U-Boats
History: KS3, topic 16.3.9
U-Boats
Throughout the war, the British and German navies engaged each other at sea.
Early battles
- Between November and December 1914 AD, Germany attacked coastal towns such as Hartlepool, Whitby and Scarborough.
- Despite this technically being a German victory, it provoked British public opinion and triggered a wave of recruits for the British army.
- In January 1915 AD, the British decoded German messages and prevented a German attack on Dogger Bank.
U-boats
- The Germans turned to u-boat (submarine) warfare.
- Using unrestricted u-boat warfare, the Germans targeted merchant (trade) ships to and from Britain.
- In May 1915 AD, the Germans sunk a liner called Lusitania.
- This caused 1,200 civilian casualties. 128 of these were American.
- This seriously damaged relations between the US and Germany. Some argue that the sinking of the Lusitania brought America into the war against Germany.
More attacks
- Between 1915 AD and 1918 AD, the number of German u-boats grew from 21 to almost 200.
- By 1917 AD, one in four merchant ships failed to reach their final destination because of German attacks.
- This showed that German u-boat warfare seriously threatened Britain's survival in the war.
Battle of Jutland
- Britain was blockading the German home front.
- In May 1916 AD, Germany tried to stop the British blockade in the Battle of Jutland.
Convoy system
- In response, the British established the ‘convoy system’. This meant that merchant ships sailed in a 'convoy' surrounded by naval ships.
- Q ships (or Q-boats) were decoy ships. The Allies disguised armed ships as merchant ships to lure U-boats in. They would then shoot at the U-boats, aiming to sink them.
Blockades vs. u-boats
- Convoys significantly reduced the success of the German u-boats.
- In the end, British blockades were very successful and starvation on the German home front seriously weakened the German war effort.
Test yourself on U-Boats
Where was NOT somewhere Germany attacked from sea?