Buques de guerra (Primera Guerra Mundial): libros

1915 - The First World War at Sea in Photographs

Submarines and blockades dominated the war at sea in 1915. The major event was the sinking by U-20 of the Lusitania, which edged America closer to war. The Germans had announced a blockade of Britain in February, using submarines to sink and harry shipping. A British blockade of Germany was announced in March in retaliation. Using its surface fleet to stop neutral vessels, the British attempt was more successful. The British submarine force was also successful, commanders leading patrols into the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea.

Surface ship engagements would be fought by battlecruisers at the Battle of the Dogger Bank, and by cruisers off the coast of Chile as the German warship Dresden was sunk in the Pacific. On the east coast of Africa, the raider Königsberg was sunk in the war's first instance of sea-air cooperation.

Attempts to bully Turkey into surrendering saw numerous Allied warships sunk off the Dardanelles and an amphibious landing took place there in an attempt to create a supply route into the Black Sea. By the end of the year it was obvious that the invasion of Turkey had failed and the soldiers were evacuated. At the same time, Allied shipping was being used to evacuate the Serbian army from the coast of Albania, the biggest seaborne evacuation that there had ever been until Dunkirk.

1915, the first year of the war to end all wars, is documented in archive photographs in this series covering the naval war in detail.

1918 - The First World War at Sea in Photographs

The year 1918 was dominated by the Armistice and the end of the fighting in the War to End All Wars. However, before that both the U-boat war in the North Atlantic and the British blockade of Germany continued unabated.

The Royal Navy attempted to block the German naval forces in the Belgian port of Zeebrugge into the harbour with a raid on St George's Day and the Royal Naval Air Service was amalgamated into the Royal Flying Corps to form the RAF on 1 April. The Royal Navy was also involved in the British intervention against the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War.

After the Armistice came, the Royal Navy's work was not finished. The German surface fleet was interned in Scapa Flow from 23 November, only for the ships' crews to scuttle their vessels on 21 June 1919. The U-boat fleet also surrendered.

Finally, in November 1920, there was the solemn task of transporting the body of the Unknown Warrior across the Channel from Boulogne to Dover for burial in Westminster Abbey.

Phil Carradice takes us through the First World War at sea in photographs, showing us the horror of war and telling the story of some of the key moments of the conflict.

1917 - The First World War at Sea in Photographs

The year 1917 was dominated by the Russian Revolution and America entering the war. On 3 February, America cut diplomatic ties with Germany following the announcement on 31 January that Germany would begin unrestricted submarine warfare. All 111 U-boats were ordered to sink any vessel at will. The hope was that Britain would be starved into submission.
America declared war on 6 April and US destroyers joined the fight against the U-boats while US battleships joined the Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow. Losses to submarines were now so great that Britain was in danger of running out of food and the convoy system was brought into force. The impact was huge and German U-boat losses climbed rapidly.
At Scapa Flow, on the evening of 9 July 1917, the battleship HMS Vanguard exploded.
On 2 August 1917, Squadron Commander Edwin Dunning successfully landed a Sopwith Pup on board HMS Furious, becoming the first person to land an aircraft on a moving ship. The aircraft carrier had come of age.
Meanwhile, in Petrograd the start of the Bolshevik Revolution was signaled when the cruiser Aurora fired at the Winter Palace.

Phil Carradice takes us through the First World War at sea in photographs, showing us the horror of war and telling the story of some of the key moments of the conflict.

World War I Seaplane and Aircraft Carriers (Osprey)

In 1910 the first aircraft was successfully launched from a small wooden platform on a stationary ship. Just four years later, seaplane-carrying warships were being used to launch the first naval air raids, and by 1918 the first aircraft carrier to feature a full-length flight deck was in service.

High quality artwork and historical photographs help author Mark Lardas tell the fascinating story of the pioneering years of naval aviation, covering such historic clashes as the Japanese siege of Tsingtao, the British raid against German Zeppelin bases at Cuxhaven and the Battle of Jutland, which saw the first airplane take part in a naval battle.

Through detailed analysis he explores their development from hastily adapted merchant ships to the launch of HMS Argus, the first aircraft carrier to have a full-length flight deck, and shows how they paved the way for the aircraft carriers of the future.

Big Gun Monitors - Design, Construction and Operations 1914-1945

In the history of naval warfare probably no type of ship has provided more firepower per ton than the monitor - indeed they were little more than a huge gun mounting fitted on a simple, self-propelled raft. Designed and built rapidly to fulfil an urgent need for heavy shore-bombardment during World War I, they were top secret in conception, and largely forgotten when the short-lived requirement was over.

Nevertheless, they were important ships, which played a significant role in many Great War campaigns and drove many of the advances in long-range gunnery later applied to the battle fleet. Indeed, their value was rediscovered during the Second World War when a final class was built.

Monitors were largely ignored by naval historians until Ian Buxton produced the first edition of this book in 1978. Although published privately, this became an established classic and copies of the first edition are now almost unobtainable, so this new edition will be welcomed by many.
It has been completely revised, extended and redesigned to a generous large format which allows material deleted from the original edition for lack of space to be restored.

Gunboats of World War I (Osprey)

Naval action in World War I conjures up images of enormous dreadnoughts slugging it out in vast oceans. Yet the truth is that more sailors were killed serving on gunboats and monitors operating far from the naval epicentre of the war than were ever killed at Jutland.

Gunboat engagements during this war were bloody and hard fought, if small in scale. Austrian gunboats on the Danube fired the first shots of the war, whilst German, British and Belgian gunboats fought one of the strangest, most intriguing naval campaigns in history in far-flung Lake Tanganyika.

From the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, from the Balkans to Mesopotamia, gunboats played an influential part in the story of World War I. This detailed technical guide to the gunboats of all the major navies of the war means that, for the first time, the story can be told.

Contents: Introduction - Chronology - Design & Development - Operational History - Armament - Operation - Gunboats in Action - Bibliography.

Hospital Ships and Troop Transport of the First World War

The biggest shipping loss of both world wars was the hospital ship Britannic, at almost 50,000 tons. Supposedly safe to travel the seas, many hospital ships were lost in both wars.
From the smallest of motor launches through steam yachts and converted ocean liners, Campbell McCutcheon tells the story of the First World War hospital ships. Many succumbed to accidents, mines or German submarines but many also faithfully provided a vital service without loss of life or accident.

Troopships were also vital right from the very first days of the war, when ships carried the BEF across the English Channel in August 1914. Meanwhile, convoys that included many great pre-war ocean liners pressed into service were bringing Canadian and Australasian troops to the UK and France, and later American troops as well.
Many would continue in service until long after the war had ended, repatriating soldiers well into 1919, and their story is also told in this beautifully illustrated book.