CHAPTER XXIX
GENERAL MOVEMENTS ON THE FRENCH AND FLANDERS FRONTS
We have seen that at the end of November, 1914, Ypres was still in the Allies' hands, though the Germans were exerting a fierce pressure in that region, and were gradually, even if very slowly, getting closer and closer to it.
At the beginning of December, 1914, the Germans drew their forces close up to Ypres, so closely in fact that they could bring into play their small-caliber howitzers, and before many hours Ypres was in flames in many places. The allied forces fought fiercely to compel the Germans to withdraw. Hand-to-hand fighting, bayonet charges, and general confusion was the order of the day. Thousands of men would creep out of their holes in the ground and crawl, availing themselves of whatever covering presented itself, to some vantage point and there stand up as one man and charge directly into the adversary's ranks.
All this was part of the general scheme worked out miles from the spot where the conflict was going on. There in some quaint little town occupying some out-of-the-way house was the General Staff. The rooms were filled with officers; the walls were hung with large and small field and detail maps, upon which were plainly marked the name of every commanding officer and the forces under his command. Every detail of the armies' strength—names of the commanders, and any other detail was plainly in view.
It was here decided to turn the entire command of the allied forces along the Yser over to the British to avoid confusion. It was well that this was done just at this time, for on December 3, 1914, the Germans made a fierce onslaught along the entire front of thirteen miles between Ypres and Dixmude, bringing into use a great number of stanch rafts propelled by expert watermen, thus carrying thousands of the German forces over and along the Ypres River.
Again the belligerents came to a hand-to-hand conflict, and so well directed was the allied counterattack that no advantage to the Germans was obtained. For three days this severe fighting continued. The struggle was most sharp between Dixmude and the coast at Westende, where the Germans hoped to break through the allied lines, and thus crumple up their entire front, making a free passage.
On December 7, 1914, the French captured Vermelles, a minor village a few miles southwest of La Bassée. This little village had been the center of a continuous struggle for mastership for nearly two months. At last the French occupied this rather commanding point, important to the Allies, as it afforded an excellent view over a wide stretch of country occupied by the Germans.
The German Staff headquarters were removed from Roulers, which is about twelve miles distant from Ypres, on December 8, 1914, from the vicinity of Ypres, while their own forces had been concentrated upon Dixmude, twelve miles to the north. This town had suffered severely before, but the allied forces using what shelter they could improvise, were doing considerable damage from this point. Therefore the Germans began to bombard the place.
On December 9, 1914, the Germans succeeded in gaining slightly toward Ypres. Farther north they were by this time also in a position to take Furnes under fire. This town lies on the frontier between Belgium and France, in the path of some of the most savage onslaughts on the part of the Germans to break through the allied lines in order to reach the channel towns of Dunkirk and Calais.
On December 10, 1914, the allied forces made an ineffectual attack on Roulers, which the German General Staff had just left. South of Ypres the allied forces made a severe attack upon the town of Armentières, about eight miles from Ypres, but gained no permanent advantage.
During this time the Germans had also so far succeeded in consolidating their positions in the neighborhood of Ostend, that they could put their heavy guns in position near the shores of that famous watering place. This was a very necessary precaution to meet the attacks of English gunboats, and even larger cruisers that were patrolling that coast.
On December 12, 1914, the severest fighting was along the Yser Canal, which was crossed and recrossed several times.
On December 13, 1914, the Allies succeeded in repulsing the Germans on the River Lys, where for three days the Germans had inaugurated a hot offensive. These engagements were exact counterparts of the fighting at other points in Flanders, where both opponents were apparently well matched, and where advantages were won and lost in rapid succession.
There was severe fighting also on December 14, 1914, extending along the entire front in Flanders from Nieuport to below Ypres. In the north the Germans made severe onslaughts, all more or less held up or repulsed by the Belgians, French, and English. The fighting was hottest near Nieuport, where the Allies made some small temporary gains. Besides the three armies participating in the conflict, the British fleet also took part in bombarding the German coast positions. Three British barges equipped with naval machine guns entered the River Yser in order to cooperate in the fighting. These boats took the two villages Lombaertzyde and St. Georges.
In this action some of the heaviest fighting was done by the French marines. Some slight advantages were also gained by the Allies in the neighborhood of St. Eloi and Klein Zillebeke.
Following these minor successes, attack was made upon the German lines on the west side of Wytschaete, a village which the Germans had succeeded in holding during the great battle of Ypres. To the west of this village is a wood called the Petit Bois, and to the southwest is the Maedelsteed spur, an eminence on hilly ground. From both of these places the Germans covered the village, prepared to hold it against all comers.
Major Duncan, commanding the Scots, and Major Baird leading the Royal Highlanders, attacked the Petit Bois, and in the flare of terrible machine gun and rifle fire, carried a trench west of the woods, while the Gordon Highlanders advanced upon the spur, taking the first trench. They were, however, obliged to fall back to the position from which they had started, with no advantage gained. This engagement at Wytschaete gave a good illustration of the difficulty of fighting in heavy, winter ground, devoid of cover, and so waterlogged that any speed in advance was next to impossible. Just prior to the battle the ground had thawed, and the soldiers sank deep into the mud at every step they took.
On December 15, 1914, the Germans attacked a little to the south of Ypres, but no definite result was obtained. On the following day the Allies replied by an onslaught at Dixmude with a similar result. The Germans attempted to turn and strike at Westende the next day.
