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Operation Albion

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So many believe post Jutland the High Seas Fleet sulked in its bases scared of its own shadow,  something we all know not to be true. Let's take one example of how the fleet still had some sharp teeth left after three years of war. In October 1917 the Germans executed a  naval operation  in the Baltic's Gulf of Riga. Russia was in the midst of revolutionary times and the army was equally disorganized, mutinous and large numbers were deserting to return to their homes. The choas allowed the German land forces to resume their advance eastwards and they captured both Riga and Dünamünde during early September. These success greatly enlarged the area of Courland coast then under German control, but it also turned the German eyes towards the prizes of Ösel and the other islands located within the Gulf of Riga. Russian naval forces retained control of the gulf, which exposed  the left flank of the German army, along  with the coast line  to naval...
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Lord Nelson Class Pre-Dreadnoughts

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The Lord Nelson class were  conceived at a time when the evolution of the battleship was undergoing radical changes. Lessons from the Russo-Japanese War (1904 to 1905) seemed to imply that in the future engagement ranges would increase to a distance where secondary batteries would be of far less important and maybe even redundant. It was also felt in some schools of thought  that the lower rate of fire from the big guns, at closer ranges and in poor viability, the intermediate calibre might overwhelm the all big guns ship.  We know in hindsight the all 'big-gun-ship' or the dreadnought was vindicated in the end, but at the conception of the dreadnought no one knew sure which way the battleship would evolve over the next decade. The Admiralty conceived the Dreadnought project, but also the Lord Nelson class at similar times.  A two horse race and if Dreadnought horse took a tumble, then nothing was lost, as they still had the Lord  Nelson's in the race. (The Lor...
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Dardanelles Submarine Campaign

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One of the world's narrowest straits open for  shipping is the Dardanelles in Turkey, which connects the Seas of Marmara and the  Mediterranean. It also allows a  passage on through into the Black Sea via the Bosporus. The Dardanelles are  38 miles long (61 kilometres) and  vary between 0.75 to 3.73 miles (1.2 to 6 kilometres) in width. It averages a depth of 180 feet (55 metres)  with a maximum depth of 338 feet (103 metres) at its narrowest point at the city of Çanakkale. The passage through the straits was for the fragile submersibles of the First World War, brutal. The straits offered both the defenses of nature and the Turkish additions to make it difficult.   The submarines had to contend at the 10 fathom mark with a deep stratum of fresh water that often made it nearly impossible to control the boat. This was to be an unwelcome surprise to the British submariners  on their first efforts to force their  away up the Turkish do...
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