Product Description

While the bloody stalemates of Verdum and the Somme have attracted most attention, it was the war at sea that decided the fate of the German Empire at the end of the First World War. Slowly strangled by economic blockade, Germany in 1918 was a spent and beaten power. It was the attempts of the Central Powers to break the crippling blockade which dictated almost every element of their strategy, from the U-Boat war which in the end brought America in to the conflict, through the titanic battle of Jutland, to Ludendorff's final despairing effort on the Western Front. But the naval war went beyond even that in terms of importance. To both Germany and Britain their fleets were a symbol of status and power; to both countries their fleets were at the cutting edge of technology. If the brutal slaughter of the trenches was the last gasp of 19th century warfare, the war at seas was a portent of things to come. Driven by a great arms race, fuelled by science, the great battleships on the Grand Fleet and the High Seas Fleet represented total war in a way never before seen. Yet beside the grandeur and menace of these leviathans is the drama and excitement of numerous extraordinary stories of individual heroism and adventure. From von Spee's legendary cruiser squadron, through the escape of the Goeben; from the cruise of the Emden to Gallipoli and Jutland, this is the story of the great struggle which decided the war.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #140563 in Books
• Published on: 2000-09-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 354 pages

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PUBLISHERS REVIEW [From The Dust Jacket Flaps].
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The greatest naval conflict in history broke out almost seventy years ago. Richard Hough presents here a reassessment of what happened and why.

It is a history as much of men as of ships: the admirals of the General Fleet and their Commander0in-Chief, Sir John Jellicoe; and the men at the Admiralty, among them the reformer, inspirer, and charmer, 'Jacky' Fisher, and Winston Churchill - arrogant, opinionated, but prodigiously hardworking - who between them succeeded in dragging the Royal Navy out of its serenely complacent nineteenth-century condition and preparing it for its first great campaign for more than a hundred years.

Richard Hough describes the years leading up to 1914, the Kaiser's burning resentment of Britain's unchallenged supremacy at sea, and the headlong race to war, accelerated by the construction of the 'Dreadnought', the biggest, fastest, and most heavily gunned battleship in the world. During the course of the war there were shocks and dissapointments for both sides. The Royal Navy found itself dogged by a lack of secure bases, over-rigid battle orders, uncoordinated planning, and poor signalling. Operations, from the North Sea to the South Atlantic, were carried out against a background of feuds, scheming, and personality clashes at the Admiralty.

Was there 'something wrong with our bloody ships', to echo David Beatty at Jutland? Could the appalling losses have been avoided during the Dardanelles campaign? Why were crucial signals received at the Admiralty filed instead of being acted upon? The battle of Jutland was the greatest naval battle of the war, but also the greatest disappointment: who was really to blame for the inconclusive outcome?

But despite the losses and the mistakes, the brilliance and courage of many men shine through: the invaluable decoding work of 'Room 40'; the resilience of the commanders; the unfailing bravery and high morale of the men on the lower decks; and the excellent relationship between the British and American Navies towards the end of the war.

It is Richard Hough's contention that the Royal Navy not only beat the 'Kreigsmarine' without resort to a bloody Trafalgar, but that its unrelenting pressure was the prime factor which led to the defeat on land of the Central Powers by the end of 1918. This account shows how that victory was achieved between 4 August 1914 and the abject surrender of the High Seas Fleet over four years later.

Richard Hough published his first book of naval history twenty-five years ago, 'The Fleet that had to Die', which ran in 'The New Yorker' and was widely translated. Since then his subjects have ranged from Captains Bligh and Cook to Admirals von Spee and 'Jacky' Fisher. He has travelled widely in connection with his maritime writing, and he has been associated with the work of the Navy Records Society as Council Member and Vice-Chairman.