What do you think?
Rate this book
The U-Boat War, 1914-1918
A history of Germany's usage of submarine warfare during World War I, by the author of Operation Pacific.
In 1914, U-Boats were a new and untried weapon, and when such a weapon can bring a mighty empire to the brink of defeat there is a story worth telling. Edwyn Gray's The U-Boat War is the history of the Kaiser's attempt to destroy the British Empire by a ruthless campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare. It opens with Germany's first tentative experiments with the submarines and climaxes with the naval mutiny that helped bring down the Kaiser.
In between is a detailed account of a campaign of terror which, by April, 1917, had the British Empire on the verge of surrender. The cost in lives and equipment was staggering. On the German side, 4,894 sailors and 515 officers lost their lives in action; 178 German Submarines were destroyed by the allies; 14 were scuttled and 122 surrendered. According to the most reliable sources, 5,708 ships were destroyed by the U-Boats and 13,333 non-combatants perished in British Ships. World figures for civilian casualties were never released.
The U-Boat War is a savage but thrilling account of men fighting for their lives beneath the sea, and of the boats that changed the face of naval warfare.
In 1914, U-Boats were a new and untried weapon, and when such a weapon can bring a mighty empire to the brink of defeat there is a story worth telling. Edwyn Gray's The U-Boat War is the history of the Kaiser's attempt to destroy the British Empire by a ruthless campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare. It opens with Germany's first tentative experiments with the submarines and climaxes with the naval mutiny that helped bring down the Kaiser.
In between is a detailed account of a campaign of terror which, by April, 1917, had the British Empire on the verge of surrender. The cost in lives and equipment was staggering. On the German side, 4,894 sailors and 515 officers lost their lives in action; 178 German Submarines were destroyed by the allies; 14 were scuttled and 122 surrendered. According to the most reliable sources, 5,708 ships were destroyed by the U-Boats and 13,333 non-combatants perished in British Ships. World figures for civilian casualties were never released.
The U-Boat War is a savage but thrilling account of men fighting for their lives beneath the sea, and of the boats that changed the face of naval warfare.
280 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1994
13 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 16, 2022
I bought this book at a local bookstore in the early 1990s both because of the subject matter and the fact that the bookstore was offering it for sale at a major discount. Plenty of books are to be found on the use of U-Boats in the Second World War. But, by way of contrast, there are few books on the market about the role U-Boats played on the high seas during the First World War.
The book begins by providing a short history of the submarine’s development and the earliest U-boats used by the Germans upon the outbreak of war. The U-boat in 1914 was a flimsy vessel, more suited to operating in coastal areas than in deep water. But the sinking within the space of an hour of the British warships Hogue, Aboukir, and Cressy by U-9 (under the command of Otto Weddigen) on September 22, 1914 provided ample proof of the submarine’s potential as a lethal weapon.
As the British tightened their naval blockade of Germany (which largely neutralized the Kaiser’s High Seas Fleet), work proceeded apace on the development and deployment of more U-boats in the waters around Britain and in the Atlantic (later extended to the Mediterranean and the waters around Russia and Turkey).
The U-boats began their activities in earnest in October 1914.
U-boats were first used as commerce raiders, which took pains to avoid attacks on neutral shipping while engaging in attacks on Allied merchant shipping subject to the existing “prize rules”, which were a set of rules observed by warring nations for the treatment at sea of enemy civilian crews and their passengers. However, it soon became clear to the Germans that strict adherence to these rules negated the effectiveness of the U-boat. (The British were also beginning to arm many of their merchant ships, so when an unsuspecting U-boat would surface to warn the enemy merchant ship it had stalked underwater that it would be subject to attack and to evacuate its crew within a proscribed time period, the U-boat, as the hunter, would suddenly find itself as the hunted when the merchant ship would unmask its guns and promptly open fire upon it.) Consequently, before the end of 1915, the Germans came to rely increasingly on stealth in its use of U-boats.
Unrestricted submarine warfare was adopted in 1916, then suspended for a short time after U.S. complaints to Germany about U-boat attacks on its shipping in Allied waters. But by February 1917, in light of the disclosure of the Zimmermann Telegram to the U.S. by British naval intelligence (the telegram detailed an offer by Germany to Mexico to enter the war against the U.S., in exchange for, with German help, regaining Arizona and New Mexico), Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare.
This book does a splendid job in detailing the first submarine war. What I found remarkable was the achievement of Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, the top U-boat ace of the war, who was credited with sinking 194 Allied ships. (Most of the sinkings were achieved with the 8.8cm deck gun that de la Perière used in surface actions.)
The book begins by providing a short history of the submarine’s development and the earliest U-boats used by the Germans upon the outbreak of war. The U-boat in 1914 was a flimsy vessel, more suited to operating in coastal areas than in deep water. But the sinking within the space of an hour of the British warships Hogue, Aboukir, and Cressy by U-9 (under the command of Otto Weddigen) on September 22, 1914 provided ample proof of the submarine’s potential as a lethal weapon.
As the British tightened their naval blockade of Germany (which largely neutralized the Kaiser’s High Seas Fleet), work proceeded apace on the development and deployment of more U-boats in the waters around Britain and in the Atlantic (later extended to the Mediterranean and the waters around Russia and Turkey).
The U-boats began their activities in earnest in October 1914.
U-boats were first used as commerce raiders, which took pains to avoid attacks on neutral shipping while engaging in attacks on Allied merchant shipping subject to the existing “prize rules”, which were a set of rules observed by warring nations for the treatment at sea of enemy civilian crews and their passengers. However, it soon became clear to the Germans that strict adherence to these rules negated the effectiveness of the U-boat. (The British were also beginning to arm many of their merchant ships, so when an unsuspecting U-boat would surface to warn the enemy merchant ship it had stalked underwater that it would be subject to attack and to evacuate its crew within a proscribed time period, the U-boat, as the hunter, would suddenly find itself as the hunted when the merchant ship would unmask its guns and promptly open fire upon it.) Consequently, before the end of 1915, the Germans came to rely increasingly on stealth in its use of U-boats.
Unrestricted submarine warfare was adopted in 1916, then suspended for a short time after U.S. complaints to Germany about U-boat attacks on its shipping in Allied waters. But by February 1917, in light of the disclosure of the Zimmermann Telegram to the U.S. by British naval intelligence (the telegram detailed an offer by Germany to Mexico to enter the war against the U.S., in exchange for, with German help, regaining Arizona and New Mexico), Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare.
This book does a splendid job in detailing the first submarine war. What I found remarkable was the achievement of Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, the top U-boat ace of the war, who was credited with sinking 194 Allied ships. (Most of the sinkings were achieved with the 8.8cm deck gun that de la Perière used in surface actions.)
April 5, 2022
This was a very readable book that manages to tell a decent history of the German U-boats of WW1. Imagine a German version of "Silent Victory" by Blair, and on the much less documented affairs of World War 1. I think it captures the same spirit and reads with a bit more action and flair.
The entire Great War is covered chronologically from the German perspective, with some flavoring added on Allied responses. This format was excellent and provided a clear understanding of the changes in tactics and equipment as the war progressed. Some of the commanders are given a lot of attention, which does not bother me as the sources tend to force that. There is a bit of judgment making going on that probably is not necessary, but for the most part Gray kept the story balanced and neutral. I did appreciate the highlighting of the Allies behaviors as related to the German behaviors to demonstrate the hypocrisy there was displayed in the propaganda and official complaints for war crimes. All war results in innocents dying as collateral damage.
My one deduction here comes from there being very little information tying in the references to what was written. Two pages of references, but no clues on how they were used, and for what. I personally hate that. The appendices were bare minimum stuff too, that did not add much value. I feel a bit more effort could have been made here to increase the value of this book as a "go to" source for WW1 German U-boats. While very good, it is like a cupcake without the frosting for me.
Overall, I thought the writing and material was very good, with just enough pictures and drawings to flavor the text. The presentation of this history is quite welcome and more is honestly needed. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in submarine warfare, as almost everything we do and practice via submarines has come from the these humble WW1 beginnings. I would have rated this 4.5 Stars, but rounded down for the low value reference section and usage. 4 Stars
The entire Great War is covered chronologically from the German perspective, with some flavoring added on Allied responses. This format was excellent and provided a clear understanding of the changes in tactics and equipment as the war progressed. Some of the commanders are given a lot of attention, which does not bother me as the sources tend to force that. There is a bit of judgment making going on that probably is not necessary, but for the most part Gray kept the story balanced and neutral. I did appreciate the highlighting of the Allies behaviors as related to the German behaviors to demonstrate the hypocrisy there was displayed in the propaganda and official complaints for war crimes. All war results in innocents dying as collateral damage.
My one deduction here comes from there being very little information tying in the references to what was written. Two pages of references, but no clues on how they were used, and for what. I personally hate that. The appendices were bare minimum stuff too, that did not add much value. I feel a bit more effort could have been made here to increase the value of this book as a "go to" source for WW1 German U-boats. While very good, it is like a cupcake without the frosting for me.
Overall, I thought the writing and material was very good, with just enough pictures and drawings to flavor the text. The presentation of this history is quite welcome and more is honestly needed. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in submarine warfare, as almost everything we do and practice via submarines has come from the these humble WW1 beginnings. I would have rated this 4.5 Stars, but rounded down for the low value reference section and usage. 4 Stars
November 30, 2020
Create a page turning narrative with hard history accounts
November 14, 2021
Remarkable.
April 10, 2017
Read my review here: https://historyjournal.org/2012/08/28...
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews