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The only comparative analysis available of the great navies of World War I, this work studies the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, the German Kaiserliche Marine, the United States Navy, the French Marine Nationale, the Italian Regia Marina, the Austro-Hungarian Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine, and the Imperial Russian Navy to demonstrate why the war was won, not in the trenches, but upon the waves. It explains why these seven fleets fought the way they did and why the war at sea did not develop as the admiralties and politicians of 1914 expected.
After discussing each navy’s goals and circumstances and how their individual characteristics impacted the way they fought, the authors deliver a side-by-side analysis of the conflict’s fleets, with each chapter covering a single navy. Parallel chapter structures assure consistent coverage of each fleet—history, training, organization, doctrine, materiel, and operations—and allow readers to easily compare information among the various navies. The book clearly demonstrates how the naval war was a collision of 19th century concepts with 20th century weapons that fostered unprecedented development within each navy and sparked the evolution of the submarine and aircraft carrier. The work is free from the national bias that infects so many other books on World War I navies. As they pioneer new ways of viewing the conflict, the authors provide insights and material that would otherwise require a massive library and mastery of multiple languages. Such a study has special relevance today as 20th-century navies struggle to adapt to 21st-century technologies.
Vincent P. O’Hara is the author of The German Fleet at War, The U.S. Navy Against the Axis, and Struggle for the Middle Sea all published by Naval Institute Press. He lives in Chula Vista, CA. W. David Dickson is the author of The Battle of the Philippine Sea and lives in Hernando, MS. Richard Worth is the author of Fleets of World War II, In the Shadow of the Battleship, and Raising the Red Banner. He lives in Bolivar, MO. All three writers also edited the Naval Institute Press’s On Seas Contested: The Great Navies of the Second World War.
~ Advance Praise for To Crown the Waves ~
“To grasp what happened at sea during World War I, you need to go beyond the battles and the ships to see how the various navies of World War I expected to fight (and how that differed from what they experienced) and how they were organized to do so. This book is a unique and vital contribution to our understanding of the war at sea in 1914–18.”
—Norman Friedman, author of British Cruisers of the Victorian Era and Naval Weapons of World War One
“In To Crown the Waves, Vince O’Hara has led a team of experts in their particular fields in writing a uniform and comprehensive study of each of the major and minor navies of World War I. Each navy is described, from their history to their warships and their design; ports and resources that they had available; their training, strategic and tactical doctrine, and conduct of the war on, over, and under the waves, all supported with numerous tables. As such, this is an excellent introduction to the navies of all of the major and minor powers of World War I and will surprise the ‘expert’ with nuggets of new information on the navies of this era.”
—Jack Greene, coauthor of Hitler Strikes North: The Nazi Invasion of Norway & Denmark, April 9, 1940
“To Crown the Waves is a welcome addition to the naval literature of World War I. It provides a concise survey and evaluation of the major navies that goes well beyond mere lists of warships. The chapters are written by experts in their fields, and most readers are likely to learn much that they had not known before.”
—Paul G. Halpern, Professor Emeritus, Florida State University and author of A Naval History of World War I
