Analyze The Impact Of Us Boats In Ww1

Jenna Zampitella

World History- H

Period 5

Due: 3/29/16

Analyze the impact of U boats in WWI

The Germans first invention of the U-boat, in 1905, has dominated the seas in both World War I and World War II. U-boats were the first submarines used in World Wars and were equipped with deck guns, torpedoes, and missiles. A classic U-boat was 214 feet long, could hold up to 35 men and also contained 12 torpedoes. By the end of World War I the Germans had built around 334 U-boats and had over 200 in construction. These submarines have revolutionized the war at sea and were extremely important part of destroying the enemy’s ships and war supplies. German commander, Adolf von Spiege, describes the impact of a torpedo being fired, "The death-bringing

This sub could hold up to three passengers and on its first test drive it sank to the bottom of the Kiel harbor. When the war first started U boats were not most reliable, “Fast they were not, sailing underwater at a torpid pace of 9 knots, and 17 knots on the surface. Endurance in those days was limited (the earliest World War I U-boats could only stay underwater an hour before the batteries ran out). But armed with an 88- or 105-millimeter deck guns and six torpedo tubes with 16 reloads, the 24 Type 93s built by Germany sank 411,000 tons of Allied shipping”(Peck). As the war advanced, the U boats got faster and a lot more powerful. The Type 93 U-boat was one of the most deadly inventions from the Germans throughout the war. This new design was stronger and more

One of the most important impacts was their effectiveness in destroying their enemy’s supplies and ships; the U-boats destroyed almost half of food and supplies on British Navy ships. “In total they were responsible for the loss of more than 11 million tons of allied shipping.” (WW1 Submarines). Another major impact of these submarines was that they got America involved in the war. When World War I began in 1914, America took a neutral position; however, because they were trade partners with Britain, tensions soon arose with Germany when they attempted the blockade of the British Isles. In February 1915, Germany announced unrestricted warfare against any ship entering the war zone around Britain. One month later and American merchant vessel was sunk while transporting grain to England & Germany apologized calling the incident an unfortunate mistake. In May 1915, a British owned ocean liner, the Lusitania, was attacked killing approximately 2000 passengers, including 128 Americans. After this incident, the United States demanded an end to attacks on non-military vessels. Finally, Woodrow Wilson threatened to cut off diplomatic ties with Germany after the sinking of an unarmed French ship, the Sussex, in March 1916. For a short time Germans agreed to stop attacking all passenger vessels and allow crews of merchant ships to abandon their vessels prior to attack until January 1917 when Germany resumed unrestricted