A Naval History of World War I

by Paul G. Halpern

  80.For a study in depth of this relationship, see Keith Neilson, Strategy and Supply: The Anglo-Russian Alliance, 1914–1917 (London: Allen & Unwin, 1984).

  81.Fayle, Seaborne Trade 2:118–23, 212, 350–51. See also: Naval Staff, A History of the White Sea Station, 1914–1919 (February 1920).

  82.Details about Meteor from Schmalenbach, German Raiders, 16, 32, 46–49, 71, 132, 136–37. Meteor did not survive her second patrol in August to lay mines off the Scottish coast. Although she surprised and sank the armed boarding steamer Ramsay southeast of Pentland Firth on the 8th when the latter lowered a boat to examine the innocuous-looking steamer flying Russian colors, the British spread a wide net and she was caught off Horns Reef by Tyrwhitt’s cruisers the following day and scuttled to avoid capture. Details in Corbett and Newbolt, Naval Operations 3:122–26.

  83.Fayle, Seaborne Trade 2:123–24; Corbett and Newbolt, Naval Operations 3:48–50; Hurd, The Merchant Navy 2:67–69; ibid. 3:240; Russian accounts differ sharply from the British on the amount of Russian assistance provided, see Pavlovich, The Fleet, 513–17.

  84.Gibson and Prendergast, The German Submarine War, 111–12, 117; Hurd, The Merchant Navy 2:262, 345–47; Spindler, Handelskrieg mit U-Booten 3:232–37, 257–58.

  85.Fayle, Seaborne Trade 2:350.

  86.For a full discussion of the Petrograd Conference, see Neilson, Strategy and Supply, chap. 6. On Arctic forces, see Corbett and Newbolt, Naval Operations 5:303; Gibson and Prendergast, The German Submarine War, 112; Greger, Die Russische Flotte, 42; Pavlovich, The Fleet, 549–50; Naval Staff, History of the White Sea Station, 8–9.

  87.Spindler, Handelskrieg mit U-Booten 4:42, 84–85, 275–76; Naval Staff, History of the White Sea Station, 9–10; Fayle, Seaborne Trade 3:238–39.

  88.John W. Wheeler-Bennett, Brest-Litovsk: The Forgotten Peace (1938; reprint, New York: St. Martin’s, 1966), 380, 406.

  89.Fayle, Seaborne Trade 3:358–60. The ships, most of whose owners were anti-Bolshevik, were run under the British flag.

  90.On this point, see remarks by the British senior naval officer on the Dvina: Altham, “The Dwina Campaign,” 230.

  91.Holger H. Herwig, “German Policy in the Eastern Baltic Sea in 1918: Expansion or Anti-Bolshevik Crusade?” Slavic Review 32, no. 2 (June 1973): 344 ff.

  92.The literature is large. Standard works are: George F. Kennan, Soviet-American Relations, 1917–1920, vol. 2: The Decision to Intervene (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1958); Richard H. Ullman, Anglo-Soviet Relations, 1917–1921, vol. 1: Intervention and the War (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961). A succinct account on the naval aspect is in: Roskill, Naval Policy Between the Wars, vol. 1, chap. 3.

  93.Outline of naval operations drawn from Corbett and Newbolt, Naval Operations 5:323–32; Altham, “The Dwina Campaign,” 231–40.

  94.For memoirs by the commanders of the Murmansk and Archangel forces, respectively, see Maynard, The Murmansk Venture; Ironside, Archangel, 1918–1919. On U.S. involvement, see Beers, U.S. Naval Forces in North Russia.

  95.See Bennett, Cowan’s War.

  6. THE ADRIATIC

  1.Thaon di Revel, “Promemoria No.1. Esame di operazioni di guerra nell’ Adriatico,” Sept. 1914, USM, Cartella 354/3. Excerpts are printed in the official history: Ufficio Storico, Marina italiana 1:312–23; see also Halpern’s Mediterranean Naval Situation, 208–11 and Naval War in the Mediterranean, 85–86.

  2.Biographical studies are: Ferrante, Paolo Thaon di Revel and Po, Thaon di Revel. See also the entry in Cannistraro, Dictionary of Fascist Italy, 532–35.

  3.Revel, “Nuovo esame di operazioni di guerra nell’ Adriatico,” 5 January 1915, printed with slight changes in Ufficio Storico, Marina italiana 1:325–58. See also Ferrante, La grande guerra in Adriatico, 29–33.