Roulers was temporarily occupied by the Allies on December 18, 1914, and in another location, about twenty-five miles farther southwest, in the neighborhood of Givenchy, the Allies' Indian troops were put to the test. The attack was launched on the morning of the 19th.
The Lahore and the Meerut divisions both took part. The Meerut division succeeded in capturing a trench; but a little later on a counterattack, launched by the Germans, forced the Indians back. The Lahore division, including the First Highland Light Infantry and the Fourth Gurkhas, took two lines of the enemy's trenches with hardly any casualties. These captured trenches were at once occupied, and when they were full to capacity, the Germans exploded the previously prepared mines, and blew up the entire Hindu force.
At daylight on the morning of December 20, 1914, the Germans commenced a heavy artillery fire along the entire front. This was followed by an infantry charge along the entire line between Givenchy and La Quinque Rue to the north. The defense of Givenchy was in the hands of the India Sirhind Brigade, under General Brunker. At ten o'clock the Sirhinds became confused and fled, enabling the Germans to capture Givenchy. The Fifty-seventh Rifles and the Ninth Bhopals were stationed north of La Bassée Canal and east of Givenchy, and the Connaught Rangers were waiting at the south of the canal. The Forty-seventh Sikhs were sent to support the Sirhind Brigade, with the First Manchesters, the Fourth Suffolks, and two battalions of French Provincials, the entire force being under command of General Carnegy. All these mixed forces now essayed a combined counterattack in order to recover the ground lost by the Sirhind Brigade, but this failed.
The Allies called up reserves and re-formed the ranks broken by that day's reverses. With the Seventh Dragoon Guards under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Lemprière, they began another attack. This, too, failed. When the Sirhind Brigade fell back, the Seaforth Highlanders were left entirely exposed. The Fifty-eighth Rifles went to the support of their left. Throughout the entire afternoon the Seaforths had made strenuous efforts to capture the German trenches to the right and left of their position. Upon the arrival of the Fifty-eighth the fighting redoubled in ferocity, but no advance was made. Finally word was given to retreat. The Allies lost heavily in killed, wounded, and prisoners.
The First Brigade was detached, and by midnight it had reached Bethune, about five miles west of Givenchy. Sir Douglas Haig was ordered to move also, the entire First Division in support of the exhausted Indian troops.
Action was begun on December 20, 1914, early in the afternoon by a simultaneous attack, and was continued until nightfall without important results. The next morning General Haig in person took the command, but little ground was gained.
While this contest was in progress around Givenchy, the Germans took possession of the city of Arras, ten miles to the south.
Between December 23 and 30, 1914, the Belgian army, strongly reenforced by French troops, began a series of violent attacks upon the German lines; but the Germans replied by a ceaseless bombardment of Nieuport, which is about a mile inland. No results of importance were obtained on either side.
The last week of December, 1914, bore a relieving holiday aspect, for it seemed as though by general consent the carnival of blood was to be considered not consonant with the solemnity of the season. But for all that the French succeeded in blowing up some German trenches with a new howitzer they were anxious to try out, and the Belgian-French forces retook St. Georges in northern Flanders.
St. Georges had been held by the Germans for some time; the village stands on the right hand of the Yser, and it was the only position they retained on that side of the river. It seems from the very ease with which the village was taken that the Germans felt their position there untenable, and withdrew to their own side of the river in order to enjoy a quiet Christmas with their comrades, whose singing of Christmas songs was forever being wafted over that river of blood. Although the general action continued on both sides, no serious battles are to be recorded in Flanders for the balance of the year 1914.[Back to Contents]
CHAPTER XXX
OPERATIONS AROUND LA BASSÉE AND GIVENCHY
On the whole, the results obtained during the first days of 1915 on the Belgian battle front favored the Germans. Of this front the Belgians held but three miles more or less, and the British were defending a line of about twenty miles, while the French covered the balance of about twelve miles, all of which included about the entire front in Flanders from the dunes at Nieuport on the Channel to Armentières in the south, a line—by no means straight—about thirty-five miles in length.
Activities along the extended front in the Champagne district having proved successful for the German forces to a considerable extent, the General Staff turned its attention now to the La Bassée region.
There was good tactical reason for this move, because the British were seriously threatening the position, straddling La Bassée Canal where it flows between Cuinchy and Givenchy, and there was danger that they might capture La Bassée, where the Germans held a salient of considerable strategical importance, as it covered their line of communication to the south.
Previous successful operations by the British at Richebourg and Festubert north of Givenchy, and at Vermelles, south of Cuinchy, evidently prompted the Germans to attempt a counterattack. Besides it was desirable for the Germans to test the strength of the Allies at this point, and to do this with some measure of success the Germans massed a considerable force for this purpose.
Beginning about January 14, 1915, the British met with varying and minor successes and defeats in this region, but no noteworthy action had taken place for upward of ten days, until January 25, under the eye of the German Kaiser, the principal attack, which had been carefully planned, took place.
On the morning of January 25, 1915, a demonstration along the front from Festubert to Vermelles and as far north as Ypres and Pervyse was inaugurated.
