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Reinhard Scheer
Germany's High Seas Fleet in the World War
Published by Good Press, 2020
EAN 4064066437398
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - The Outbreak of the War
Chapter 2 - Relative Strengths and the Strategic Situation
Chapter 3 - Awaiting the Enemy's Offensive
Chapter 4 - The English Break into the Heligoland Bight
Chapter 5 - The Autumn and Winter Months of 1914
Chapter 6 - Bombardment of Scarborough and Hartlepool, and the Battle of the Dogger Bank
Battle of Cruisers off the Dogger Bank
Chapter 7 - The Year of the War 1915
Chapter 8 - Preparations for Increased Fleet Activity
Chapter 9 - Enterprises in the Hoofden, and Bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft
Bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft
Chapter 10 - The Battle of the Skagerrak
2 - The First Phase of the Battle: Cruiser Engagement
3 - The Second Phase of the Fight: The Pursuit
4 - The Third Phase of the Fighting:" The Battle
5 - Night Movements and Battles
6 - The Situation on the Morning of June 1
Chapter 13 - The Military and Political Significance of the U-boat Campaign
Chapter 14 - Our U-Boats and their Method of Warfare
Chapter 15 - Activity of the Fleet During the U-Boat Campaign
Chapter 16 - The Conquest of the Baltic Islands and the Capture of Helsingfors
Chapter 17 - Our Light Craft in Action, and Advance of our Fleet to the Norwegian Coast
Cruiser Action on November 17, 1917
An Expedition of the Heinecke Torpedo-Boat Flotilla
Advance of the Fleet to the Norwegian Coast
Preface
THE victor has the privilege of writing the story of the war; for one mistrusts the vanquished, because he will try to palliate and excuse his defeats. But we are victors and vanquished at one and the same time, and in depicting our success the difficult problem confronts us of not forgetting that our strength did not last out to the end.
Exceptionally tragic is the fate of our Fleet. It embodied the sense of power resulting from the unification of the Empire, a sense which was conscious of its responsibility to provide for the suitable security of our immensely flourishing political and economical ex- pansion. By creating a fleet we strengthened our claim to sea-power, without which the Empire must wither away, we remained a thorn in the side of the British, and their ill-will was the constant accompaniment of our growth. The freedom of the seas, which we strove for in line with our evolution, England was never willing to grant, even if it had to come to a world-War on the point.
In the four years' struggle which Germany waged against the desire of its enemies to destroy it, the Fleet was able, beyond all foreign expectations, to hold its own, and what is more, it was our conduct of the naval war that succeeded in forcing the stubborn enemy to the brink of destruction. But, nevertheless, we have lost the war, and with the surrender of the German Fleet the expectations of an independent shaping of our destiny have vanished for long enough.
To the history of the naval war, as it presented itself to me and was for some years carried on under my guidance, this book will add a contribution. I should like, however, along with the description of my war experiences, to give the assurance to the German people that the German Fleet, which ventured to boast of being a favourite creation of the nation, strove to do its duty, and entered into the war inspired only by the thought of justifying the confidence reposed in it and of standing on