The Great War at Sea
A Naval History of the First World War

New naval history of the First World War which reveals the contribution of the war at sea to Allied victory.

Lawrence Sondhaus (Author)

9781107036901, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 7 August 2014

417 pages, 34 b/w illus. 10 maps
23.8 x 15.7 x 2.3 cm, 0.82 kg

'… this book is to be welcomed by general readers and specialists alike.  … The reward is that we have the great naval war of 1914–18 encompassed in one manageable volume. For that, Sondhaus is to be congratulated.' Robin Prior, The Journal of Modern History

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, 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 factor in their ultimate victory.

1. Navies and naval warfare in 1914
2. Global prelude
3. European waters, 1914–15
4. Submarine warfare: the great experiment, 1915
5. Combined operations, 1915
6. Germany's fleet sorties, 1916
7. Submarine warfare: the great gamble, 1917–18
8. War and revolution, 1917
9. Final operations
Epilogue: peace and naval disarmament
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: First World War [HBWN], Military history [HBW], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], History [HB]