The Germans began to shell Bethune, which was within the allied lines about eight or nine miles west of La Bassée. An hour later, in the neighborhood of nine o'clock, following up heavy artillery fire, the Fifty-sixth Prussian Infantry and the Seventh Pioneers advanced south of the canal, which runs eastward from Bethune, where the British line formed a salient from the canal forward to the railway near Cuinchy, and thence back to the Bethune and La Bassée road where the British joined the French forces.
This salient was occupied by the Scots and the Coldstream Guards. The Germans were obliged to advance by the road, as the fields were too soft for the passage of the troops; even the roads were in a terrible condition, deep ruts and thick, sticky mud greatly retarding the onward march of the German forces. But the Allies fared little better in this respect. In fact the entire engagement was fought out in a veritable sea of mud and slush.
Well-directed artillery fire by the Germans blew up the British trenches in this salient, and the Germans at once penetrated the unsupported British line. The Germans also had the advantage of an armored train, which they ran along the tracks from La Bassée almost into Bethune, sufficiently close to throw considerable shell fire into this town.
The Germans advanced in close formation, throwing hand grenades. They came on so rapidly and with such momentum that the Guards, trying in vain to stem the tide with the bayonet, were overwhelmed, and the British, in spite of desperate resistance, were forced back step by step.
At some points the distance between the trenches was so small that it was utterly impossible to stop the onrush from one trench to the other. The Germans swept and broke through the British lines, treading their fallen opponents under foot as they advanced. At this point the British turned and fled, as there was no hope of successful resistance.
As the great momentum forced the German advance through the allied lines into the open field beyond and was joined by a heavy column, which had debouched from the vicinity of Auchy, British guns opened a murderous fire and inflicted terrible slaughter upon these ranks.
The Coldstream and the Scots Guards retreated to their second line of defense, where they joined others of their command held in reserve there. Once again they turned to meet the oncoming Germans, and again were forced to give way, leaving the Germans in possession of all the ground previously gained. The remnants of the Guards retreated until they were met by the London-Scottish regiment sent to reenforce them. Here they halted while a counterattack was being organized by the First Royal Highlanders, part of the Camerons, and the Second King's Rifle Corps which also came up.
At one o'clock on January 25, 1915, and with the cooperation of the French on their right, this rapidly improvised force moved forward, making unobstructed progress on their wings by the canal and the road. For some reason their center was delayed and held back. When they did finally arrive and pressed forward with a rush to meet the German forces, who were ready to receive them, the impact was fearful, and the casualties on both sides enormous; but no gains were made by the Allies, and the Germans held the ground they had won. At the height of the battle the Second Royal Sussex rushed into the fray in support of their hard-pressed comrades, but all to no purpose, for these as the others were forced back to the rear of their starting point with but a fraction of their forces remaining to report the events of the day.
While this terrible slaughter was in progress, the French left on the other side of La Bassée road, which separated the Allies at this point, had been attacked by the right of the German line, and driven back to a considerable distance, but not as far back as the British, so that the French left was in advance of the British right and badly exposed to flank attack from the northward.
This obliged the entire allied forces to retreat some distance farther to the rear, and as night came on and the severity of the action had ceased, the Allies had an opportunity to realign their positions and somewhat strengthen the same by the First Guard Brigade which now came up, showing the terrible suffering to which they had been subjected. Finally, however, it was found advisable to withdraw the Guard altogether and replace them by the First Infantry Brigade.
Now the German tactical idea became clear. It was to force the British to concentrate on the exposed line between Festubert and Givenchy, north of the canal, and then to turn the British right by the German forces in their new position just south of the canal, thus calling for simultaneous action on both sides of the canal.
The Germans delivered an equally severe attack upon the allied position in the village of Givenchy, about a mile north of the canal, which bounded the scene of the attack just described. As in the other attack, the Germans opened action by severe artillery fire, using high-explosive shells, and after due preparation, at about 8.15 in the morning, the infantry advanced, as is customary with the Germans, in close formation. The British met this advance by somewhat weak artillery fire, which, it was afterward explained was due to continued interruption of the telephonic communications between the observers and the batteries in the fight. However, as it was, this fire, added to the machine gun and rifle fire from the trenches, served to turn the German advance from their original direction, with the result that they crowded together in the northeast corner of Givenchy after passing over the first-line trenches of the Allies' front. Their momentum carried the Germans far into the center of the village, with remarkably few casualties considering the murderous fire to which they had been subjected throughout their impetuous advances.
In the village of Givenchy, however, the Second Welsh Regiment and the First South Wales Borderers, which had been stationed there and held in reserve, gave the Germans a warm reception, and when the First Royal Highlanders came up they delivered a fierce counterattack. In this they were supported by the fire of the French artillery, which assistance, however, proved costly to the Allies, as the French fire and bursting shells killed friend and foe alike. Street fighting became savage, amid the explosions of shells sent to enliven the occasion by the French. This concluded the action for the day and when the smoke cleared away both sides found their position comparatively little changed and nothing but the thinned ranks of the combatants reminded the observer that the most severe kind of fighting had taken place for the best part of a day.
The following day, January 26, 1915, the action was resumed, and the attack opened along the Bethune and La Bassée road. This soon died out, as though by general consent, each side reoccupying their position of the previous evening.
But on Friday, January 29, 1915, early in the morning, the Germans again opened with severe artillery fire which directed its attention particularly to the British line, where the First Army Corps lay between La Bassée Canal and the Bethune road near Cutchy. After an hour's shelling the Germans sent one battalion of the Fourteenth Corps toward the redoubt, and two battalions of the same corps were sent to the north and south of this redoubt. Now upon this point and to the north of it stood the Sussex Regiment and to the south of it the Northamptonshire Regiment. The attack was severe, but the defense was equal to it and the net results were summed up in the casualty lists on both sides. An attack upon the French, south of Bethune, on the same day met with like results. The great German objective was to open another road to Dunkirk and Calais, and had they been successful in the engagements of the past few days it is probable that they would have succeeded.
To the north in the coast district the Belgians had succeeded in flooding a vast area, which served for the time to separate the combatants for a considerable distance, obliging the Germans to resort to rafts, boats and other floating apparatus to carry on a somewhat haphazard offensive and resulting in nothing more than a change from gunfire slaughter to drowning. The immense inconvenience attendant to this mode of warfare decided the Germans to drain this area and they succeeded in doing this by the end of January, 1915.
On the other hand the Belgians captured two German trenches in the north on January 17, 1915, and the British sent a force to attack Lille on January 18. The Belgian trenches were reoccupied by the Germans and the Lille attack was successfully repulsed.
Then, for a week, there was nothing of importance until January 23, 1915, when the Germans made a strong attack upon Ypres which was repulsed. On January 24 the Germans recaptured St. Georges and bombarded a few of the towns and villages harboring allied troops.
The Belgians continued in their endeavor to flood the German position along the Yser, on January 25, 1915, and succeeded in obliging their opponents to vacate for a time at least, and on the last day of January allied forces consisting of Zouaves, Gurkhas and other Indian companies made an attack upon the German trenches upon the dunes at Lombaertzyde, gaining a temporary advantage at an expense of considerable loss in casualties.
In reviewing the activities during the month of January, 1915, the disagreeable state of the weather must be taken into consideration; this resulted in terrible suffering, to which the battling forces were subjected during the actual fighting and even more so while at rest, either on the open field or in the questionable comfort of an inhospitable and leaky trench.
While every effort was made by the respective General Staffs to supply their fighting troops with such comforts as were absolutely necessary to keep body and soul together and in trim for the next day's work, little could be accomplished and it is a marvel how these poor soldiers did withstand the rigorous weather which blighted the prospect of victory, so dear to all who wear a uniform.[Back to Contents]
CHAPTER XXXI
END OF SIX MONTHS' FIGHTING IN THE WEST
There were few military movements on the French battle front during December, 1914, along the Aisne, the Oise and in the northern Champagne. The fighting was mostly artillery duels and skirmishes by separate units. In the Argonne, however, the Crown Prince of Germany was active and there, as well as along the Moselle and on the heights of the Vosges, many engagements were fought out resulting in varying advantages to either opponent. Both sides had been strongly intrenched and the ground was covered by snow to great depths, making progress impossible except upon skis and snowshoes.
On December 3, 1914, the French captured Burnhaupt, a hill east of Mülhausen in Upper Alsace, only to give up their advantage after a German counterattack. On December 16 the Germans attacked in the Woevre region and in Alsace; but were repulsed the following day. On December 31, 1914, the French attacked Steinbach in Alsace, but were driven out again.
The New Year of 1915 opened gently along the battle front in France below Arras. The first large movement in 1915 began on January 8, at Soissons. This city lies on both banks of the river Aisne and was in the possession of the French. The French forces attacked during a drenching rain, pushing up the rising ground to the north with their heavy guns, regardless of the soft ground which rapidly turned to deep mud and slush. They succeeded in carrying the first line of German trenches on a front a mile wide, thus gaining the top of the hill, which gave them an excellent position for their artillery. The next day the Germans counterattacked, but failed to dislodge the French.
Nothing occurred on Sunday, January 10, 1915, but on Monday, about noon, January 11, the Germans came on with great force. The delay on the part of the Germans was due to their awaiting reenforcements then on the road to Soissons. For four days there had been a steady downpour of rain which had not even stopped at this time. The River Aisne was much swollen and some of the bridges had been carried away, cutting off all supplies for the French, who were slowly giving way but fighting desperately.
On January 12, 1915, and on the 13th the French were driven down the slopes in a great rush. This predicament was a terrible one—the onrushing Germans 500 feet in front of them and the swollen river making successful retreat impossible, with the ground between almost impassable with mud and slush. French reserves had improvised a pontoon bridge across the Aisne at Missy, in the rear of their now precarious position. This bridge was just strong enough to carry the men and ammunition; but not the heavy guns. The retreat turned into a rout—a general stampede for the bridge and river.
The slaughter was terrible, the river swollen as it was seemed choked with floating soldiers. The few who safely got across the bridge and those who were successful in reaching the farther bank of the Aisne alive, reached Soissons eventually. The German gain in prisoners and booty was enormous and their gain in ground advanced their line a full mile, on a front extending five miles to Missy and a little beyond. The Germans strongly intrenched their new position without loss of time.
Farther along this front, in the neighborhood of Perthes, a less important engagement took place. The Germans, under General von Einem, opposed General Langle de Cary and his French forces. The results of this engagement were negligible.
On January 18, 1915, a savage attack by the Germans was successfully repulsed at Tracy-le-Val and on the 19th the French made an assault upon the German position at St. Mihiél, in the Verdun section without gaining any ground. Farther north on this section the French pressed on and gained a little ground near the German fortress Metz; but the very vicinity of this fortress counterbalanced this gain.
On January 21, 1915, the Germans recaptured the Le Prêtre woods near St. Mihiél, and next day the belligerents fought a fierce engagement in the Vosges without advantage to either side. Prince Eitel, the second son of the Kaiser, commanded an attack upon Thann in Alsace on January 25, 1915, but was repulsed by the French defenders.
On January 28, 1915, the Germans made some gains in the Vosges and in Upper Alsace, but in their attempt to cross the River Aisne on the 29th they were unsuccessful.
January 30, 1915, brought some successes to the Germans in the Argonne forest, where throughout the month the most savage fighting was going on in thick underbrush and from tree tops.[Back to Contents]
PART II—NAVAL OPERATIONS
CHAPTER XXXII
STRENGTH OF THE RIVAL NAVIES
Sea fights, sea raids, and the hourly expectation of a great naval battle—a struggle for the control of the seas between modern armadas—held the attention of the world during the first six months of the Great War. These, with the adventures of the Emden in the waters of the Far East, the first naval fight off Helgoland, the fight off the western coast of South America, the sinking of the Lusitania, and the exploits of the submarines—held the world in constant expectancy and threatened to involve neutral nations, thus causing a collapse of world trade and dragging all the peoples of the earth into the maelstrom of war.
This chapter will review the navies as they gather for action. It will follow them through the tense moments on shipboard—the days of watching and waiting like huge sea dogs tugging at the leash. Interspersed are heroic adventures which have added new tales of valor to the epics of the sea.
The naval history of the great European conflict begins, not with the first of the series of declarations of war, but with the preliminary preparations. The appointment of Admiral von Tirpitz as Secretary of State in Germany in 1898 is the first decisive movement. It was in that year that the first rival to England as mistress of the world's seas, since the days of the Spanish Armada, peeped over the horizon. Two years before the beginning of the present century, Von Tirpitz organized a campaign, the object of which was to make Germany's navy as strong as her military arm. A law passed at that time created the present German fleet; supplementary laws passed in 1900 and 1906 through the Reichstag by this former plowboy caused the German navy to be taken seriously, not only by Germans but by the rest of the world. England, jealous of her sea power, then began her maintenance of two ships for each one of her rival's. Germany answered by laying more keels, till the ratio stood three to two, instead of two to one.
Two years before the firing of the pistol shot at Sarajevo, which precipitated the Great War, the British admiralty announced that henceforth the British naval base in the Mediterranean would be Gibraltar instead of Malta. Conjectures were made as to the significance of this move; it might have meant that England had found the pace too great and had deliberately decided to abandon her dominance of the eastern Mediterranean; or that Gibraltar had been secretly reequipped as a naval base. What it did mean was learned when the French Minister of Marine announced in the following September that the entire naval strength of France would thereafter be concentrated in the Mediterranean. This was the first concrete action of the entente cordiale—the British navy, in the event of war, was to guard the British home waters and the northern ports of France; the French navy was to guard the Mediterranean, protecting French ports as well as French and British shipping from "the Gib" to the Suez.
What was the comparative strength of these naval combinations when the war started?
From her latest superdreadnoughts down to her auxiliary ships, such as those used for hospital purposes, oil carrying and repairing, England had a total of 674 vessels. Without consideration of ages and types this total means nothing, and it is therefore necessary to examine her naval strength in detail. She had nine battleships of 14,000 tons displacement each, built between 1895 and 1898—the Magnificent, Majestic, Prince George, Jupiter, Cæsar, Mars, Illustrious, Hannibal, and Victorious—with engines developing 12,000 horsepower that sent them through the water at 17.5 knots, protected with from nine to fourteen inches of armor, and prepared to inflict damage on an enemy with torpedoes shot from under and above the water, and with four 12-inch guns, twelve 6-inch guns, sixteen 3-inch guns, and twenty guns of smaller caliber but of quicker firing possibilities.
Her next class was that of the Canopus—the Goliath, Vengeance, Ocean, Albion, and Glory—2,000 tons lighter than the first class named above, but more modern in equipment and construction, having been built between the years 1900 and 1902. Their motive power was heavier, being 13,500 horsepower, and their speed was almost a knot faster. Increase in the power of naval guns had made unnecessary any increase in the thickness of their armor, and consequently ranged from 6 to 12 inches in thickness. Their armament was about the same as that of the older class, but each carried two more torpedo tubes.
Map of German and English Naval positions.
Discussion in naval circles throughout the world turned then to the question of whether it were better to build heavier ships with heavier armament, or to build lighter and faster ships designed to "hit and get away." The British authorities inclined toward the former view, and between 1901 and 1904 the British navy was augmented with the Implacable, London, Bulwark, Formidable, Venerable, Queen, Irresistible, and Prince of Wales—each of the heretofore unheard-of displacement of 15,000 tons. In spite of their size they were comparatively fast, having an average speed of 18 knots; they did not need, and were not equipped with heavier armor, having plates as thin as 3 inches and as thick as 12. They were built to "take punishment," and therefore they had no greater armament than the vessels previously named. The naval program of 1908 and 1904 also included the Duncan, Albemarle, Russell, Cornwallis, and Exmouth, each 1,000 tons lighter than the ships of the Implacable type, but with the same equipment, defensive and offensive, and of the same speed. And in the same program, as if to offset the argument for heavier and stronger ships, there were included the lighter and faster ships, Swiftsure and Triumph, displacing only 11,500 tons, but making 19 knots. Their speed permitted and necessitated lighter armor—10 inches through at the thickest points—and their armament was also of a lighter type, for their four largest guns were capable of firing 10-inch shells.
Germany was becoming a naval rival worthy of notice, and the insular position of England came to be a matter of serious concern by 1906. Britain has never considered the building of land forts for her protection—her strength has always been concentrated in floating war machines. She now began to build veritable floating forts, ships of 16,350 tons displacement. By the end of 1906 she had ready to give battle eight ships of this class, the King Edward VII, Commonwealth, Dominion, Hindustan, Africa, Hibernia, Zealandia, and Britannia. Speed was not sacrificed to weight, for they were given a speed of 18.5 knots, developed by engines of 18,000 horsepower. Their thinnest armor measured 6 inches, and their heavy guns were protected with plates 12 inches thick. The 12-inch gun was still the heaviest piece of armament in the British navy, and these eight ships each carried four of that measurement, as well as four 9.2-inch guns, ten 6-inch guns, fourteen rapid-fire guns of 3 inches, two machine guns, and four torpedo tubes.
Now that it was seen that ships of enormous displacement could also be swift, England committed herself to the building of ships of even greater size. In 1907 came the first of the modern dreadnoughts, so-called from the name which was given to the original ship of 17,900 tons displacement. The Dreadnought made the marvelous speed (for a ship of that size) of 21 knots, which she was enabled to do with turbine engines of 23,000 horsepower. Her armor measured from 8 to 11 inches in thickness, and her great size enabled her to carry as high as ten 12-inch guns. Her minor batteries were strong in proportion.
Then, as if taking her breath after a stupendous effort, England in the following year built two ships of 16,000 tons displacement, the Lord Nelson and the Agamemnon, with speed, armor, and armament much lower than those of the Dreadnought. But having taken a rest, Britain was again to make a great effort, launching in 1909 the Temeraire, Superb, and Bellerophon, monsters displacing 18,600 tons. With engines of 23,000 horsepower that could drive them through the seas at 21 knots, ready to ward off blows with armor from 8 to 11 inches thick, firing at the same time volleys from ten 12-inch guns down to sixteen 4-inch rapid firers.
Naval architecture had now taken a definite turn, the principal feature of which was the tremendous size of the destructive floating machines. England, a leader in this sort of building, in 1910 built the Vanguard, Collingwood, and St. Vincent, each displacing 19,250 tons. Nor were they lacking in speed, for they made, on an average, 21 knots. The 20,000-ton battleship was then a matter of months only, and it came in the following year, when the Colossus, Hercules, and Neptune were launched. It was only in the matter of displacement that these three ships showed any difference from those of the Vanguard class; there were no great innovations either in armament or armor. But in the same year, 1911, there were launched the Thunderer, Monarch, Orion, and Conqueror, each of 22,500 tons, and equipped with armor from 8 to 12 inches thick, for the days of 3-inch armor on first-class warships had gone forever. These had a speed of 21 knots, and were the first British ships to have anything greater than a 12-inch gun. They carried as a primary battery ten 13.5-inch guns, and sixteen 4-inch guns, along with six more of small caliber as their secondary battery.
In 1912 and 1913 there was only one type of warship launched having 23,000 tons displacement with 31,000 horsepower, a half a knot faster than previous dreadnoughts, and carrying, like the previous class, ten 13.5-inch guns, along with some of smaller caliber. The ships of this class were the King George V, Ajax, Audacious, and Centurion.
The year 1914 saw even more terrible machines of death launched. Two types were put into the water, the first that of the Iron Duke class, of which the other members were the Benbow, Emperor of India, and Marlborough. They showed great improvement in every point; their speed was 22.5 knots, their displacement 25,000 tons, and their torpedo tubes five. Like their immediate predecessors, they carried a primary battery of ten 13.5-inch guns, along with the smaller ones, and their armor measured from 8 to 12 inches in thickness. The second type of the year was that of the Queen Elizabeth and Warspite class. They surpassed all the warships when they were built. Their speed for their size was the greatest—25 knots. They had the largest displacement among warships—27,500 tons; they had the thickest armor, ranging from 8 to 13.5 inches; they had the most improved form of engines—oil burners, developing 58,000 horsepower; and most marvelous of all was their primary battery, which consisted of eight 15-inch guns. The largest gun yet made had been the 16-inch gun, for use in permanent position in land forts, and, with the German army, for a mobile force. It now was shown that the modern warship could carry a gun as heavy as any on land. There were in the course of construction when the war broke out eight more such monsters, the Malaya, Valiant, and Barham, sister ships of the Queen Elizabeth, and the Royal Oak, Resolution, Royal Monarch, Ramillies, and Renown, each of 29,000 tons displacement, but having the same armament as the Queen Elizabeth. All of these were hastened to completion as soon as war was declared.
At the time of the declaration of war England had, in addition to these greatest ships, a number of supporting ships such as the ten battle cruisers, Indomitable, Invincible, Indefatigable, Inflexible, Australia, New Zealand, Queen Mary, Princess Royal, Lion, and the Tiger. Their displacements ranged from 17,250 to 28,000 tons, and their speeds from 25 to 30 knots, the last being that of the Tiger. Their speed is their greatest feature, for their armament and batteries are much lighter than those of the first-line ships.
