* World War I: Naval War U boats submarines - The Meditrranean








World War I Naval War: U-Boats--The Mediterranean


Figure 1.- Here we see two German U-boat operating in the Mediterranean --- U-35 and U-42. Source: Imperial War Museum..

The primary naval campaign of World War I due to the massive superiority of the British Royal Navy was the commerce campaign fought out in the North Atlantic in the Western Approaches to British ports. A much smaller and poorly reported campaign was conducted in the Mediterranean. It would have been much more important, but Italy switched when it joined the War. If Itlay had remained one of Central Powers, Britain would have had real tounble keeping the Mediterranean sea lanes open. And given the support provided by India and the Empire, this was imprtant to the Allied war effort. The ensuing campaign `was primarily fought by Austro-Hungarian and German Navies and the British Royal Navies. At the outbreak of World War I, with Italy's decision to remain neutral, the naval strength of the Central Powers was represented by the Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine (KuK Navy). Not only was KuK Navy small, but the only access to the Mediterranean was through the straits of Otranto. And the KuK Navy could have no real impact unless it broke out to the Mediterranean. thr KuK had only seven U-boats at the ouset of the War. They hit a few French shlps in the Adriatic attempting to aid the Serbs, impairing Allied efforts to aid the beleagered Serbs. They had no impact, however, in the important Mediterranean sea lanes because they could not operate beyond the the Straits of Otranto.1915. German U-boats entered the Mediterranean campaign (April 1915). They were responding to the Allied Dardanelles campaign. The Germans had some success. The U-21—achieved sank two Royal Navy pre-dreadnought battleships that were unprepared for U-boats: HMS Triumph and Majestic (May 25 and 27). The Germans were less sucessful in the e Dardanelles area. Large numbers small craft and percautions such as anti-submarine netting and booms limited their movements. German U--boats at the time had limited ranges. Thus they sent U-boats in sections by rail, including UB and UC Type boats. They were assembled at the Austro-Hungaraian port of Pol on the Adriatic. They then sailed to Constantinople. While one was lost, the Germans established a squadron of seven U-boats at Constantinople, named the Mediterranean U-Boat Division. The Germans achieved some sucess raiding tghe Allid sea lanes (1915-16). With such a small force thevGermans could not cut the Mediterranean sea lanes, but they did sink a substantial numbr of shops. The Royal Navy introduced the convoy system (1917), significantly reducing shipping losses. The last action was the UB-50 sinking the battleship HMS Britannia a week before the end of the War near Gibraltar(November 9, 1918).







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Created: 3:13 PM 1/17/2020
Last updated: 3:13 PM 1/17/2020