  4.A worthwhile biography, emphasizing his explorations, is Dainelli, II Duca degli Abruzzi. See also the entry in Cannistraro, Dictionary of Fascist Italy, 489–90.

  5.On Abruzzi’s proposals, see Ferrante, La grande guerra in Adriatico, 33–36.

  6.Discussion of Italian war plans in Halpern, Naval War in the Mediterranean, 84–92. The general Italian war plan is printed virtually in full in Viale [Minister of Marine], “Piano generale delle operazioni in Adriatico,” 18 April 1915, Ufficio Storico, Marina italiana 1:331–41.

  7.Short accounts in English are: Zeman, Gentlemen Negotiators, chap. 1; Bosworth, Italy and the Approach, chap. 6.

  8.“Agreement between the Three Powers and Italy,” 26 April 1915, PRO, Cab 37/128.

  9.On the naval convention, see Halpern, “Anglo-French-Italian Naval Convention,” 106–29; and Gabriele, “Le convenzione navale italo-franco-britannica del 10 maggio 1915,” Nuova antologia 1:492–94, fasc. 1972–73 (April-May 1965).

  10.L. Aldovandi Marescotti, Nuovi ricordi e frammenti di diario (Milan: Mondadori, 1938), 222. See also Halpern, Naval War in the Mediterranean, 93, 96–101.

  11.For a good summary in English of the crisis over intervention, see Seton-Watson, Italy from Liberalism to Fascism, 443–47.

  12.The differing national viewpoints are in Sokol, Österreich-Ungarns Seekrieg, chap. 7; Ufficio Storico, Marina italiana, vol. 2, chaps. 1–2; a summary in Admiral Vittoria Prato, “La nostra entrata in guerra nel 1915 e le prime operazioni in Adriatico,” Rivista marittima 98, no. 5 (May 1965): 42–47.

  13.Abruzzi, “Schema generale del piano di guerra in Adriatico,” enclosed in Abruzzi to Revel, 21 May 1915, Abruzzi to Vice Admiral Presbitero (commander in chief, II Squadra), 20 May 1915, USM, Cartella 354/3.

  14.Thursby to Admiralty, Report of Proceedings, 4 June 1915, and minute by Balfour, 20 July, PRO, Adm 137/780.

  15.Lapeyrère to Augagneur (minister of marine), 26 May 1915, SHM, Carton Ed-83; Lapeyrère to Augagneur, 19 May 1915, SHM, Carton A-75.

  16.On these points, see Halpern, Naval War in the Mediterranean, 173, 206–7, 209–11, 240, 271–72.

  17.Events summarized from Ufficio Storico, Marina italiana 2:83–90, 116–18; Sokol, Österreich-Ungarns Seekrieg, 228–30; Ufficio del Capo di Stato Maggiore della Marina, “Relazione generale sull’opera svolta dal 1 Aprile al 1 Ottobre 1915,” 158–59, copy in ACS, 1° Aiutante di Campo Generale di S.M. il Re, Sezione Speciale, Filza 24; Richmond Diary, 26 June 1915, in Marder, Portrait of an Admiral, 178.

  18.Plans summarized in Halpern, Naval War in the Mediterranean, 130–31.

  19.Ufficio Storico, Marina italiana 2:109–10, 120–28; Spindler, Handelskrieg mit U-booten 2:196–97; Aichelburg, Die Unterseeboote Österreich-Ungarn 1:121, 133–34, 2:318–19, 337.

  20.Ufficio Storico, Marina italiana 2:171–75; Richmond Diary, 12, 18, 23 June, 9, 13 July 1915 in Marder, Portrait of an Admiral, 169, 173, 175, 181, 183; Daveluy to Lapeyrère, 26 July 1915, SHM, Carton Ed-91.

  21.Ufficio Storico, Marina italiana 2:178–85; Sokol, Österreich-Ungarns Seekrieg, 233–35; Revel to Abruzzi, 27 (?) July 1915, ACS, Carte Brusati/12 (VIII-17–61); Revel to Abruzzi, 17, 27 July 1915, USM, Cartella 363/1.

  22.Summary discussion in Halpern, Naval War in the Mediterranean, 134–39; in addition to the Ufficio Storico’s Marina italiana, there is a very detailed study of the Pelagosa occupation in Ufficio Storico, Occupazione dell’ Isola di Pelagosa.