Next, there were ready thirty-four high-speed cruisers of quite light armament and armor. There were six of the Cressy type, four of the Drake type, nine of the same type as the Kent, six of the same class as the Antrim, six like the Black Prince, three of the same class as the Shannon, together with seventeen heavily protected cruisers, of which the Edgar was the prototype. The rest of the British navy needs no detailed consideration. It consisted at the outbreak of the war of 70 protected light cruisers, 134 destroyers, and a number of merchant ships convertible into war vessels, together with submarines and other small ships.
The navy of France stood fourth in the list of those of the world powers at the time the war started. There were eighteen old vessels, built between 1894 and 1909, including the Carnot class (corresponding to the British ship Magnificent), the Charlemagne, Bouvet, Suffren, République, and Démocratie classes. The most modern of these types displaced no more than 14,000 tons, made no more than 18 knots, and carried primary batteries of 12-inch guns.
Some improvement was made in the six ships of the Danton class which were built in 1911 and 1912. They displaced 18,000 tons, had armor from 9 to 12 inches thick and carried guns of 12-inch caliber. They correspond to the British ship Temeraire. In 1913 and 1914 were launched the Jean Bart, Courbet, Paris, and France of the dreadnought type, but much slower and not so heavily armed as the British ships of the same class. In eight ships which were incomplete when war was declared the matter of speed received greater attention, and they are consequently faster than the older vessels of the same type. It is in the nineteen French armored cruisers—France has no battle cruisers—that the French showed better efforts as builders of speedy ships, for they made 23 knots or more. In the list of French fighting ships there are in addition two protected cruisers, the D'Entrecasteaux and the Guichen, together with ten light cruisers. But the French "mosquito fleet," consisting of destroyers, torpedo boats and submarines, is comparatively large. Of these she had 84, 135, and 78, respectively.
After the Russo-Japanese War the battle fleets of Russia were entirely dissipated, so that when the present conflict came she had no ships which might have been accounted worthy aids to the navies of England and France. In so far as is known, her heaviest ships were the Andrei Pervozvannyi and the Imperator Pavel I, each displacing only 17,200 tons, and of the design of 1911.
Against these fighting naval forces of the allied powers were ranged the navies of Germany and Austria-Hungary. The former had, at the outbreak of hostilities, 36 battleships, 5 battle cruisers, 9 armored cruisers, and 48 cruisers. Instead of giving attention to torpedo boats she gave it to destroyers, of which she had 130. And of submarines she had 27.
In detail her naval forces consisted, first, of the Kaiser Friedrich III, Kaiser Karl der Grosse, Kaiser Barbarossa, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, all built as a result of the first agitation of Von Tirpitz, between the years 1898 and 1901. They each displaced 10,614 tons, had a speed of 18 knots, required 13,000 horsepower, were protected with from 10 to 12 inches of armor, and carried four 9.4-inch guns, fourteen of 5.9 inches, twelve of 3.4-inches, and twenty of smaller measurement. Roughly they corresponded to the British ships of the Canopus class, both in design and time of launching.
Following this class came that of the Wittelsbach, including also the Wettin, Zähringen, Mecklenburg, and Schwaben, built between 1901 and 1903, displacing 11,643 tons, making 18 knots, protected with from 9 to 10 inches of armor and carrying a primary battery of four 9.4-inch guns, eighteen 5.9-inch guns, and a large secondary battery. The similar type in the British navy was the Canopus—for England was far ahead of Germany, both in the matter of displacement and primary battery. During the same years England had launched ships of the type of the Implacable.
In 1904 came the German ships Hessen, Elsass, and Braunschweig, and in 1905 and 1906 the Preussen and Lothringen. They were well behind the English ships of the same years, for they displaced only 12,097 tons, made 18 knots, carried armor of from 9 to 10 inches in thickness, and a primary battery of four 11-inch guns, fourteen 6.7-inch guns, and twelve 3.4-inch guns, together with rapid firers and other guns in a secondary battery. England at this time was putting 12-inch guns in the primary battery of such ships as the King Edward VII.
Still Germany kept up the race, and in 1906, 1907, and 1908 launched the Hannover, Deutschland, Schlesien, Schleswig-Holstein, and Pommern, with 12,997 tons displacement, 16,000 horsepower, a speed of 18 knots, and only 11-inch guns in the primary batteries. Whereas England, at the same time, was building ships of the dreadnought type.
Next came four ships of the Vanguard class—the Westfälen, Nassau, Rheinland, and Posen, built in 1909 and 1910. Their heaviest guns measured 11 inches, while those of the English ships of the same class measured 12 inches. The displacement of these German fighting ships was 18,600 tons. In point of speed they showed some improvement over the older German ships, making 19.5 knots. Germany, like England, was now committed to the building of larger and larger ships of the line. The Helgoland, Thüringen, Oldenburg, and Ostfriesland, which were put into the water in 1911 and 1912, were consequently of 22,400 tons displacement, with a speed of 20.5 knots and carrying twelve 12-inch guns, fourteen 5.9-inch rapid-fire guns, fourteen 3.9-inch rapid-fire guns, a few smaller guns, and as many as six torpedo tubes.
