Themes

Conflict and Change

• Introduction

• In Focus: 1900

• In Focus: World War One

  • Surface Fleet

  • Submarines

  • Royal Marines

  • Fleet Air Arm

• In Focus: Interwar

• In Focus: World War Two

• In Focus: Post War Conflict

• In Focus: Cold War Climate

• In Focus: Falklands and Beyond

• Special Exhibition: Falklands 25

Learning

• How To: Understand Propaganda

• Propaganda Image Galleries

• Education Project: Sea With Your Own Eyes

North Sea Campaign

• Introduction

• Heligoland Bight

• Sinking of the German battleship 'Hela'

• U Boat threat

Heliogoland Bight

HMS D5 became the first submarine to fire a torpedo in the conflict. She sighted the German cruiser 'Rostock' in the Heligoland Bight during the first few weeks of the war and fired two missiles at the ship, although they unfortunately passed underneath the target.

The First Battle of Heligoland Bight was the first naval battle of World War One, fought on 28th August 1914. The Royal Navy mounted an attack on German coastal patrols off the northwest German coast, using the force of destroyers and submarines based at Harwich. The battle ended in a British victory, whilst Germany lost three light cruisers, with 1242 casualties and 712 men killed. However, the battle proved that the submarine performed better as a lone weapon rather than in joint actions.

Admiral Jackie Fisher declared the entire North Sea a military area in 1915 and greatly increased the effectiveness of the blockade on German ports. Submarines increasingly worked as minelayers during 1916 and operated in the hazardous waters near the German coastline. Such patrols proved successful and the German High Seas Fleet rarely ventured into the North Sea for fear of what lay lurking in these waters.

Related External Links

• Royal Navy Submarine Museum