Germany's High Sea Fleet in the World War

New York: Peter Smith, 1934. Presumed First Edition, First printing thus. Hardcover. xiv, 375, [1] pages. Footnotes. Index. Some pages uncut. With a Portrait and 28 Plans (some folding). Naval Education Center stamp on fep but no library markings. Reinhard Scheer, (born Sept. 30, 1863, Obernkirchen, Hanover-died Nov. 26, 1928, Marktredwitz), admiral who commanded the German High Seas Fleet at the Battle of Jutland (1916). Scheer entered the German navy in 1879 and by 1907 had become the captain of a battleship. He became chief of staff of the High Seas Fleet under Henning von Holtzendorff in 1910 and commander of a battle squadron in 1913. After the start of World War I, he advocated the use of submarines and gained fame as a submarine strategist. He planned subsurface raids, using surface units as bait with submarines lying in ambush for any British ships lured into the open sea. Scheer received command of the fleet in January 1916; he hoped to precipitate a strategic division of the British Grand Fleet and catch it at a disadvantage. A combination of both planning and chance resulted in the two fleets converging at the Battle of Jutland (May 31–June 1, 1916), the only major fleet action of World War I. Although the Grand Fleet was not successfully divided and the British outnumbered the Germans, Scheer’s maneuvering ultimately saved the High Seas Fleet. The battle itself proved indecisive. On Aug. 8, 1918, Scheer succeeded Holtzendorff as chief of the admiralty staff, serving for five months until he retired. Scheer’s account of the Battle of Jutland appears in his book Deutschlands Hochseeflotte im Weltkrieg (Germany’s High Seas Fleet in the World War). This work covers The First Two Years of the War to the Battle of the Skagerrak, From The Battle of the Skagerrak to the Unrestricted U-boat Warfare, and The U-boat Campaign. Victors write history. German Admiral Reinhard Scheer knew this, and wrote his own anyway. In this memoir of World War One, he says, "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." Admiral Scheer took command of the German High Seas Fleet in 1916. He championed unrestricted submarine warfare as the key to winning, maintaining that it was no worse than the British blockade against Germany. Scheer's belief in aggressive surface fleet actions led him to the Battle of Jutland, the largest naval engagement in World War One and still one of the biggest in history. Scheer asserts that the Fleet fought well throughout the war: "The remembrance of the famous deeds which were accomplished on the sea will henceforth preserve over the grave of the German Fleet the hope that our race will succeed in creating for itself a position among the nations worthy of the German people." Condition: Good.

Keywords: World War, Battle of Jutland, German High Seas Fleet, Submarine Warfare, U-Boats, Skagerrak, Naval Operations, Torpedo Boats, Zeppelins

[Book #84309]

Price: $115.00

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