A War at Sea – World War 1


The War at Sea was a fundamental aspect of World War I. Naval and maritime competition had been a significant cause of the war, contributing to the heightening of Anglo-German tensions. For three centuries Britain had been the world’s preponderant naval power, and this was still the case as she entered the 20th century. As an island nation at the Centre of an imperial juggernaut, Britain relied on the Royal Navy to protect its colonies, its commercial interests and its homeland.

World War One was largely fought and won on land but this could not have taken place without the movement of ships. Command of the sea enabled the Allies to bring in the vital resources and manpower required to prevail on the Western Front and elsewhere.

There are many different types of ship, all designed for specific purposes and many with a long history of development behind them. Here are some of the various War ships that were based or visited Harwich during the First World War.

 

The horrors of the Western Front have long dominated our understanding of the First World War years, and yet the war at sea was fought on an epic scale and with terrible human loss.