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Author: Eric W. Osborne
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253111862
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 161
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Book Description
The battle of Heligoland Bight was the first major action between the British and German fleets during World War I. The British orchestrated the battle as a warning to the German high command that any attempt to operate their naval forces in the North Sea would be met by strong British resistance. Heligoland Island guarded the entrance to the main German naval anchorage at Kiel. Fought on August 28, 1914, the engagement was complicated by dense fog, the piecemeal engagement of German forces, and the unexpected appearance in the area of additional British ships, which were hard to distinguish from foe. Initial British damage was significant; however, fearing that the protracted battle would allow the bulk of the German fleet to join the battle, the British brought in their battle cruiser reinforcements and won the day, inflicting heavy losses on the Germans. The battle was significant for its political and strategic ramifications for the two sides. The Germans became reluctant to engage large forces in an attempt to gain a decisive maritime victory. After this defeat, any plans for large-scale fleet operations had to be approved by the Kaiser, which hampered the German fleet's effectiveness. This left the North Sea to Great Britain for much of the war.
Author: Eric W. Osborne
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253111862
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 161
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Book Description
The battle of Heligoland Bight was the first major action between the British and German fleets during World War I. The British orchestrated the battle as a warning to the German high command that any attempt to operate their naval forces in the North Sea would be met by strong British resistance. Heligoland Island guarded the entrance to the main German naval anchorage at Kiel. Fought on August 28, 1914, the engagement was complicated by dense fog, the piecemeal engagement of German forces, and the unexpected appearance in the area of additional British ships, which were hard to distinguish from foe. Initial British damage was significant; however, fearing that the protracted battle would allow the bulk of the German fleet to join the battle, the British brought in their battle cruiser reinforcements and won the day, inflicting heavy losses on the Germans. The battle was significant for its political and strategic ramifications for the two sides. The Germans became reluctant to engage large forces in an attempt to gain a decisive maritime victory. After this defeat, any plans for large-scale fleet operations had to be approved by the Kaiser, which hampered the German fleet's effectiveness. This left the North Sea to Great Britain for much of the war.
Author: Jrgen Prommersberger
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781537019819
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 226
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Book Description
The First Battle of Heligoland Bight was the first naval battle of the First World War, fought on 28 August 1914, between the United Kingdom and Germany. The battle took place in the south-eastern North Sea when the British attacked German patrols off the north-west German coast. The German High Seas Fleet remained largely in safe harbours on the north German coast while the British Grand Fleet remained in the northern North Sea. Both sides engaged in long-distance sorties with cruisers and battlecruisers, and close reconnaissance of the area of sea near the German coast-the Heligoland Bight-by destroyer. The British devised a plan to ambush German destroyers on their daily patrols. A British fleet of 31 destroyers and two cruisers under Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt and submarines commanded by Commodore Roger Keyes was dispatched. They were supported at longer range by an additional six light cruisers commanded by William Goodenough, and five battlecruisers commanded by Vice Admiral David Beatty.
Author: Robin Holmes
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1909166863
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 153
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Book Description
This illustrated history chronicles the first British bombing raid of WWII and the early lessons learned about strategic bombing. On the 4th of September 1939, Squadron Leader Paul Harris led 149 Squadron to Brunsbüttel, Wilhelmshaven in a Vickers Wellington Mk. 1 medium bomber. On the way he ordered that the guns of his airplane be tested, only to make the horrifying discovery that not one of them worked. Though he was flying completely defenseless, he chose to press on. On the 18th of December, Harris flew to Wilhelmshaven once again and took part in the Battle of Heligoland Bight, the first major encounter between the Royal Air Force and the Luftwaffe. This time he flew a Wellington Mk.1A—codenamed “R” for Robert—and his guns were red hot and ready. Of all the Wellington bombers that fought the Luftwaffe, Paul Harris’ old Wimpy is the only one left, preserved at the Brooklands Museum in Weybridge, England.
