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The Battle of Heligoland Bight
The war on land quickly spread to the sea, with the first major battle on the water occurring on August 28, 1914, in a corner of the North Sea known as Heligoland Bight. The bight, a partly enclosed patch of water on the north coast of Germany, sheltered several German naval bases and offered a good position from which Germany could strike out at Britain. However, the cautious German High Seas Fleet rarely sailed far from port.
Eager for a fight, the British navy, conceived a plan to bait the Germans into the open sea, where they would be vulnerable. Under the plan, a small group of British ships would attempt to lure the German ships out. They would venture into the bight until spotted by German patrols and then turn and flee out to sea, where a larger British force would be waiting. Despite minor mishaps, the plan succeeded. Initially, German ships slipped in and out of thick fog to fire on the British ships. In time, however, the Germans were lured into open water. After a battle that lasted nearly eight hours, Germany lost three cruisers and 1,200 sailors, while Britain lost only 35 lives and not a single ship. This early defeat intimidated the kaiser, who insisted that the German navy be kept off the open seas and used primarily defensively.
The War Under the Waves
The German submarine fleet, however, was used aggressively. Submarines armed with torpedoes were new to warfare, and while many military leaders viewed them with skepticism and even disdain, they proved quite effective. Although the Germans had been developing a fleet of large warships in recent years, they recognized that it was still inferior to Britain’s fleet. It was almost by accident that they realized the advantage that their fleet of submarines gave them. During September and October 1914, German U-boats sank four British armored cruisers and warships, killing more than 2,000 sailors. British naval commanders quickly became wary and kept their fleet well clear of the North Sea.
Another “cowardly weapon” played a major role in the war at sea—mines. Under a treaty signed at the Hague in 1907, sea mining was limited to areas within three miles of an enemy’s coastline, so as not to endanger neutral ships. However, both Britain and Germany quickly came to ignore this agreement, and the North Sea became dangerous to all ships that dared enter it. This situation was especially problematic for the neutral countries of Norway and Sweden, which depended on the North Sea for commerce.
Turkey and the War at Sea
The war at sea soon brought the Ottoman Empire into the fray. At the start of the war, the Ottoman Empire, centered on what is now Turkey, had remained neutral but generally was friendlier with the Central Powers than with Britain, France, and Russia. Germany was anxious for more allies, especially in the Mediterranean, and high-placed Ottoman officials believed that an alliance with Germany could help bolster the faltering empire. In a secret treaty signed on August 2, 1914, Turkey promised to aid Germany if Russia attacked Austria-Hungary.
Later that month, two German warships docked in Constantinople. The Ottomans bought the ships, incorporating them into their navy, though German crews remained on board and in control of both vessels. Under Ottoman flags, the ships entered the Black Sea, on the face of it to practice maneuvers. On October 29, the German admiral (possibly working in collaboration with Turkish officials) fired on several Russian ports, sank a Russian gunboat and six merchant ships, and set fire to a Russian oil depot. Because Russia believed that the attack had come from Turkey, they promptly began an invasion of Turkey from the east. Britain and France also responded by attacking Turkish forts along the Dardanelles. Turkey responded by declaring war on all three. In a single stroke, Germany had manipulated the Turks into entering the war on their side.
The South American Sea War
The naval war spread far beyond the Europe and the Black Sea. On November 1, 1914, Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee’s squadron was patrolling off the coast of Chile when he encountered a British squadron, sent by the Royal Navy to prevent Spee disrupting British shipping. Because the British squadron consisted of obsolete cruisers, it was ill-matched for a fight with Spee’s faster and better-armed ships. In the following Battle of Coronel, the British squadron was decisively defeated, losing two ships, 1,600 British sailors, and their admiral—the Royal Navy’s first defeat in a hundred years.
The Royal Navy soon had an opportunity for revenge. Spee’s squadron steamed around Cape Horn into the South Atlantic to disrupt British trade and supply routes. Believing that the British colony on the Falkland Islands was undefended and offered an easy victory, Spee decided to attack—it was a fatal mistake. An entire British squadron was in port that morning, taking on coal. With two modern battle cruisers, the British were far better equipped than they had been at the Battle of Coronel, and they immediately gave chase. The pursuit and battle that followed destroyed Spee’s squadron: the admiral went down with his flagship, while three other German ships and 2,100 German sailors were lost.
Importance of the War at Sea
The range and power of the warring nations’ naval fleets, along with their ambition to control the world’s waterways, were major reasons that World War I spread so quickly. Naval warfare had always been unpredictable (because of the role of weather and other factors), but new technologies made it even more so. Mines, torpedoes, and submarines introduced new threats that made even the greatest warships vulnerable. Compared to giant dreadnoughts, which took years to build and were manned by hundreds of men, submarines were cheap and generally used a crew of fewer than two dozen. Mines were cheaper still and, once laid, required no crew at all.
However, both Britain and Germany were still deciding how best to use these new naval forces, and both were reluctant to commit their main fleets to heavy battles. The Battle of Coronel, the Battle of the Falkland Islands, and other early sea battles quickly made it clear how naval warfare could be used to project power over long distances. In World War I, naval power was more often used to maintain control of trade routes than to capture territory. As it turned out, great sea battles between large surface fleets were rare; instead, the submarine came to own the seas, and Germany became the undisputed master at employing this new technology.
Events
August 28, 1914
Battle of Heligoland Bight
September–October
Several British cruisers are sunk by German U-boats
October 29–30
German ships under Ottoman flags attack Russian ports on Black Sea
November 1
Battle of Coronel
Russia declares war on Ottoman Empire
November 4–5
France and Britain declare war on Ottoman Empire
December 8
Battle of the Falkland Islands
Key People
Maximilian von Spee
Commander of the German East Asia Squadron; won at Coronel but was defeated at the Falkland Islands
