Fighting the Great War at Sea

Strategy, Tactics and Technology

By: Norman Friedman

Narrated by: Tom Perkins

Length: 30 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

While the overriding image of World War I is of the bloody stalemate on the Western Front, the overall shape of the war arose out of its maritime character. It was essentially a struggle about access to worldwide resources, most clearly seen in Germany's desperate attempts to counter the American industrial threat, which ultimately drew the United States into the war. 

This radical new book concentrates on the way in which each side tried to use or deny the sea to the other, and in so doing describes rapid wartime changes not only in ship and weapons technology but also in the way naval warfare was envisaged and fought. Melding strategic, technical, and tactical aspects, Friedman approaches World War I from a fresh perspective and demonstrates how its perceived lessons dominated the way navies prepared for World War II.

©2014 Norman Friedman (P)2019 Tantor

Planning the Great War at sea

This should be titled "Planning the Great War at Sea", not Fighting it. There is FAR more detail given to the planning and considerations for each potential engagement, than is given to the engagement itself. I will concede that it does help to explain why the Royal Navy sacrificed safety procedures for speed at the Battle of Jutland, with the known and unfortunate consequences.

It's almost entirely about the Royal Navy and the German Navy, with a focus on every tiny thing that happened in the North Sea. Any other countries get an occasional mention, at best.

This should really be thought of as a textbook, with vast amounts of dry facts and pretty uninteresting details. If you want to know why things were designed or built they way they were, you'll learn it here, but I can't really say that it's gripping stuff. For example, I think there was an hour and a half on the planning and wrangling over the designs of the German battleships that were built every year 1900-1918. "But for 1908 the tonnage was increased to... with x number of y inch diameter guns, <insert three minutes on preferences by various planners and admirals>, however the Kaiser intervened to stipulate..." and so on.

The actual battle scenes felt glossed over. Even the Battle of Jutland was dull and it was unclear what was happening.
Maybe we're too used to The History Channel pulling out and emphasizing the most interesting aspects, but with this book it was like the smallest and largest engagements were given the same treatment, to come out with approximately equal importance. So, most of the battle-time is given to minor sorties in the North Sea.

As I said, the author seemed a lot more interested in the factors that contributed to how and why the commanders approached a situation, than the situation itself. Which does help to explain why they did what they did, but it's a lot to get through, until you reach that point.

To be fair, it does have chapters on the submarine war and the Gallipoli campaign but they felt more like facts without the usual analysis.

If you want the War at Sea across the entire Great War, I'm sure a lot is missing here, but if you want to know everything about how Britain and Germany planned operations in the North Sea, and you have substantial patience, you'll find everything you want to know in this book.

An excellent book.

As the cover suggests this book covers the strategy , tactics and technology used by the English , Germans and to a lesser extent the Americans up to and during the first world war.
If you are looking for adventure stories of the naval battles of the first world war then this book is not for you.
However if you are interested in the technology and strategy used then this book is excellent.
It opened my eyes to the amount of planning required to implement an operation and shows how battles at sea can be a real chess match.
I learned a lot of interesting facts and it really open my eyes to the huge scope of the naval side of the first world war. The only reason I did not give it 5 stars was the I felt it did not cover the range finding, gun and torpedo aiming in as much detail as it deserved, but the amount of research that went into this book is extraordinary.

It's a deep dive

This book is an exhaustive look at both the weapons and ideology of the first world War. The time period sees both wireless radio telegraphs and semaphore flags being used in combat. The men involved didn't yet understand how to use their new weapons or how the enemy intended to use theirs.

Best WWI book I’ve read

Has all the nuts and bolts stuff missing from most popular titles. Can be a bit dry - if you’re looking for soldiers’ stories and poetry quotations, this isn’t your book.

incredibly detailed, but somnolent narration

incredibly well researched and addresses almost all aspects of the European naval war, with good observations at the conclusion, but the narration is so dry and emotionless it almost put me to sleep while driving

Great Overview of Naval Action in World War 1!

This was an excellent audiobook of the maritime aspects of World War 1. I recommend this Audible audiobook.

Super deep dive

This book is NOT for those who don’t already deeply understand WW1 naval warfare. It barely covers operations but more the logistical considerations and the advancement of naval technology both before and during the war.

A great read for understanding technical & tactical information regarding naval strategy in WWI

This book is a great read as the title suggests. My only qualm is that by the last chapter, it gets a little tedious.

A great discussion of the subject!

The comprehensive way the subject was approached added immensely to my limited knowledge base. From nuts and bolts to the thinking of fighters and politicians, this work fills in a lot of the ongoing competition at sea in the early twentieth century .

Good first draft

This book is fine if one already knows the history of WWI, especially from a nautical point of view. Do not listen to this to try to understand what happened. This book is full of details, but no story to tie those facts together. The author assumes the reader is familiar with what happened in the battles, where and why they were fought. If your objective is to find out what happened on the high seas in WWI, this book will only frustrate. An eminence disappointment.
If you are like me looking for an explanation as to what happened in WWI at sea, this book will be an excellent sleep aid.