  23.Richmond Diary, 18 August 1915, in Marder, Portrait of an Admiral, 192.

  24.Halpern, Naval War in the Mediterranean, 131–32, 139–40.

  25.Revel to Abruzzi, 30 July, 27 August 1915, USM, Cartella 356/3; Villarey (Italian naval attaché) to Admiralty, 26 August 1915, with minutes by Oliver and Wilson, PRO, Adm 137/1140.

  26.These British operations are well covered in: Kemp and Jung, “Five Broken Down B Boats,” 10–29.

  27.On the Italian navy in this period, see Halpern, Naval War in the Mediterranean, 141–47.

  28.Daveluy to Lapeyrère, 30 August 1915, SHM, Carton Ed-91.

  29.Summary in Halpern, Naval War in the Mediterranean, 205–11. See also Thomazi, L’Adriatique, 108–9; Corbett and Newbolt, Naval Operat
ions 4:101–2; Naval Staff, The Mediterranean, 210–11; Sokol, Österreich-Ungarns Seekrieg, 242–43, 246–49. The subject is treated at length in Ufficio Storico, Marina italiana, vol. 2, chaps. 11–13.

  30.Summary in Halpern, Naval War in the Mediterranean, 212–14; more detailed accounts from the respective national points of view are in Corbett and Newbolt, Naval Operations 4:106–17; Naval Staff, The Mediterranean, 216–25; Ufficio Storico, Marina italiana, vol. 2, chap. 15; Sokol, Österreich-Ungarns Seekrieg, 250–63; Thomazi, L’Adriatique, 110–14.

  31.Thursby to Jackson, 20 February 1916, in Halpern, Royal Navy in the Mediterranean, 108.

  32.The most detailed study with statistics: Ufficio Storico, Marina italiana, vol. 2, chaps. 16–18, and Appendix 10, pp. 615–18; see also Halpern, Naval War in the Mediterranean, 215–16; Sokol, Österreich-Ungarns Seekrieg, 271–72; Corbett and Newbolt, Naval Operations 4:118–25; and for current sensitivity over the subject, see Ferrante, La Grande Guerra in Adriatico, 55–58.

  33.See the discussions in Halpern, Naval War in the Mediterranean, 216–18; Sokol, Österreich-Ungarns Seekrieg, 286–87; Bayer von Bayersburg, Die Marinewaffen im Einsatz, 29; Sokol, Austro-Hungarian Navy, 116–18; and Baumgartner, “Österreich-Ungarns Dünkirchen?”

  34.Naval Staff, The Mediterranean, 203–7; Thursby to Limpus, 28 September, 17 October, 8 November 1915, in Halpern, Royal Navy in the Mediterranean, 24–27, 32–34. Several chapters on the drifters in the Adriatic are in Chatterton, Seas of Adventures.

  35.Lejay (French liaison officer with Italian fleet) to Lacaze, 23 July 1916, SHM, Carton Ed-93; Kerr to Admiralty, 18 November 1916, and Kerr, “Situation in the Mediterranean,” 30 November 1916, British Library, London, Jellicoe MSS, Add. MSS 49035.

  36.Halpern, Naval War in the Mediterranean, 278–80.

  37.Thomazi, L’Adriatique, 138–39; Ufficio Storico, Marina italiana 3:300–303, 520–33; Sokol, Österreich-Ungarns Seekrieg, 360, 367–75.

  38.The Carrocio (1,657 tons) was the former German Choising that had brought the Emden’s landing party across the Indian Ocean after they had scuttled the schooner Ayesha.

  39.Summary in Halpern, Naval War in the Mediterranean, 357–66; full accounts in Corbett and Newbolt, Naval Operations 4:297–306; Ufficio Storico, Marina italiana, vol. 4, chap. 20; Sokol, Österreich-Ungarns Seekrieg, 376–93; Thomazi, L’Adriatique, 147–53; and the analysis in Lukas, “Das Gefecht in der Otrantostrasse.”

  40.Ufficio Storico, Marina italiana 3:215–20. The issue of sabotage in these cases remains difficult to prove; see Ferrante, La grande guerra in Adriatico, 62–63.

