World War IThe War at

Sea

In The Beginning...• When World War I began,

Canada had two mid-sized cruisers in its navy

• The Royal Canadian Navy grew to 100 ships during the war and only one was lost at sea

• Canada’s main role was to ship food, troops and munitions to Europe

Britain’s Plan• The British navy tried to

block goods going to Germany

• Britain mined the North Sea so neutral ships could not reach German ports

• Since Britain is an island, they also guarded their waters carefully since they required food and raw materials to survive.

Germany’s Plan• The German navy wanted to

stop goods from reaching Britain

• They declared a war zone on the waters surrounding the British Isles

• The German plan was to use submarines or U-Boats and to sink Allied merchant ships heading to Britain on sight

• This is what happened to The Lusitania

The Lusitania• In May 1915, the British luxury

liner was crossing the Atlantic Ocean

• It was an unarmed ship carrying 2000 passengers

• Suddenly, a torpedo streaked through the waves and struck the ship’s hull

• Moments later, there was an explosion

• More than half the passengers were American

• 1198 people died

The Lusitania• The United States was

still neutral at this point, but the sinking of the helpless Lusitania swung public opinion against Germany

• Eventually, it helped bring the Americans into the war against Germany

The Two Naval Powerhouses Come Face to Face

• Both Britain and Germany began the war with strong fleets of battleships

• Only once did these to fleets face each other

• In May 1916, at Jutland off the coast of Denmark

The Two Naval Powerhouses Come Face to Face

• 99 British warships met 149 German warships head on

• Within a few hours, Britain suffered great losses of both ships and human life

• The Germans recognised the strength of the British navy and neither side risked another major sea battle

• The Germans responded by no longer producing surface ships and focused on submarines

Germany’s Most Deadly Weapon

• The submarine or U-Boat required a crew of 35 and contained about twelve torpedoes

• Since torpedoes were expensive, U-boats often surfaced and sank enemy ships by gunfire

• Early U-boats could stay under water for 2 ½ hours

Germany’s Most Deadly Weapon

• By 1917, the German navy introduced a policy of “unrestricted submarine warfare”

• This meant they would sink any neutral ship approaching Britain

• In four months, they sank 1074 ships

• An enormous amount of cargo and human lives were lost

The Convoy System• Cargo ships now sailed

in fleets (not alone), escorted by armed destroyers

• The convoys now started getting through to Britain again

Underwater Mines• Exploded on contact

with U-Boats

Q-Ships• Battleships disguised as

unarmed harmless merchant vessels

• When U-boats surfaced to attack, they would open fire with hidden guns

What Was The Point?• The German policy

backfired because the sinking of American boats by U-boats brought the USA into the war against Germany

• Their entrance in 1917 helped turn the tide in favour of an Allied victory

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksVDe8znb5k

World War I

The Halifax Explosion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5DYKobF7Ko

The Halifax Explosion• Thursday, December 6, 1917• At 7:30am The Mont Blanc, a French ship started

making its way through the Narrows to the Bedford Basin loaded with benzene, picric acid and TNT

• At 8:00am, The Imo, a Norwegian ship containing relief supplies for the war also entered the narrows

• At 8:43am The Mont Blanc sailed across the Imo’s Bow and the two ships collided

The Halifax Explosion• Halifax was a busy city and most people were

already at work or at school near the harbour• At 9:06, the Mont Blanc’s cargo blew up as a

result of a fire caused by the collision• Schools, factories, homes and businesses in a five

kilometre radius were completely destroyed by the explosion

• 2000 people were killed, 9000 were injured and 10000 were left homeless in the dead of winter

The Halifax Explosion• Within days relief supplies started to pour in from across

Canada and the United States and from as far away as Jamaica and New Zealand

• The State of Massachusetts sent a relief committee to help out

• Halifax sends a Christmas tree every year to the city of Boston as a thank you for their help

• The Halifax Explosion was the biggest man made explosion to date (not surpassed until the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan)

• Brought the full savagery of war home to Canadians