U. S. Air force Academy Professor chuck steele talks about the state of the british grand fleet and the activity of submarines and argues that the actions of admiral william sims. His class is just over 50 minutes. Go ahead and take your seats. Okay. So were going to close out world war i talking about the american contribution and close out the lesson today by talking about william sims, one of the more neglected figures in military history as per the article i sent you, kind of comes off, you know, a distant second to pershing if that and so today this is a sea power class, well talk about the significance of sims and, you know, possibly get in to arguments as to who really made the more relevant contribution. That is sims, as you guys know, from being looking at the article. The painting is return of the mayflower. That shows the first group of american destroyers after we had entered the war arriving in ireland to begin operations against the german submarines. So its sort of the most important figure for us in terms of getting those ships in to place. Of course, unlike the other figures that weve discussed, sims isnt going to actually operate operational control. Hes going to hand that off to admiral bailey, the royal navy, which is, again, something thats at odds with the way that the army would be operated for the most part in the war. But he had a good deal of confidence in the british and their abilities to serve as effective commanders. So anyway, lets move on and talk about what were going to go through. Were going to talk a little bit why the contributions of the naval forces are central to the allied victory in the war and well do review talking, once again, about what do the oceans mean to the various combatants. And then what are the limitations of british sea power because it seems rather impressive, all the things that the british were able to do. And then well talk about sims and what his contributions are specifically and then if we have some time, well talk about the significance of the American Experience in world war i and what that means Going Forward as we set up the next few lessons. All right. So just as a matter of review, unlike the war on land, not so many engagements, right . Most of the readings that you had dealt with jutland because its the most significant of the engagements but you had the grand fleet involved and smaller vessels from both fleets and engagement in august of 14. Coronado in the pacific cost about 1500 plus casualties for the british, a disaster for the british. But then that same fleet, the asiatic squadron makes its way into the atlantic and they come in to contact with the British Force of battle cruises or built around heavy cruisers and the germans get mauled and lose close to 2,000 people. So after that, dogger bank in 1915 and then jutland in 1916. Thats pretty much it. And if we look at jutland, what do we think of jutland . Is it the germans like to hail it as a tactical success. Youre laughing, mr. Ryan. Yes. Why are you laughing . Tactical success doesnt matter so much in the Bigger Picture as outcome. If youre the germans, what makes you think that you succeeded in this fight . Didnt get destroyed by the royal navy . You werent completely destroyed . You scored victories on a few british ships. The death toll stands in favor of the germans. The destruction and damage to ships stands in favor of the ships but did they achieve the Operational Results that they were looking for . Where do they end up at the end of the battle . So its a strategic change that changed . Not at all. No. All right. And that kind of brings us to in terms of reviews, we think about the dimensions and traditionally traditionally, throughout this course at this point, where does war at sea occur . In world war i they havent really moved in to air assets as much because we havent started developing carriers or anything like that but germany obviously uses heavy emphasis on uboats when they are trying to choke out the british commerce and so thats really their alternative to having to go out and engage the grand fleet. Yeah. Whats the purpose of the grand fleet . What are they trying to achieve . What kind of operations are they engaged in . Basically, trying to limit what the germans are capable of. Its a reactionary mindset. All right. But essentially the british are doing what with the grand fleet . Deterrent to contain germany to the north sea. A term specifically designed for this, blockade. So if youre the germans, yeah, youre vulnerable to the british because they have a bigger fleet, a much bigger fleet. Is britain vulnerable . As per the questions that we went over before, does the ocean offer any possibilities to the germans as far as dealing with the british or do they have to play the same game that the british are playing . The best option for getting out of war. Why is that . What is the ocean to britain . It brings an island. [ inaudible ]. Thats what theyve invested most of their military spending in is their sea power. So if youre the germans, you essentially take britain out of the war with a decisive battle if that ever happened. I think the other aspect, adding on to that, is sea is really britains lifeline. We know it has been for a long time because they dont sustain themselves just based on the resources of the island themselves. So if you constrain their shipping through boat warfare, youre going to hurt them pretty badly. Its a source of strength. You have the grand fleet and definitely superior to the high seas fleet. And you can impose an effective blockade but your command to the seas is, in a sense, limited to the surface and really to the area of the north sea because we talked about this before, i mean, you have to go with the distant blockade. Theres too many risks, threats. So you dont control the baltic. There are some limitations on british sea power. But the other thing is that theres now another dimension to be considered and that is submarines. Its operating beneath the surface. And so talk about it being the consequences of british dominance. You have the germans who are recognizing early on this is indeed a problem, that they are the second most powerful navy in the world or have the second most powerful navy in the world and thats by some distance. But you do have submarines and its a stealthy weapon. There arent so many countermeasures out there. The germans are going to launch three large submarines campaigns. I believe i sent them out to you. But theres some consequences that are associated with this as well. I mean, the germans meet with some success in setting up their own blockade. I mean, its not the same sort of blockade but youre trying to accomplish the same objectives. Cut the british off from commerce on the seas. But there are consequences. Whats the big deal about the lusitania . It killed 120 americans. You follow through this, i mean, why are the germans doing this . It seems so evil. Why does this become an issue . Its similar to the war of the weaker. You have to go asymmetric if youre the underdog when it comes to warfare. But what do we find particularly distasteful or displeasing about this . Youre killing civilians. Youre killing american civilians. Submarine warfare flies in the face of naval tradition, being grave and aggressive and meeting the enemy in open battle and you have a boat full of guy who can sink civilians, military members, whatever, without facing the danger in the same way. That sense of honor, i guess. Perhaps. And part of the issue is, you know, again, as per what i sent you folks, you know, there were expectations, right . I mean, what was supposed to happen . The uboats were supposed to confirm the target, one of the officer was looking at the manifest and then decide whether they were going to sink it after ward and the british ended up just arming their merchant minutes to gun at the uboats when it surfaced. If youre going to use these things as we come to sea, i think probably everybody is a bit more familiar with what happens in world war ii, but certainly a pattern is set. If youre going to try and do damage, you need to minimize the risks to your own people, right . So this causes some problems. Because, again, you issue warnings but its still going to be for the United States, what does this look like to us . It just looks like germans are gunning down civilians. Also value the seas so thats a direct threat on being able to be neutral and belligerent in this war. Britain is definitely restricting our freedom of the seas but this is restriction and doing material harm. And so what was the result of this submarine campaign . The germans continue . Are there pauses between these campaigns . They are afraid of larger action at sea by the allies. You have the potential to bring the United States in this war. The United States protests, right . And so this is something that the consequences as this thing is becoming a war of attrition, youve lost your chance for annihilation, is it becoming a war of attrition . The last thing you think youd want to do is involve an asian with the industrial capacity of the United States, although nothing like what it would be in world war ii but you still dont need any more enemies. Campaign of 1916, the United States is going to get upset again and so hes supposed to play by the rules as per discussion and so this isnt really going to go anywhere either. All right. So what are the consequences for and why do the germans, if you can remember back to history 100, why are the germans going to change their minds in 1917 . Whats the big deal . Whats going on by the time you get to 1917 . Theres starvation in germany. Its breaking the supply lines that need to be reopened to some degree, they need to regain access to this sea. If youre the germans, youre probably suffering more than anybody else, right . Youre fighting a twofront war, britain when we start this war without a doubt the greatest expression of british power is the grand fleet. But over time, i mean, youve got the population of the British Empire to draw from. Again, being in a war of attrition, you know, thats not really a good thing. On top of which you know, france is still burying the biggest brunt or bearing the brunt of all of this on the western front. And france is a formidable power. And so these things, in combination, if youre the germans, its a very tough situation. And you are running out of resources. And so this has become a war of attrition. And, you know, the charts, if you look at resources and manpower, they dont favor you in a war of attrition. And in the standard 100 class, the standard history 100 class, the core class, they talk about the big changes that the germans are making at the end of 1917, right . Move to an emphasis on destruction of the russians. Kind of a combination of military action and political action, getting lennon back in to russia so he would advocate for revolution. But going along the defense on the western front, the elastic defense, they also, in a sense, go on the offensive again. Okay . They go back to waging unrestricted warfare. So whats the calculus here . What do you have to consider . What are the consequences of a third submarine campaign . At this point in time, they are getting desperate. So the benefits of this are possibly driving someone out of the war, whether that be the United States or britain. Well, were not in yet, right . Uhhuh. But possibly keeping the United States out but more likely forcing britain out of the war at this point but then the opposite side of that is we could definitely encourage the United States. They could encourage the United States to come in to the war. Well, isnt that if you could sink enough British Goods coming across the channel in to europe with your uboats or moving around europe, you could cause economic problems for them. And then that pulls britain out of the war and would open up the seas to your fleet. But dont you kind of know that if you go this route, youre going to pull the United States in . I mean, the warnings have been made. The oceans are important to us. Right . So, you know, any return to unrestricted submarine warfare is going to have consequences. The germans pretty much know, its going to pull us in. But are you that afraid of the americans . If youre running out of resources, what kind of timetable do you give yourself . It took us a while and i think the germans are aware of that. Mobilization goes it happens quickly. I think what they are aware of, more than anything else, is how small the United States army is. If you look before world war i, whats the last Major Military expedition mounted by the United States army . Yeah. And how did that go . Terribly. Well catch you guys on monday. This week during American History tv primetime we feature our lek clurs in history series, taking you into College Classrooms across the country. Each night we debut a new lecture. Friday a look at how the u. S. Transportation system developed. We begin at 8 00 eastern with a development of parkways and freeways from an Iowa State University lecture. Then from the university of virginia, a look at the impact of cars on u. S. Cities. At 10 30 eastern, the development of the electric rail system taken from a Clemson University lecture. American history tv primetime friday. This weekend well explore the literary life and history of denver, colorado. On book tv we visit the Tattered Cover book store founded in 1971. Its considered the cornerstone of literary culture of denver. The original barnes and nobel superstores were modelled on this. Juan thompson talks about living with his father and his book stories i tell myself. You know, he was born in 1936. He didnt grow up in an era where fathers were typically heavily involved in raising kids, so that was part of it. Second, writing was an important thing, family was secondary, for sure. Also this weekend as part of our cities tour, some history of denver, colorado, on American History tv. National fish and Wildlife Service ranger on the rocky Flats Nuclear sites transition into a National Wildlife refuge. So we do have elk that use this area, they use the drainages for cabbing. We also have mill deer. Cocasually theres a bear in this area. And then kimberly field, author of the book the denver mint 100 years of gangsters, gold, and ghosts, talks about how the mint changed the city. By the 1880s, denver itself had gotten rich from mining, and it wanted to become the queen city of the plains, the center of commerce, the leader in the western United States. And the city fathers at that point decided that a mint they could be proud of was going to be part of that process. The cspan cities tour of denver, colorado, saturday at noon eastern on cspan2s book tv and sunday afternoon at 2 00 on American History tv on cspan 3 working with our cable affiliates and visiting cities across the country. Next we look at how world war 1 soldiers interpreted their war experiences. Profess professor ishenwood looks at ways soldiers coped to the