German High Seas Fleet 1914–18: The Kaiser’s challenge to the Royal Navy (Fleet, 2)

This book presents a solid overview of the High Seas Fleet including its inception, ships, organization, and supporting structures. All of these are dealt with briefly but effectively within the constraints of the available space. Readers who have heard of the High Seas Fleet mainly from the innumerable accounts of the Battle of Jutland will find a lot of foundational information here. About the last quarter of the book is devoted to describing the fleet operations leading up to and including Jutland during the first half of the war. These are described in a clear and concise summary fashion.The text is supported by a generous collection of illustrations. The original artwork commissioned for the book is good although I am personally partial to the color reproductions of classic Claus Bergen paintings that are also included. The photographs are well chosen and generally steer clear of pictures that have been overly used in other books. (There does seem to be some sort of a rule that every book on the German navy MUST include the same picture of Blücher capsizing at Dogger Bank.) The maps (with the one exception below) are well done and useful. An earlier reviewer was bothered by Osprey choosing the "wrong map colors". In German language histories, German movements are denoted on maps with red lines and the British with blue lines so for this topic that seems rather appropriate.Unfortunately the book is somewhat marred by a sprinkling of errors, some of which could have been caught by an alert proofreader. In the minor category; the date of the Dogger Bank battle is given as 25 January (on pages 58 and 59) and 24 January (correctly) on page 62. The fifth battlecruiser in the British force at Dogger Bank is Indefatigable on page 62 and Indomitable (correctly) on page 59. Derfflinger, which joined the 1st Scouting Group in November 1914, is missing from the table of Changes on page 16 but it is mentioned in the text on page 13. The text on page 14 states that, "In 1914 the only armored cruiser in the High seas Fleet was Blücher", while in fact Roon, Yorck, and Prinz Heinrich all took part in North Sea fleet operations during the first six months of the war.The most disconcerting error is the complete jumbling of the numbered Events on the Dogger Bank track chart on page 63. Historians who work from multiple sources know that British accounts of the battle are based on Greenwich Mean Time while most German accounts use Central European Time which was one hour earlier on this date. These need to be reconciled before using them together. On this track chart, British and German times are intermingled, without distinguishing them to the reader, which totally scrambles the order of events. Specifically, Events 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 15, 18, 19, and 20 all use German times. Mixed together with these are Events 4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, and 17 which use British times. As a result, the timeline claims that "Blücher hit and badly damaged and pulls out of line" (Event 8 at 1040) happened BEFORE "Seydlitz hit - C&D turrets knocked out" (Event 9 at 1043). In reality, using British times for both, Seydlitz was hit at 0943 and the battle continued for almost another hour before Blücher was badly hit at 1030 (as noted correctly in the text) and then pulled out of line at 1040. Compared with other maps of the battle, a long segment is missing out of the middle of this one. Far worse than this, the signalling errors that caused the battle to be broken off prematurely (Events 18, 19, and 20) have been pushed to the end of the timeline by using German times when in reality they should come well BEFORE the events resulting in the sinking of Blücher (at Events 16 and 17) which have British times on the track chart. The result is so chaotic that it can only be salvaged by rewriting the timeline on a clean sheet of paper, using consistently British times, and then rematching the events with more appropriate numbered points on the map. (Bonus Hint: As written the times on both Event 4 (1017 British time) and Event 15 (1117 German time) both refer to the third hit on Seydlitz. Event 4 can be fixed and used for the first hit on Seydlitz by changing the time to 0925 British equals 1025 German.)In contrast to the track chart, the text description of the Dogger Bank action (pp 58-64) is a coherent, well ordered account, that uses exclusively British times, and mentions all the important points of the battle. One can only imagine that the text and the track chart were not created by the same person.The coverage of fleet operations ends with the summer of 1916 and is followed by a brief analysis of the remaining years of the war during which what amounted to a standoff existed between the Grand Fleet and the High Seas Fleet. The author (on page 78) is unimpressed with the High Seas Fleet being "reduced to something akin to a 'fleet in being', its only role being to tie down the Grand Fleet in the North Sea theatre for the remainder of the war, and to prevent an Allied amphibious invasion of the German coast." Other writers have noted that in the last two years of the war, the High Seas Fleet succeeded in keeping open the U-boat transit lanes to the open sea while thwarting every effort by the British to bottle them up in their bases. German control of the entrance to the Baltic Sea, by the High Seas Fleet, protected the vital iron ore trade with Sweden while preventing the Allies from delivering supplies through the Baltic to Russia. The German blockade of Russia in the Baltic, combined with the failure of the Dardanelles Expedition to open a passage through the Black Sea, was a major factor in ultimately forcing Russia out of the war. Whether to dismiss the wartime contributions of the High Seas Fleet because it failed to achieve the almost impossible (a decisive defeat of the Grand Fleet) or to recognize it for what it did accomplish is still an open historical question.

