Inset: Rear Admiral Albert P. Niblack, commanding American naval forces in the Mediterranean.
Below: The signal tower and American sub-chasers.
THE GREAT MINE BARRAGE AGAINST THE SUBMARINES
This map shows the location of the mine barrage across the North Sea as well as the smaller one across the English Channel. The dangers of this barrage, more than any other single factor, destroyed the morale of the German submarine crews.
CHAPTER XII
SHUTTING UP THE HORNETS IN THEIR NESTS
MINE BARRAGE ACROSS NORTH SEA A TERROR TO U-BOATS—GERMANS PLANNED BIG DRIVE, BUT SUBMARINE CREWS REFUSED TO GO TO SEA—MORALE SHATTERED, KAISER'S NAVY WAS WRECKED BY MUTINY—PROPOSED BY U. S. NAVY IN APRIL, 1917, EIGHTY PER CENT OF BARRAGE WAS LAID BY AMERICANS.
Germany planned a great naval offensive in the fall of 1918—that is, the German authorities did, the High Command. Why was it never carried out? Why were the U-boats recalled? Why did the Kaiser's High Seas Fleet surrender without striking a blow?