  41.On these points, see Halpern, Naval War in the Mediterranean, passim. The old B-class submarines had been recalled from Venice in October 1916 after the arrival of four W-class submarines sold by the British to the Italians. Two 12-inch gunned monitors remained with the Italian naval forces in the upper Adriatic.

  42.Halpern, Naval War in the Mediterranean, 265–68.

  43.Most of the relevant correspondence is printed in Sokol, Österreich-Ungarns Seekrieg, 394–400. See also Halpern, Naval War in the Mediterranean, 285–87.

  44.On the changes, see Halpern, Mediterranean Naval Situation, 310–11, 333–36.

  45.Air operations are covered in detail in Sokol, Österreich-Ungarns Seekrieg, chaps. 10, 18, 27; and Schupita, Die k.u.k. Seeflieger. See also Thomazi, L’Adriatique, 122; Ufficio Storico, Marina italiana 3:167–68.

  46.Ufficio Storico, Marina italiana 3:50–55; a short summary of their characteristics is in Fraccaroli, Italian Warships, 129 ff. Exhaustive detail in Bagnasco, I Mas e le motosiluranti italiane.

  47.Thomazi, L’Adriatique, 126–27; Ufficio Storico, Marina italiana 3:371–74, 394–97; Sokol, Österreich-Ungarns Seekrieg, 422–24.

  48.For a brief description, see Ferrante, Il grande guerra in Adriatico, 82–88.

  49.Ufficio Storico, Marina italiana 6:431–35; Sokol, Österreich-Ungarns Seekrieg, 621–23. Substantial extracts from Rizzo’s report are printed in Ferrante, Il grande guerra in Adriatico, 91–93, 171–73. A short account in English is in Winton, Below the Belt, 123–25.

  50.The most detailed account in print is Plaschka, Cattaro—Prag. See also his “Phänomene sozialer”; and Sokol, Österreich-Ungarns Seekrieg, chap. 30; Ufficio Storico, Marina italiana, vol. 7, chap. 5.

  51.Halpern, Naval War in the Mediterranean, 449–50; Horthy, Memoirs, 88–89.

  52.For a full discussion of the U.S. Adriatic plans, see Halpern, Naval War in the Mediterranean, 434–41.

  53.Ferrante, Il grande guerra in Adriatico, 106–9; Sokol, Österreich-Ungarns Seekrieg, 624–27; Ufficio Storico, Marina italiana 7:364–70, and chap. 7.

  54.Sokol, Österreich-Ungarns Seekrieg, 627–30; Bagnasco, I mas e le motosilurante italiane, 619–27; Ufficio Storico, Marina italiana, vol. 7, chap. 20; Winton, Below the Belt, 126. On Austrian measures, see Halpern, Naval War in the Mediterranean, 451–52; Greger, Austro-Hungarian Warships, 65–67; and Bilzer, Torpedoboote der k.u.k. Kriegsmarine, 136 ff.

  55.Corbett and Newbolt, Naval Operations 5:287–88; Sokol, Österreich-Ungarns Seekrieg, 550–51. British reports of the action are printed in Halpern, The Royal Navy in the Mediterranean, 450–59.

  56.Halpern, Naval War in the Mediterranean, 452–53, 537; Heyssler to Keyes, 1 March 1921, in Halpern, The Keyes Papers 2:52; Trapp, Bis zum letzten Flaggenschuss, 126.

  57.Sokol, Österreich-Ungarns Seekrieg, 553–63; Ufficio Storico, Marina italiana, vol. 7, chap. 29; Rizzo’s report is reproduced in Ferrante, La grande guerra in Adriatico, 110–13, 177–79; see also Halpern, Naval War in the Mediterranean, 501–2; Tomicich, “Die Versenkung.”

  58.Halpern, Naval War in the Mediterranean, 516–18; Italian military operations in Albania are covered in detail in Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, Ufficio Storico, Le Truppe Italiane in Albania (Anni 1914–20 e 1939) (Rome: Ufficio Storico [Esercito], 1978), chap. 4.

  59.Halpern, Naval War in the Mediterranean, 556–58; Sokol, Österreich-Ungarns Seekrieg, 636–45; Ufficio Storico, Marina italiana 8:380–97. Although the action is omitted in Corbett and Newbolt’s Naval Operations, the British reports are printed in Halpern, Royal Navy in the Mediterranean, 557–66.

