Minefields at Sea...

5fish

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Here naval minefields of the World wars... North Sea Mine Barrage was laid late in the war...


The North Sea Mine Barrage, also known as the Northern Barrage, was a large minefield laid easterly from the Orkney Islands to Norway by the United States Navy (assisted by the Royal Navy) during World War I. The objective was to inhibit the movement of U-boats from bases in Germany to the Atlantic shipping lanes bringing supplies to the British Isles. Rear Admiral Lewis Clinton-Baker, commanding the Royal Navy minelaying force at the time, described the barrage as the "biggest mine planting stunt in the world's history."[1] Larger fields with greater numbers of mines were laid during World War II


Finally, in the autumn of 1917, the British began at least to entertain the idea of a barrage. The impelling factor was the development by the Americans of a mine, the Mark VI, “peculiarly adaptable for use against submarines.”2 Also, as the British were seeking more and more resources from the Americans, it was good to appear to value their key naval ally’s opinions. As a result, when Admiral Alfred T. Mayo, the commander in chief of the Atlantic Fleet, led a Navy mission to England in September 1917, the British gave the barrage what Mayo considered to be qualified approval: If the U.S. provided the mines and skilled personnel to assemble them, the British would cooperate.


Here an article about Sea Mines before 1919...

https://maritimearchaeologytrust.org/naval-sea-mines/

The Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War project identified large numbers of ships lost to naval sea mines off the South coast of England. The history of these deadly devices and how they were deployed is explored here by Maritime Archaeology Trust (MAT) volunteer, Roger Burns.

The history of naval sea mines goes back further than you might suppose – Chinese records indicate the use of naval explosives in the 16th century, but these were rudimentary underwater devices triggered by shore-based personnel against Japanese pirates, so used near land. During the American Revolutionary War in 1777, devices termed ‘floating explosive torpedoes’ were set adrift in the Delaware River, the target being British ships; they succeeded in sinking HMS Cerberus, killing four crew. From the mid-19th century, sea mines were used by the Russians in the Baltic, the Americans in their Civil War 1861-1865, and during the Crimean 1853-1856 and Russo-Turkish Wars 1877-1878. Development continued into the 20th century during the Boxer Rebellion 1899-1901 and the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905. Naval Weapons provides a historical summary of British Naval mines from the second half of the 19th century, and at the start of the First World War.

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From First World War records, 15 of the German Type UCI Coastal Minelayers Class submarines were commissioned by 1916. They carried 12 mines and one machine gun with 150 rounds, but no torpedo tubes or deck gun. UC-5, shown below, was commissioned on 19 December 1915. By 27 April 1916 when it was captured after grounding on the Shipwash Shoal, 21km north of Margate, it had sunk 30 ships and damaged a further seven. 64 of the Type UCII submarines were commissioned, with seven torpedoes, 1x88mm deck gun with 133 rounds, and 18 Type UC200 mines. And 16 of the Type UCIII submarines were commission between 1916 and 1918, with seven torpedoes, 1x88mm deck gun with 230 rounds, and 14 UC200mines in six 1mØ tubes.

 

rittmeister

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we got a lot of types
 

5fish

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we got a lot of types
from your link...

Before the end of WWI 375 U-boats of 33 separate classes belonging to 7 general types had been commissioned. Additional boats were finished after the war, the last one being UB-133 in April 1919.
 

rittmeister

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from your link...

Before the end of WWI 375 U-boats of 33 separate classes belonging to 7 general types had been commissioned. Additional boats were finished after the war, the last one being UB-133 in April 1919.
uboat.net is the goto site for anything u-boot

you had 72
 

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Here is the account of a battle between a U.S. sub and a German sub in WW One...

 

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The Mediterranean sea became a submarine warfare zone in WW One... and mines...


The Germans realized that the Mediterranean was an excellent theater for submarine operations against merchant shipping. The weather was generally far easier to operate in than the North Sea, there were certain choke points where shipping routes converged, and at first little unity among the Allies in countering the threat. The Mediterranean had another advantage: American ships were less likely to be encountered here, sparing the Germans the diplomatic repercussions. The Germans increased the number of submarines operating in the Mediterranean until there were two flotillas operating from the Austrian bases of Pola and Cattaro at the beginning of 1918.
 

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5fish

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This guy sunk over a hundred ships... in wwOne..

Lothar von Arnauld de la Periere.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lothar_von_Arnauld_de_la_Perière

Vizeadmiral Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière (German: [ˈloːtaʁ fɔn ʔaʁˈnoː də la peˈʁi̯ɛːɐ̯]; March 18, 1886 – February 24, 1941), born in Posen, Prussia, and of French-German descent, was a German U-boat commander during World War I. With 194 ships and 453,716 gross register tons (GRT) sunk, he is the most successful submarine captain ever. His victories came in the Mediterranean, almost always using his 8.8-cm deck gun. During his career he fired 74 torpedoes, hitting 39 times.[1]

Here a list of wwone sub commander and thier numbers... Donitz only sunk 5 ships... there were a few that sunk over 100 ships...

.
 

rittmeister

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This guy sunk over a hundred ships... in wwOne..

Lothar von Arnauld de la Periere.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lothar_von_Arnauld_de_la_Perière

Vizeadmiral Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière (German: [ˈloːtaʁ fɔn ʔaʁˈnoː də la peˈʁi̯ɛːɐ̯]; March 18, 1886 – February 24, 1941), born in Posen, Prussia, and of French-German descent, was a German U-boat commander during World War I. With 194 ships and 453,716 gross register tons (GRT) sunk, he is the most successful submarine captain ever. His victories came in the Mediterranean, almost always using his 8.8-cm deck gun. During his career he fired 74 torpedoes, hitting 39 times.[1]

Here a list of wwone sub commander and thier numbers... Donitz only sunk 5 ships... there were a few that sunk over 100 ships...

.
you can call 195* over 100, i'd call it nearly 200 - my link above has a list of those ships



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* i certainly trust uboat.net way above wikipedia on that stuff
 

5fish

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I found out why Germany lost WWOne, communications. The Brits cut all their under sea cable lines...


CS Alert, or HMTS Alert, was a cable-laying ship that had a significant role in World War I. She was launched in 1871 for the Submarine Telegraph Company with the name The Lady Carmichael. In 1890 the ship was acquired by the General Post Office (GPO) as part of the nationalisation of the British telegraph network. At the outbreak of World War I, Alert was immediately dispatched to cut German telegraph cables in the English Channel, seriously damaging Germany's ability to securely communicate with the rest of the world. Alert was taken out of service as a cable ship in 1915 but her cable-handling gear was retained for fitting on her replacement. After the war, she worked as a merchant ship under various names, finally being wrecked at Redcar under the name Norham in 1932.

Here is this...


Bourdeaux and the Alert were undertaking one of the first strategic acts of information warfare in the modern world. A few hours later, the Alert had cut off almost all of Germany's communications with the outside world. It had hit the kill switch.
 
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