursuing unrestricted submarine warfare, ultimately prompting the United States to enter the war. Victory against the submarine challenge, following their earlier success in sweeping the seas of German cruisers and other surface raiders, left the Allies free to use the world's sea lanes to transport supplies and troops to Europe from overseas territories, and eventually from the United States, which proved a decisive factory in their ultimate victory.
Contents: Ambition, idelogogy, and arms races -- Preparing for war -- Global prelude -- European waters, 1914-15 -- Submarine warfare: the great experiment, 1915 -- Combined operations, 1915 -- The year of Jutland: Germany's fleet sorties, 1916 -- Submarine warfare: the great gamble, 1917-18 -- War and Revolution, 1917 -- Final operations -- Conclusion: peace and naval disarmament.