Royal Navy and Naval History World War 1, 1914-1918

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INTRODUCTIONS TO THE ROYAL & EMPIRE NAVIES IN WORLD WAR 1

"A Short History of the Naval War" by Archibald Hurd, 1919
Overview of the Leadership and Organisation
Warships and Auxiliaries
the Price Paid

FRENCH NAVY - The French Navy: Honneur, Patrie, Valeur, Discipline 1900-1922 - World War 1 & Major Ship Lists in Outline - Flag Officers, 1914-1918 - Louis Bechennec, Fireman/Stoker - Sailors commemorated in a New York Cemetery

GREEK NAVY - Royal Hellenic Navy in Outline

NEW
REGIA MARINA ITALIANA - Flag Officers and Warships, 1915-1918

RUSSIAN NAVY - Tsar to Commissar: Russian Naval Organisation and Fleet Lists 1914-1922 - Flag Officers of the Imperial Russian Navy 1914-1918 - Eastern Front and Baltic Sea 1914-1918 including Russian Bolshevik Waters 1919 - Mediterranean, includes Black Sea 1914-1917

UNITED STATES NAVY - Rise to Global Parity, Organisation & Fleet Lists, 1900-1922 - Fleets and Stations, early 1917 - World War 1 & Major Ship Lists in outline

Those Who Served - Navy, Coast Guard & Marine Corps Casualties - Medal of Honor, 1915-1918 - Officer Ranks and Enlisted Rates - Flag Officers, 1914-1918

Organisation and Technology - Bureau of Yards & Docks, 1917-1918 - Development of Warship Armour

Contemporary Accounts - Victory at Sea by R. Adm William Sims - On the Coast of France: US Naval Forces in French Waters - US Marine Corps in the World War - Chronology of US Marine Corps in the World War

BACKGROUND, MAINLY FROM CONTEMPORARY SOURCES

CHRONOLOGY: POLITICAL and MILITARY BACKGROUND to the WAR AT SEA.

Rearranged from HMSO "Principal Events, 1914-1918"

Part 1, August 1914-December 1915

Part 2, January-December 1916

Part 3, January-December 1917

Part 4, January-December 1918

The Official British Histories

HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR - NAVAL OPERATIONS

by Sir Julian S Corbett and Henry Newbolt

Volume 1, August to December 1914 - Heligoland, Coronel, Falklands

Volume 2, December 1914 to Spring 1915 - Dogger Bank, Suez Attack, Dardanelles and Gallipoli
- with maps from front and rear pockets

Volume 3, Spring 1915 to June 1916 - Gallipoli evacuation, Jutland
- includes maps and diagrams from separate case

Volume 4, June 1916 to April 1917 - after Jutland, overseas campaigns, Mediterranean, German raiders, build-up to unrestricted U-boat warfare

Volume 5, April 1917 to November 1918 - unrestricted U-boat campaign, Zeebrugge and Ostend, North Russia, armistice

Volume 5, Appendices - U-boat campaign summaries, Royal Navy strength, ships losses and casualties

HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR - THE MERCHANT NAVY

by Sir Archibald Hurd

Volume 1, 1914 to Spring 1915 - German surface raiders, first appearance of U-boats, sinking of "Lusitania"

Volume 2, Summer 1915 to early 1917 - early submarine campaigns, Auxiliary Patrol etc

Volume 3, Spring 1917 to November 1918 - unrestricted U-boat warfare, Merchant Navy equipped to fight back etc

..... in support

OVERVIEW OF THE ROYAL NAVY LEADERSHIP and ORGANISATION, 1914-1918 by Dr Graham Watson

NAVAL STAFF MONOGRAPHS, Official Admiralty Publications, covering 1914 to c 1917 (external site, PDF downloads)

NAVY LISTS 1913-1914 Monthly, 1915-1918 Quarterly (external site, PDF downloads)

NAVAL CAMPAIGN and BATTLE MAPS of WORLD WAR 1 from mainly contemporary sources, including "Naval Operations" with all Jutland charts - an ongoing project