The book is great for its size and price. Very typical product from the publisher. Succinct and focused, with very good graphics. A great introductory text that virtually invites you to buy more books on the subject if you want to know more than the book allows room for.

In the early 20th Century, an Imperial Germany was already a rising power in Europe based on its superb army. Its Kaiser chose to challenge Great Britain by building a high seas fleet to equal Britain's Royal Navy. The German High Seas Fleet would get its test of battle at Jutland in 1916. This fascinating new Osprey Fleet Series book has the story.Experienced naval historian Angus Konstam takes his time getting to Jutland, carefully examining the German High Sea Fleet, including its ships and the training of its officers and sailors. The astute reader will readily appreciate the stakes in each of its several encounters with the British fleet. The narrative is nicely supported with lots of period photographs and modern illustrations and diagrams. Well recommended to students of the First World War.

Discusses all the important aspects or subjects concerning the German High Seas Fleet of WW I: the strategic thinking behind its creation, short summaries of ships designs, fleet organization and administration, Kaiser Wilhelm’s personal involvement, and the major sea battles of WW I. The only reason I did not give it a 5-Stars rating is because it is short at 80 pages. Pages 75 – 78 “Analysis” give a short critique of its creation and supposed reasons for existence, its almost complete strategic uselessness during WW I, and its financial impact on the German military budget.There are probably dozens of books on various aspects of the German Navy of WW I and hundreds on the overall war at sea. A few that I think are very good, some of which are listed in page 70 “Further Reading,” are:• “Fighting the Great War at Sea: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology” by Friedman (2014). This is a fabulous book! I would give it a 6 Star rating if I could. I thought the following chapters were especially good: Chapter 3: Blockade, Trade Warfare, and Economic Attack; Chapter 5: The Fleets; Chapter 8: Capital Ships. This chapter describes the conceptual thinking behind the British and German Navies' battleship designs as well as quite a lot of detail on the ships' detailed design characteristics. The sub-section "The Imperial German Navy" (pages 195 - 213) is especially good; Chapter 12: Protecting Trade--The U-Boat War; Chapter 14: The Anti-Submarine Armada. I would say that that this is one of the finest overall books I have ever read on the naval aspects of WW I.• “Luxury Fleet: The Imperial German Navy” 1888 – 1918 by Herwig (1980). It describes the organizational history of the High Seas Fleet and the influence of Tirpitz and Kaiser Wilhelm II in creating it. There is also analysis of Germany's attempts at colonization in China and Africa, all of which were economic failures. These is also some discussion of the evolution of the technical development of the ships, especially gun main armament. One of the most interesting chapters was Chapter X "Museum of Experiments - The End of the Battleship Era, 1914 -1918" describing the proposed new battleships and battlecruisers, only two of which ("Baden" and "Bayern") were ever finished. The book continuously discusses the changing concepts of overall strategy and naval operations, especially during WW I 1914 - 1918.• “Building the Kaiser’s Navy” by Weir (1992). This is a fascinating book on the development of the German ship building and naval armaments industries to construct the warships of the old Imperial German Navy. It discusses issues and subjects such as the 1898 and 1900 Naval Laws to create a High Seas Fleet (or so the German leadership thought). It describes the particular influence of both Tirpitz and Kaiser Wilhelm II. The inevitable financial battles with the Reichstag and Army are also discussed.• “Jutland: An Analysis of the Fighting” by Campbell (1986). I thought this was a terrific account of both the combat actions and the damage to the various battlecruisers and battleships of both sides. Chapters 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14 discuss the combat maneuvers and actions between the initial engagement around 1548 on May 31 through the final night actions in early June 1. Chapters 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15 describe the shell hits on both the British and German ships and the ensuing damage. The chapters on fleet actions include detailed ship tracks. The chapters on damage include diagrams of the shell hits and sketches of the damaged areas. Chapter 17 describes in detail the damage to “Seydlitz” and