Defeating the Kaiser’s U-boats: British Anti-Submarine Weapons, 1914-1918

Although primitive submarines had been used in action as early as the American War of Independence (1775-1783), it was not until around 1900 that technology had advanced sufficiently to make them a real threat to major vessels.

But even by August 1914, the Imperial German Navy had only 33 operational U-boats, and these were regarded as very much secondary to the battleships of the High Seas Fleet. Their low priority was reflected in the fact that the pre-war German naval construction programme included provision for a total of only 72 U-boats by 1920. (At the outbreak of war, on the other hand, the Royal Navy had 74 operational submarines.)

below A German U-boat shells a British merchantman in the First World War. German submarines represented a new kind of maritime warfare and a mortal threat to British supply-lines. — A German U-boat shells a British merchantman in the First World War. German submarines represented a new kind of maritime warfare and a mortal threat to British supply-lines.

In contrast to German doubts about the viability of submarine warfare, a few senior British naval officers clearly saw the potential threat to the Empire’s trade routes. In July 1914, Admiral Sir Percy Scott wrote a letter to The Times stating that:

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