Royal Navy Battle Honours and Single-Ship Actions, 1914-1918 with the ships - by name, type and honour

and contemporary accounts

British

Short History of the Naval War, 1914-1918 by (Sir) Archibald Hurd et al

Grand Fleet, 1914-1916 It's Creation, Development & Work by Admiral Viscount Jellicoe

Crisis of the Naval War (1917) by Admiral of the Fleet Viscount Jellicoe

Dover Patrol (1915-1917), Vol I, mainly Belgian coast & Vol II Dover Straits, by Admiral Sir Reginald Bacon

Memories by Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher

Navy Records Society and The Naval Review - archives relating to World War 1

Secret Boarding Party Papers - A Tribute to the Tenth Cruiser Squadron, Northern Patrol, 1914-1917

Navy Everywhere, by Conrad Gato - the RN in Africa, E. Europe, Middle East

Navy in Mesopotamia, also by Conrad Gato - fact and fiction, and amusing

American

Victory at Sea (U.S. Navy at war, 1917-18) by Rear-Admiral William Sims, U.S. Navy

On the Coast of France: United States Naval Forces in French Water by Joseph Husband, Ensign, USNRF

The United States Marine Corps in the World War by Edwin N. McClellan, Major, U. S. Marines

Chronology of US Marine Corps in the World War, arranged by Gordon Smith

also The United States Navy: It's Rise to Global Parity, Organisation and Fleets 1900-1922 by Dr Graham Watson

German

Germany's High Seas Fleet in the Great War by Admiral Reinhard Scheer

My Memoirs, Volume II by Grand Admiral von Tirpitz (with appendix on U-boat development)

also Imperial German Navy, Leadership and Organisation, 1914-1918 by Dr Graham Watson

BRITISH ADMIRALTY

Part 1 - Functions and Establishments, August 1914, a three-step introduction

Part 2 - Changes in Admiralty Departments 1913-1920

Part 3 - Admiralty, Shore Establishments, Fleets & Stations, 1914-1916

Royal Navy Captains commanding Major Warships, 1914 to c1923

For additional information on both Captains and Ships, see the Dreadnought Project (external site)

From the London Gazette - August 1914 to December 1920

ROYAL NAVY DESPATCHES, London Gazette editions in brackets

August 1914-July 1916 (28861-29654) - July 1916-December 1918 (29680-31063) - January 1919-December 1920 (31189-31970)

ARMY DESPATCHES, with accounts of Naval operations and roles

August 1914-May 1916 (28861-29604) - June 1916-December 1917 (29623-30447) - January 1918-December 1920 (30463-32156)

ROYAL NAVY MEDALS - HONOURS & GALANTRY AWARDS

1. Medal Index by Name, Award, London Gazette edition or direct to Abbas to Hyslop - Ibbotson to Rymer - Sabin to Zanelli

2. by Award or direct to AM, BEM, CB, CBE, CGM, CIE, CSI, CVO, DCM, DFC, DFM, DSC, DSM, DSO, EM, GBE, GCB, GCIE, GCMG, GCSI, GCVO, ISM, ISO, IDSM, KBE, KCB, KCIE, KCSI, KCMG, KCVO, LVO, MBE, MID, MC, MM, MSM, MVO, OBE, OM, RD, RRC, VC, VD

3. Awards by London Gazette editions

4. Foreign Medals and Decorations Awarded to Royal Navy

ROYAL NAVY SHIPS RECEIVING NAVAL SALVAGE and PRIZE BOUNTY MONEY

World War 1 - A Maritime War, Major Naval Events in the North Sea

World War 1 - Documentaries & Films, 1914 to 2008

Statistical Tables Relating to the War (included in the Royal Navy Estimates 1919-20)

THOSE WHO SERVED

ROYAL & DOMINION NAVY CASUALTIES, 1914-1918 , by Name and Date/Ship, including Royal Marines & RN Division

Addendum - selected ships, wounded and survivors, 1914-1918

by Don Kindell, US Researcher, compiled from Original Admiralty Documents

UNITED STATES NAVY, COAST GUARD & MARINE CORPS CASUALTIES, World War 1-era, by Name, Date/Ship, Branches. From contemporary sources

