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Tuesday, November 1, 2016

1915-2-18 Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

1915-2-18 Germany begins unrestricted submarine warfare during WW1 - HiPo > .

On the 18th of February 1915, Germany initiated a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare during WW1.

Prior to the introduction of unrestricted submarine warfare, submarines adhered to ‘cruiser rules,’ which required them to surface and provide warnings to merchant and passenger ships before launching an attack. However, faced with the British naval blockade and desperate to cut off vital supplies to the Allied forces, Germany opted for a more aggressive approach.

On February 4, 1915, Admiral Hugo von Pohl of the German High Seas Fleet warned that ‘every enemy merchant vessel’ in British waters would be targeted and that ‘it may not always be possible to prevent attacks on enemy ships from harming neutral ships’.

This shift in naval tactics was a response to the increasing effectiveness of the British blockade. This was impacting Germany’s ability to sustain its war effort so, by targeting merchant ships including those of neutral nations, Germany aimed to undermine the economic foundations of the Allied powers in return.

The decision, however, had severe consequences. The sinking of civilian vessels, such as the ocean liner RMS Lusitania on May 7, 1915, with the loss of nearly 1,200 lives including 128 Americans, intensified global outrage.

Facing the risk of drawing neutral nations into the war, unrestricted submarine warfare was essentially abandoned on 1 September. However, facing an increasingly desperate situation, on 31 January 1917, Kaiser Wilhelm signed an order for unrestricted submarine warfare to resume the following day. President Wilson of the USA subsequently severed all diplomatic relations with Germany, and the US Congress declared war on 6 April.

1915

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World War 1 - 1915 >> .

1915-1-19 Zeppelin Raids ..

1915-2-18 Unrestricted Submarine Warfare ..

1915-4-22 Chlorine gas, 2nd Battle of Ypres ..

The Gallipoli campaign was a military campaign in the First World War that took place on the Gallipoli peninsula (Gelibolu in modern Turkey), from 17 February 1915 to 9 January 1916. The Entente powers, Britain, France and Russia, sought to weaken the Ottoman Empire, one of the Central Powers, by taking control of the Turkish straits. This would expose the Ottoman capital at Constantinople to bombardment by Allied battleships and cut it off from the Asian part of the empire. With Turkey defeated, the Suez canal would be safe, and a year-round Allied supply route could be opened through the Black Sea to warm water ports in Russia.

The attempt by the Allied fleet to force the Dardanelles in February 1915 failed and was followed by an amphibious landing on the Gallipoli peninsula in April 1915. In January 1916, after eight months' fighting, with approximately 250,000 casualties on each side, the land campaign was abandoned and the invasion force withdrawn. It was a costly campaign for the Entente powers and the Ottoman Empire, as well as for the sponsors of the expedition, especially the First Lord of the Admiralty (1911–1915), Winston Churchill. The campaign was considered a great Ottoman victory. In Turkey, it is regarded as a defining moment in the history of the state, a final surge in the defence of the motherland as the Ottoman Empire retreated. The struggle formed the basis for the Turkish War of Independence and the declaration of the Republic of Turkey eight years later, with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who rose to prominence as a commander at Gallipoli, as founder and president.

The campaign is often considered to be the beginning of Australian and New Zealand national consciousness; 25 April, the anniversary of the landings, is known as Anzac Day, the most significant commemoration of military casualties and veterans in the two countries, surpassing Remembrance Day (Armistice Day).

On the 9th of January 1916, the last remaining Allied troops on the Gallipoli peninsula were evacuated. Despite catastrophic predictions, the withdrawal went off without a hitch and the entire force escaped with only a few casualties. It was the only bright spark in a campaign marked by failure.

After naval attempts to force the Dardanelles straight failed, the amphibious landings had fared even worse. Fierce Ottoman opposition stopped the Allies in their tracks and trench warfare quickly took hold. There were heavy casualties on both sides, not only from the fighting but from the terrible conditions. After a succession of failed attacks, the decision was finally made to withdraw.

Much went wrong at Gallipoli, and the evacuations were the only success.

1915-3-27: Typhoid Mary placed in permanent quarantine in New York > .

1915-1-19 Zeppelin Raids

1915-1-19 Zeppelins Bomb Great Yarmouth & Kings Lynn - HiPo > .

On 19 January 1915 two German Zeppelin airships, known as L3 and L4, dropped bombs on the Norfolk towns of Great Yarmouth and Kings Lynn in Britain’s first experience of an air raid.

Concerned about the safety of the British Royal Family, to whom he was related, the German Kaiser Wilhelm II had granted permission for aerial attacks on military and industrial buildings in Humberside, far away from London. At around 11am on the morning of 19 January three airships departed Germany.

One of the airships, L6, was forced to turn back after an engine malfunction. This left L3 and L4 to continue their mission. Having performed reconnaissance over the North Sea prior to nightfall, they headed towards the English coast but were forced to change course from their intended targets in Humberside due to bad weather. They consequently crossed over Norfolk shortly after 8:30 pm.

Using incendiary bombs and flares to help to navigate in the darkness, L3 turned towards the seaside town of Great Yarmouth while L4 headed along the coast towards Kings Lynn. L3 dropped ten 110lb bombs and seven incendiary devices on the densely packed housing of St Peter’s Plain in Great Yarmouth, killing two people. Meanwhile, L4 dropped eleven bombs on Sheringham and King’s Lynn killing another two.

The four people killed in the attacks were all civilians, which served as a stark message about the changing nature of warfare in the 20th Century. The youngest victim was fourteen year old Percy Goate. In an inquest report his mother reported seeing the bomb drop through a skylight and on to the pillow where he was sleeping.