Sea and Air war WW`

The airplane, regarded by military authorities in 1914 as little more than a novelty, became over the next four years a military necessity. Remarkable technical advances in aerial warfare enabled the aircraft to fulfill ever-expanding functions. In the early stages of the war aircraft were used largely for reconnaissance, to observe enemy troop movements and spot artillery, and to obtain photographs and motion pictures. Then came the bombers and fighters as airmen sought to destroy railroad centres and industrial targets far behind enemy lines, to destroy Zeppelin bases, and to hunt submarines at sea.

Vigilance of the British navy kept most of the German fleet bottled up in home ports, and at the same time British warships freed the seas of German commerce raiders. The rival fleets met only once, in the battle of Jutland off the coast of Denmark. The British suffered heavily in this encounter, but the decisive result was that the German battle fleet never again dared to leave its bases.

Deprived of the use of surface ships Germany increasingly resorted to submarine warfare to bring Britain to her knees. The German U-boat fleet preyed on enemy and often neutral ships, sank merchantmen on sight, and threatened the supply lines on which the survival of the Allies depended. Protests from the United States brought a reluctant promise in 1915 not to sink ships without warning, but this greatly reduced the effectiveness of the submarine as a weapon.By the end of 1916 the British blockade was beginning to be felt severely in Germany. In January 1917 the Germans, convinced they could starve Britain in five months, prepared to risk the American entry into the war. They resumed unrestricted submarine warfare.