Naval Battles of WW1

by Geoffrey Bennett

With the Call to action stations in August 1914, the Royal Navy faced its greatest test since the time of Nelson.

This classic history of the Great War at sea combines graphic and stirring accounts of all the principal naval engagements - battles overseas, in home waters and, for the first time, under the sea - with analysis of the strategy and tactics of both sides. Geoffrey Bennett brings these sea battles dramatically to life, and confirms the Allied navies' vital contribution to victory.

'Strongly recommended' RUSI Journal'

Excellent balanced accounts and judgments' Richard Hough

Genres: History, Naval History, World War I, Military History, Military Fiction, Nonfiction

312 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Captain Geoffrey Martin Bennett DSC, FRHS (1908–1983) was a British Royal Navy officer and author. He also wrote fiction as "Sea-lion".

Reviews

[Alex Hope · Rating 2 out of 5]

I almost fell asleep whilst reading this. I do not understand how can people love history books which have the structure of “this happened, this guy was here and he went there and there this happened and he was there” with bare analysis.
I have to write a full lengthy review on this due march 1st, so I’ll come back here again, but, as for now.
LITTLE TO NO DETAIL towards US, Russian, Japanese fleet
high emphasis on GB and GE. I know they were the decisive, yet the book is called “Naval battles of WWI” and not “Naval battles of WWI between GB and GE”
there is some important information regarding the conflict at sea between GB and GE, although it is very hard to read
VEEEERY hard
the flow of the book is very dry, which makes it so boring, that I (again) fell asleep at least 6 times. I started reading it at 10 AM and finished at 10 PM, took me 12 hours for a book I would usually finish in under 3. Horrible productivity because of this book; ruined my day.
I am genuinely upset. And evil.
Appendices were nice though, +1 star for them
more complaints:
no footnotes
no endnotes
american length system in a book by a British guy
a lot of terminology which is not explained, you have to google
a lot of places not shown on the map… gotta google
People in the 60s probably had a world map with them in order to read this book + terminology books on naval history. Otherwise I do not understand how a non-nerd person interested in naval history could read this.

[Marc Liebman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book for someone who is interested in naval history. Bennett gets into the strategic and tactical decisions made by both sides and covers battles that took place in the Indian Ocean, the Pacific off Chile, the Battle of the Falklands, as well as the U-boat war and of course, Jutland and the North Sea skirmishes. What is fascinating is how both sides learned to use radio communications to provide direction in near real time, something neither the German nor the Royal Navy had ever done before. It was the beginning of centralized command and control and both sides struggled. Some times the direction was ambiguous or misleading. One slightly negative note. Geoffrey is a Brit and writes for a British audience so some of the syntax and word usage will take getting used too. However, there are many helpful, easy to understand maps and charts. All in all, it was very informative and fascinating to read.

[Keith W · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well-done and well-presented account of the surface action between the British and German fleets in the First World War. The author served in the Royal Navy for 30+ years and is partial to the British side but not in an obnoxious or heavy-handed way. He certainly gives credit to the bravery of German sailors and the skill of German naval officers where that is due. His knowledge of seafaring and shiphandling is apparent in his descriptions of the what various ships and units during the battles described and helps make the course and confusion of these melees more understandable. On the negative side, I thought there would be more coverage of submarine warfare. There is certainly some discussion of that but it is more in the nature of describing the "big picture" rather than U-boat tactics and similar details. With that one reservation, this is a fine account of surface warfare in the First World War.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent work on the Naval Operations of the First World War both in Home Waters and overseas. The dominance of the Royal Navy in that conflict are really brought out. The deficiencies of wireless was also a major problem in the navy as well as on land.

[Bobble Hat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written narrative history although focussed very much on the RN. Good references for Coronel and the Falklands in particular.

[Edwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Capt Bennett's study - first published in 1969 - is now a classic, and perhaps somewhat dated. Despite this it's well worth the read if you want an introduction to the Royal Navy's activities during the war, particularly the Big Ships. If you want something more comprehensive that covers all theatres, nations and types of naval combat, read Paul G Halpern's A Naval History of World War I, which I also heartily recommend,

Bennett starts with a consideration of how the German merchant cruisers were tracked down and neutralised - concentrating as you'd imagine from the title on von Spee's squadron and the Battles of Coronel and the Falklands - and the pursuit of the Goben and Breslau. After that, despite a couple of interesting chapters on the U-boat campaigns, he is firmly focused on the North Sea face-off between the Grand Fleet and the Hochseeflotte. As anyone who know's Bennett's other books will guess, his section on Jutland is well worth reading and perhaps the most important part of this book.

[Didoni · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I am interested in naval battles and found the ones that took place in the first world war dramatic, or at least they were portrayed this way in the book. I didn't know there were so many obstacles in leading a fleet of ships and that the personality skills of the Captains were so crucial for the outcome of a battle. I look forward to reading about naval battles in other periods of time.