While England was maintaining her "two to three" policy, and while the United States stood committed to the building of two first-class battleships a year, Germany, in 1913, put five of them into the water. These were the König Albert, Prinz Regent Luitpold, Kaiserin, Kaiser, and Friedrich der Grosse, each capable of speeding through the water at a rate of 21 knots, displacing 23,310 tons and carrying an armament of ten 12-inch guns, fourteen 5.9-inch guns, and a large number of rapid-fire guns of smaller measurement. Their armor was quite heavy, being 13 inches thick on the side and 11 inches thick where protection for the big guns was needed.
The largest ships in the German navy which were launched, fitted, and manned at the time that the war began, were those which were built in 1914 and which had a displacement of 26,575 tons. These ships were the König, Grosser Kurfürst, and the Markgraf. The corresponding type in the British navy was that of the Iron Duke, built in the same year. The British ships of this class were 1,000 tons lighter in displacement, a bit faster—making 22.5 knots to the 22 knots made by the German ships—and their armament was not so strong as that of the German type, for the German ships carried ten 14-inch guns, whereas the English carried ten 13.5-inch guns.
In addition to these first-class battleships, Germany had certain others, individual in type, such as the Von der Tann, Moltke, Goeben, Seydlitz, Derfflinger, Fürst Bismarck, Prinz Heinrich, Prinz Adalbert, Roon and Yorck, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, Blücher, Magdeburg, Strassburg, Breslau, Stralsund, Rostock, and Karlsruhe. These may be reckoned as scout cruisers, for they showed much speed, the fastest making 30 knots and the slowest 19 knots. The oldest dates from 1900, and the newest from 1914. Germany had, also, thirty-nine more fast protected cruisers which were designed for scout duty.
In destroyers she was well equipped, having 143 ready for service when war was declared. Her twenty-seven submarines were of the most improved type, and much about their construction and armament she was able to keep secret from the rest of the world. It is probable that even their number was greater than the intelligence departments of foreign navies suspected. The best type had a speed on the surface of 18 knots and could travel at 12 knots when submerged. The type known as E-21, of the design of 1914, measured 213 feet 8 inches in length and had a beam of 20 feet.
Austria, though not renowned for her naval strength, had certain units which brought up the power of the Teutonic powers considerably. She had nine first-class battleships, the Erzherzog Karl, Erzherzog Ferdinand Max, Erzherzog Friedrich, Zrinyi, Radetzky, Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand, Teggethoff, Prinz Eugen, and Viribus Unitis. These, at the time Austria went to war, ranged in age from nine years to one year, and varied in displacement from 10,000 tons to 20,000 tons. The largest guns carried by any of them measured 12 inches, and the fastest, the Prinz Eugen, made 20 knots. Of secondary importance were the battleships Kaiserin Maria Theresia, Kaiser Karl VI, and St. Georg. The register of battleships was supplemented with ten light cruisers of exceptionally light displacement, the highest being only 3,966 tons. Scouting was their chief function. Austria had, also, 18 destroyers, 63 torpedo boats, and 6 submarines.
Such were the respective strengths of the opponents on that day in July, 1914, when the Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary lost his life. For ten years the officers of the navy created by the German Admiral von Tirpitz had at all dinners come to their feet, waved their wine glasses and had given the famous toast "Der Tag"—to the day on which the English and German naval hosts would sally forth to do battle with each other. "Der Tag" found both forces quite ready, though the British naval authorities stole a march on their German rivals in the matter of mobilization.
It had been the custom for years in the British navy to assemble the greater part of the British ships during the summer at the port of Spithead, where, decorated with bunting, with flags flying, with visitors in holiday spirit, and with officers and men in smart dress, the vessels were reviewed by the king on the royal yacht.
But in the eventful year of 1914, perhaps by accident, perhaps by design, for the truth may never be known, the review had a different aspect. There was no gaiety. The number of ships assembled this time was greater than ever before—216 actual fighting ships passed slowly before the royal yacht—there were no flags, no bunting, no holiday crowds, no smart dress for officers and men. Instead, the fleet was drawn up ready for battle, with decks cleared, guns uncovered, steam up, and magazines replenished. During the tense weeks in which the war clouds gathered over southern Europe this great fighting force remained in the British home waters, and when, at fifteen minutes after midnight on August 4, "Der Tag" had come, this fleet sailed under sealed orders. And throughout the seven seas there were sundry ships flying the Union Jack which immediately received orders by cable and by wireless.
Of the disposition of the naval forces of Germany less was known. Her greatest strength was concentrated in the North Sea, where the island of Helgoland, the Gibraltar of the north, and the Kiel Canal with its exits to the Baltic and North Seas, furnished excellently both as naval bases and impenetrable protection. Throughout the rest of the watery surface of the globe were eleven German warships, to which automatically fell the task of protecting the thousands of ships which, flying the German red, white, and black, were carrying freight and passengers from port to port.
The first naval movements in the Great War occurred on the morning of August 5, 1914. The British ship Drake cut two cables off the Azores which connected Germany with North and South America, thus leaving these eleven German fighting ships without communication with the German admiralty direct. And the war was not a day old between England and Germany before the German ship Königin Luise was caught sowing mines off the eastern English ports by the British destroyer Lance.[Back to Contents]