First Battle of the Atlantic facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Battle of the Atlantic
Part of World War I
Date July 28, 1914 – November 11, 1918 Location Atlantic Ocean, North Sea Result Decisive Allied Victory
Belligerents
British Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, United States Navy Navy of France	Navy of the German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Sir John Jellicoe	Reinhard Scheer

The First Battle of the Atlantic (1914–1918) was a naval campaign of World War I, largely fought in the seas around the British Isles and in the Atlantic Ocean. Both the German Empire and United Kingdom relied heavily on imports to feed their population and supply their war industry; thus both aimed to blockade each other. The British had the Royal Navy which was superior in numbers and could operate within the British Empire. The German Navy could not destroy the British Navy, as seen at the Battle of Jutland.

The German fleet mainly used unrestricted submarine warfare. Neutral countries disliked the blockades and the sinking of RMS Lusitania especially angered the United States. The successful blockade of Germany contributed to its military defeat in 1918, and still in effect, enforced also the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in mid-1919.

German U-Boat U 14

The Battle in Numbers

Allied and Neutral Tonnage sunk by submarines in World War I

Grand Total 12,850,814 gross tons

Note that unrestricted submarine warfare was resumed in February 1917 and the British began full-scale convoying in September 1917. The heaviest losses were suffered in April 1917 when a record 881,027 tons were sunk by the U-boats.

Source: Fayle, C. Ernest, Seaborn Trade, Vol. 3, p. 465, Table I[a]; London: John Murray, 1924.

German Submarine Force 1914-1918

• Total operational boats: 351
• Total sunk in combat (50%): 178
• Other losses (11%): 39
• Completed after Armistice: 45
• Surrendered to Allied: 179

Images for kids

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  German U-boats at Kiel, February 1914

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  The sinking of HMS Pathfinder by SM U-21 on 5 September 1914.

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  German depiction of the sinking of HMS Formidable by SM U-24

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  SS Gliltra docked. The ship was the first British merchant vessel sunk by U-boats

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  Shaded areas of the map depict the submarine warfare zone declared by Germany in February 1915

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  Depiction of a Q-ship, a heavily armed merchant ship, used to lure U-boats during World War I

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  Shaded areas of the map depict the submarine warfare zone declared by Germany in February 1917

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  A graph depicting the decline in Allied merchant shipping losses with the introduction of the convoy system in 1917

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  Diagram of the North Sea Mine Barrage, a large mine field to inhibit U-boat access to the Atlantic Ocean from the approaches between Orkney Islands to Norway