My War at Sea 1914–1916 by Heathcoat Grant

The Germans found their greatest naval successes under the sea, with a fleet of submarines, or U-boats, that did great damage to Allied warships and merchant ships.

Therefore, the British were able to trap the bulk of the German navy in its North Sea ports, which lay between the neutral countries of Holland and Denmark. The German navy was also large and powerful, but German leaders, especially Kaiser Wilhelm, did not want to risk a direct confrontation With the world's biggest and most powerful navy, Britain seemed likely to continue its long dominance of naval warfare. If one thing seemed certain at the beginning of World War I, it was that Great Britain would rule the seas. Although no naval battle decisively influenced the course of the war, the war for control of the seas was vital to the winning of the war. Equally key to the Central Powers' war aims was the campaign of submarine warfare that struck at Allied shipping. One of the key elements of the Allies' strategy was a naval blockade of Germany the Allies hoped to starve Germany of the food and raw materials it needed to wage war. This does not mean, however, that affairs of the sea were not crucial to the waging of war.

There were relatively few naval battles in the war, and the important ones were won by the British navy, which succeeded in keeping the German navy pinned down in its ports on the North Sea. World War I was a land war, with its biggest and most important battles fought on the battlefields of Europe.

My War at Sea 1914–1916 by Heathcoat Grant