its return to Wilhelmshaven. Chapter 18 “Summary and Discussion” provides an excellent analysis of the damage and the consequences of shell hits in various areas of the ships. There are especially detailed discussions of armor penetration by various shell sizes and types. It also discusses the conclusions drawn by the various naval commands and the ensuing proposed modifications to their respective ships after the battle• “Jutland: The German Perspective” by Tarrant (1999). This is a very good book on Jutland / Skagerrak, but the story is not limited to just the German perspective. It also describes the British fleet movements and responses. There are several small-scale maps depicting the ship movements and attacks and withdrawals during various times or phases in the battle. Chapter 1 provides a nice concise discussion of German capital ship design philosophy and the creation of the High Seas Fleet in the early 20th century. The book provides much detailed information on the circumstances of the ships that were sunk such as "Wiesbaden," "Lutzow," "Pommern," "Defense," "Warrior," "Queen Mary," Indefatigable," and "Invincible." There are also tabulations of the hits from major caliber shells on the battleships and battlecruisers of both the German and British fleets.• “From Imperial Splendor to Internment: The German Navy in the First World War” by Wolz (2013). The book was originally published in Germany. This a fine story of the waste of the German High Seas Fleet in WW I. Why build it? The Kaiser spent an enormous amount of money to build the second largest battle fleet in the world -- and then for all practical purposes did not use it. By the end of 1917 and early 1918, the ships were deteriorating and the crews' morale was plummeting.• “The Grand Scuttle: The Sinking of the German Fleet at Scapa Flow in 1919” by van der Tat (1986). Part I describes the pre-1914 Anglo - German naval armaments race in battleships. Part II discusses the timidly of the German naval leadership, starting with the Kaiser, in refusing to go out and fight the Royal Navy. Part III then discusses the naval mutinies, the naval terms of Article XXIII of the November 1918 Armistice, and the sailing of the main fleet of battleships, battlecruisers, and many destroyers to the Firth of Forth and then on to Scapa Flow. The last 60 pages or so of the book describe the actual scuttling and its consequences.• “The Rules of the Game: Jutland and the British Naval Command” by Gordon (1996). This is an outstanding analysis of how the Royal Navy got to Jutland in terms of command and tactical decisions and procedures. The miscommunications and tactical decisions that occurred at Jutland did not happen overnight -- they developed or evolved over a period of decades prior to the 1916 battle. This is not a book about ship development and construction, or arguments over who had the better-designed battleships and battle cruisers.• “Blockade: Cruiser Warfare and the Starvation of Germany in World War I” by Dunn (2016). I'm a long-time amateur student of both World Wars and have known in general about the naval economic British blockade of Germany during WW I. This book really goes into the details of the blockade. It discusses the blockade from several different British viewpoints: strategic (close versus distant blockade), operations, and even individual ship actions and engagements. There is a considerable amount of information on the passenger liner conversions that the British undertook to undertake the blockade. To a certain extent, the title is a misnomer. Only around eight pages of the 200 pages in the book (4%) describe the effects of the blockade on the German economy and the German people. Still, it is an interesting book on the subject. I have not found any others as detailed as this one.

Great info on the German High Seas Fleet: Fleet composition, tactics, combat examples. Great photos and artwork. My only gripe is that for somereason they decided to represent the German fleet in red and the British in blue on the maps. So if like me you have been conditioned for 50 years by military history books that always show the British as red, the Germans as black or gray, the French as light blue, Italians as green, etc., you will find the maps very confusing. I constantly found myself having to stop and think “Oh, it’s the German fleet that is red.” Osprey has a bad habit of choosing the wrong map colors for units so this is nothing new.Still a 5 star book! Anxiously awaiting the companion book- The Grand Fleet 1914-18.

I found it had a lot of information and some good pictures

An extremely interesting book with a lot of detail, most of which was new to me. Excellet illustrations. A very good informative read.