  60.Sokol, Österreich-Ungarns Seekrieg, chap. 31; Ufficio Storico, Marina italiana 8:509–19; short accounts are in Halpern, Naval War in the Mediterranean, 566–67; Winton, Below the Belt, 126–28; the reports of Rossetti and Paolucci are printed in Ferrante, La grande guerra in Adriatico, 183–201.

  61.Greger, “Wussten die Italiener davon?”; Ferrante, La grande guerra in Adriatico, 116–20.

  7. THE BALTIC

  1.A good survey of Russian naval plans is in the translation of the Soviet official history: Pavlovich, The Fleet 1:48–49. Unfortunately the translation is poor, if not at times almost unintelligible.

  2.For comments on Essen, see Pavlovitch, The Fleet 1:60; Graf, The Russian Navy, 31–32, 34–36.

  3.Graf, The Russian Navy, 36.

  4.Pavlovich, The Fleet, 50–53, 55, 57–59; see also Monasterev, Sur Trois Mers, 12–13.

  5.Firle, Krieg in der Ostsee 1:2–3, 2 n. 1, 5.

  6.Ibid. 1:29.

  7.Prince Heinrich had been chief of the High Sea Fleet from 1906 to 1909 when he was described as being “forced” to leave his post. See Gemzell, Organization, Conflict and Innovation, 197–98.

  8.Görlitz, The Kaiser and His Court, 15.

  9.Görlitz, The Kaiser and His Court, 15; Gemzell, Organization, Conflict and Innovation, 198.

  10.Firle, Krieg in der Ostsee 1:48–51; Görlitz, The Kaiser and His Court, 16.

  11.“La Sauvegarde de la neutralité du Danemark par la flotte danoise pendant la guerre mondiale” (Extract from a brochure published by the Society of Naval Lieutenants, Flotte ou Police du Mer), annexed to report from French Military Attaché in Denmark, 26 January 1925, SHM, Carton Ea-174.

  12.Admiral Scheer, Germany’s High Sea Fleet, 60.

  13.Pavlovich, The Fleet, 72.

&n
bsp; 14.Monasterev, Sur Trois Mers, 18–20. The story leaked out after the war. There is an account in the files of the French naval staff based on Swedish publications reported in the Berliner Tageblatt, 17 May (year illegible), “Un amiral veut agir,” SHM, Carton Ea-163. The incident is not in Pavlovich, The Fleet.

  15.Commander H. Grenfell (naval attaché, Petrograd) to Sir George Buchanan (British ambassador), 6 November 1914, PRO, Adm 137/271, ff. 274–75.

  16.These operations can be followed in detail on the German side in Firle, Krieg in der Ostsee, vol. 1, chaps. 3, 5–6. For the Russian perspective, see Pavlovich, The Fleet, 74–76. A convenient summary of events is in Greger, Die Russische Flotte, 15.

  17.A very detailed account of these events is in Mäkelä, Das Geheimnis der “Magdeburg.”

  18.Greger, Die Russische Flotte, 15–16.

  19.Monasterev, Sur Trois Mers, 27–29; a more detailed account with some differences is in the Italian translation: Monasterev, La Marina Russa, 38–58.

  20.The loss of the cruiser made Admiral von Pohl glad that he had advised the kaiser to reject a plan by the chief of the High Sea Fleet and Prince Heinrich to use the Second Battle Squadron (8 Deutschland class) to bombard Libau. Letter of 17 November 1914, in Pohl, Aufzeichungen und Briefen, 88–89.

  21.Firle, Krieg in der Ostsee 1:285–86; Pavlovich, The Fleet, 113, 118, 123. The account of Baltic operations has been summarized from these two sources supplemented by Greger, Die Russische Flotte and Monasterev, La Marina Russa.

  22.Commodore (S) to Commander in Chief, Grand Fleet, 10 October 1914, PRO, Adm 137/271. For details see Keyes, Naval Memoirs 1:116–18; Halpern, The Keyes Papers 1:39–41; and Wilson, Baltic Assignment, 16–19, 25–26.

  23.Sir H. Lowther (British minister at Copenhagen) to Sir Edward Grey, 31 December 1914, Copy in PRO, Adm 137/271, ff. 520–22.

  24.Naval Staff, The Baltic, 17–24; Wilson, Baltic Assignment, chap. 3.

  25.Grenfell to Buchanan, 6 November 1914, PRO, Adm 137/271, ff. 268–77.