Author: Hugh Harkins
Publisher: Centurion
ISBN: 9781903630525
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 74
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Book Description
The naval engagement often referred to as the 'Second Battle of Heligoland Bight', fought on 17 November 1917, between elements of the British Grand Fleet and elements of the German High Seas Fleet, is often sidelined from history. While not being the major clash of fleets like the 'Battle of Jutland' the previous year, or a decisive victory for one side or the other as was the case with the 'Battle of Heligoland Bight' in August 1914, or indeed the battles of 'Coronel' and the 'Falkland Islands' in November and December 1914 respectively, it is significant in being the last naval battle of the war in which capital ships of the opposing British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet were engaged. Perhaps of more significance, this was the only time that Lord Fisher's controversial 'oddities', the Light Battle Cruisers of the Renown and Courageous Classes engaged enemy warships in battle during the war. Never, perhaps, in the annals of naval history has there been more controversial Classes of vessels, particularly with the Courageous Class and the unique HMS Furious. Often referred to as Battle Cruisers, Lord Fisher, and the Admiralty, referred to them as Light Battle Cruisers, while the Courageous Class became known as Large Light Cruisers, an epitaph attacked after the war, while the Renown Class were simply referred to as Battlecruisers, and the Furious was completed as a quasi-aircraft carrier. In his own writings Lord Fisher stated that he was considered "senile and autocratic" for pushing ahead with the Light Battle Cruisers, or "Monstrous Cruisers" as they had been labelled in some areas of Parliament. This volume sets out to describe the Light Battle Cruisers genesis and briefly outline their development and fielding in the years immediately before the action of 17 November 1917. Chapter 3 details the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight from both the German and British viewpoints, drawing on references from operational documents to support the fact that the oft-stated engagement between HMS Repulse and two German Dreadnought Battleships did not actually take place, dispelling the myth that such an engagement took place during the battle; a myth that has endured for almost 100 years.
Author: William B. Black
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Helgoland Bight, Battle of, 1914
Languages : en
Pages : 80
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Book Description
Author: George Drower
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752472801
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 214
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Book Description
In 1956 sea area Heligoland became German Bight. But why did the North Sea island, which for nearly a century had demonstrated its loyalty to Britain, lose its identity? How had this once peaceful haven become, as Admiral Jacky Fisher exclaimed 'a dagger pointed at England's heart'? Behind the renaming of Heliogland lies a catalogue of deceit, political ambition, blunder and daring. Heligoland came under British rule in the nineteenth century, a 'Gibraltar' of the North Sea. Then, in 1890, despite the islanders' wishes, Lord Salisbury announced his intention to swap it for Germany's presence in Zanzibar. The Prime Minister's decision unleashed a storm of controversy. Queen Victoria telegrammed from Balmoral to register her fury. During both world wars, it was used by Germany to control the North Sea, and RAF planes bombed the once-British territory. The story of Heligoland is more than an obscure footnote to the British Empire - it shows the significance of territory throughout history.
Author: Charles River Editors
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781706757740
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 54
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Book Description
*Includes pictures *Includes excerpts of sailors' accounts *Includes a bibliography for further reading The most iconic images of the First World War are of the war on land. They depict the trench lines, the shell holes, and the barbed wire. They show a generation of young men in uniform, living in holes dug from the dirt, rifle in hand, waiting for the next devastating artillery bombardment. But part of that same generation faced a very different war, one that was just as important in deciding the fate of Europe, but which is often forgotten in popular histories. This was the war at sea. It was vital to the economic side of the war, as the Allies cut off Germany's supply lines from the outside world and so placed a squeeze on their opponents' military industries. Here events took place that would draw America into the war, providing the Allies with a new pool of manpower and so ensuring that the scales of the conflict tipped in their favor. The war at sea saw innovations tested. Some, such as Germany's submarine fleet, were a huge success that defined the future for warfare. Some, such as seaborne planes, played only a small part but acted as a prelude to bigger changes to come. Some, such as battlecruisers, were costly failures. At sea just as much as on land, this was a war that would shape the future of the world. On August 28, 1914, a British naval force of 31 destroyers, two light cruisers, and a submarine force emerged from the early morning mist on a mission deep into German home waters. Their target was Heligoland Bight, a bay on the German North Sea coastline located at the mouth of the Elbe River. Their objective was aggressive and daring: to ambush and destroy the daily German destroyer patrols defending Heligoland Bight. The raid was an aggressive departure from British strategy up to that point in the war, which had consisted of the British Navy utilizing a distant blockade to cut Germany off from their oceanic supply chains. As such, the raid took the Germans by complete surprise. The Heligoland Operation was the brainchild of British Commodores Roger Keyes and Reginald Tyrwhitt, and their goal for the raid was different from the pre-war British naval strategy against Germany. The raid was not designed to produce a decisive naval engagement between dueling heavy capital ships, but instead centered on light cruisers and destroyers, small and fast ships combining their speed and fast-firing guns to attack the Germans in their home waters to limit German incursion into the North Sea. The British wanted the attack to send a clear message to the German Navy that any German operation in the North Sea, whether large or small, was in perpetual danger of a British attack. Heligoland Bight was not an easy target. The area is located deep in German home waters and was heavily defended at the outset of the war by several large caliber shore cannons, a zeppelin hanger, and large patrols of destroyers and submarines. It was also a strategic position as it guarded the entrance to Kiel, the major naval anchorage of the German High Seas Fleet. To complicate matters, the British raid force was within striking distance of several powerful German battlecruisers, docked nearby and ready to reinforce German destroyer patrols. Despite these obstacles, the British Navy succeeded in scoring a decisive victory. Without the loss of a single British ship, the British raid force managed to sink several German cruisers and destroyers. As the final engagement ended and the British withdrew to their home water, news of their victory spread throughout Britain, providing a major morale boost for British soldiers and civilians. Overnight, the British commanders of the Heligoland Bight Operation had become heroes.
Author: L. Cecil Jane
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780857065391
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 116
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Book Description
The worlds great navies grappling for dominance of the high seas The Battle of Heligoland Bight was the first naval battle of the Great War, fought in the late summer of 1914 when the Royal Navy devised a plan to ambush German patrols operating in the northern North Sea. A sizeable force of British warships under the commands of Tyrwhitt, Keyes, Goodenough and Beatty were set to the task and the ensuing conflict resulted in the sinking of three German light cruisers and one destroyer. Three German light cruisers were also damaged. The British loss was light and the action is widely regarded as a victory for the British. The most significant outcome was a reluctance on the part of the Kaiser to further risk his battle fleet and it remained impotently confined to port. The actions in the South Pacific and South Atlantic that were the battles of Coronel and the Falkland Islands centred around the marauding naval squadron under the command of von Spee. The German squadron inflicted a humiliating and crushing defeat against a weaker force under Cradock off the coast of Chile and an outraged admiralty despatched a substantially stronger squadron under Doveton Sturdee to exact revenge. It caught up with von Spee's squadron as he was about to raid the base at Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands and practically annihilated it. These two small naval engagement histories have been brought together for good value by Leonaur. They are available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.
Author: Gary Staff
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1783033185
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 217
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Book Description
“A very detailed operational account of the highly successful German amphibious landings in October of 1917 on the Russian islands of Osel and Dago.”—The NYMAS Review In late 1917, the Russians, despite the revolution, were still willing to continue the war against Germany. This is an account of Operation Albion, the highly successful seaborne operation launched by the Germans to change their minds. The Baltic Islands were pivotal for the defense of the Finnish Gulf and St. Petersburg, so their capture was essential for any campaign towards the Russian capital. Only after the fall of the islands did Russia begin peace negotiations (freeing nearly half a million German soldiers for the Kaiser’s last gamble on the Western Front). This then was a campaign of great significance for the war on both Eastern and Western fronts. A large part of the High Sea Fleet took part in the invasion of the Baltic islands, including the most modern dreadnought battleships. The Russians mounted a resolute defense despite being heavily outgunned and over a ten-day period there were many naval clashes around the islands as well as the campaign ashore, all of which are described in detail with the use of both Russian and German firsthand accounts. This book shatters the myth that the Imperial German Navy spent the last two years of the war cowering in port. “Should be a blueprint for other military history books . . . The maps are some of the best I have seen in military books . . . The author tells the story of the campaign from the smallest mine sweeper to the various battleships involved.”—A Wargamers Needful Things
Author: Gary Staff
Publisher: Pen & Sword Maritime
ISBN: 9781526743855
Category : Cruisers (Warships)
Languages : en
Pages : 232
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Book Description