French Navy - 25 Sailors commemorated in a New York Cemetery

Royal Navy - Warships and Auxiliary Crew Numbers

Royal Navy - Badges of Rank for Officers, Men and Boys

Brief History of Warrant Officers in the Royal Navy by Lt Cdr G Mason

Flag Officers of the French Navy, 1914-1918

Regia Marina Italiana, Flag Officers,1915-1918

United States Navy - Officer Ranks and Enlisted Rates

Flag Officers of the United States Navy 1914-1918

Some of those who served:

Louis Bechennec, Fireman/Stoker, French Navy, including Serbian Evacuation

Thomas Crisp VC, DSC, Skipper RNR, HM Q-ship Nelson & the Hales Naval Family

Samuel R Hitchin, First Mate, SS Highland Brae, POW on German Kronprinz Wilhelm

John R Hunter, Lieutenant RNVR, Canadian Motor Launch skipper, photographic record

William T G Jones, Seaman, lost with collier SS Mersario, 1 October 1917

Beresford Richards, Surgeon Sub-Lt, RNVR, HMS Zubian and Dover Patrol, 1918

Harry Russell, later OBE, Executive Chef of the Cunard Line and his service on HMS Caronia, 1914-16

George W Smith (left) DSM, Chief Yeoman of Signals, 1888-1977, his service record

MEDALS

Victoria Cross at Sea, including RN Division 1914-1919

Albert Medal at Sea, including Merchant Navy 1915-1919

Medal of Honor, US Navy and Marine Corp, 1915-1918

Pour le Merite, the "Blue Max", Imperial German Navy, including naval aviation, 1914-1918

SHIPS and NAVIES

SHIPS OF THE ROYAL NAVY, 1914-1919

from the researches of F J Dittmar & J J Colledge and others

1. By NAME - Warships, Auxiliary Patrol vessels, Support vessels

2. By TYPE/CLASS

Warships - capital ships to submarines, Q-ships to motor launches

Auxiliary Patrol - hired yachts, Admiralty trawlers, hired trawlers, Fishery Reserve vessels, whalers, Admiralty drifters, hired steam and motor drifters

Support and Harbour vessels - includes misc patrol vessels, tugs, salvage, boom defence & mooring vessels, blockships, fleet auxiliaries, hospital ships, RIM transports

3. By NUMBER - all by Number and by Vessel Name

Pendant Numbers

Admiralty Numbers

Motor Boat Numbers

Fishing Port Registration Numbers

LOCATION/ACTION DATA

SHIPS OF THE ROYAL NAVY - LOCATION/ACTION DATA 1914-1918

QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
to British Warship Locations, 1914-19 at c. 6-monthly intervals, compiled from Admiralty "Pink Lists"

Log Books

Official Admiralty "Pink Lists" of Warship Positions

Battle Honours and Single-Ship Actions

"History of the Great War - Naval Operations"

Mainly Contemporary Books

Ship Distribution Lists

"Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906-1921"

Prize Money Awards

U.S. Elco-built Motor Launches

British Naval Vessels Lost, Damaged, Attacked, an update of "British Vessels Lost at Sea", HMSO, 1919. Includes all vessels identified in the individual accounts plus those in "Royal Navy Day by Day", 2005 edition

ROYAL NAVY LOG BOOKS OF THE WORLD WAR 1-ERA, 350,000 pages transcribed, all 318 ships now online, including Battle of the Falklands, Gallipoli, Mesopotamia, East Africa, China Station.

Follow this link for brief details of all 318 ships.

And follow this link to the archives of transcribed log book pages - go to Vessels, type in name, click on ship, "View all Logs").

BRITISH VESSELS LOST AT SEA including Naval, Merchant Ships and Fishing Vessels, from the original "British Vessels Lost at Sea, 1914-18", published by HMSO, 1919

An enlarged and corrected version of the original is in preparation with support from Dr Graham Watson, for which my thanks: