Summary May 31st 1916, off the coast of Denmark. 100 German battleships engage the British navy. The Brits are spotted around 5 30 PM, 19 kms away. Brits have 150 ships. This is the biggest naval battle in history to date.

In the 20th century, ships have become faster, stronger and deadlier. technology and tactics have both improved. They can see beyond the horizon, target accurately and carry deadlier weapons. Battleships were tough to sink, but cruisers could be had with a lucky shot. Submarines are introduces to introduce a whole new dimension to ocean warfare. In 19th century, British Navy dominated the oceans. They are the worlds largest colonial empire. 67% of its food is imported and exported on ships. Their biggest ship, The HMS Victory was made of 6000 oak trees. But in 1850's the industrial revolution is underway. HMS warrior is the first ship built with an Iron hull. The iron armor protects the ship from cannonballs and makes it immune from enemy fire. France and US also work on their steel battleships.

within a generation, ship change from wooden, powered by wind and with muzzle loaded cannons, to ironclad ships, powered by steam engines, with automatic cannons. In 1883, Paris builds the Eiffel Tower. Its architect Maxime Laubeuf he decides to take on the challenge of conquering the oceans. He builds the first submarine, an electric submersible with a range of 50 kms. Laubeuf combines a steam engine with the batteries to increase the range of the submarines. Submarines had to be round to withstand pressure under water, but they capsized on the surface. Laubeuf creates a design with a round inside hull, but also an outside hull with the shape of a regular ship to provide stability on the surface. His prototype the Narwhal wins the design competition by France and is put into production.

Undewater, Submaries are impervious to surface fire and their torpedoes are deadly. Laubeuf's designs shape the submarines for generations to come. At the start of the 20th century, Europe is embroiled in an arms race. In 1904, France and England form an alliance. They both dislike Germany, who is building a navy to match both Britain and France. Their King Kaiser Wilhem II dreams of having his own colonial empire. Navy is his obsession. John Fisher is the Brit Admiral. He knows he has the larger fleet, but his fleet is scattered all over the world to protect Britains colonies. He starts to modernize the navy. He standardizes all guns on ships to only the largest caliber. He designs the Dreadnought class of ships. Launched in 1906, it was the largest battleship ever. The ship has 10 cannons (previous ships had max 4). His ships have a steel armor. he also designs the battle cruisers, which are the fastest battle ships in the world. Cruisers are dreadnoughts without the armor. Many British admirals object to the low armor, but Fisher wins the argument and they into mass production.

Germany is catching up, they already have the 2nd largest fleet in the world. Fisher sees Germany as a threat and wants a pre-emptive strike. The King of England refuses and Fishers retires in 1911. The war that Fisher predicted, started in 1914. Germany attacks Europe. Britain blockades the German fleet, which deprives the country of food. Germany deploys U-boats in 1915 and starts sinking the British merchant fleet. At their height, they sank 25% of merchant ships headed to England. German U-boats had periscopes to see above water. Due to their success, Germany ramps up u-boat production. In May 1915, German U Boat sink the Lusitania. More than 1000 people & crew perish. More than 100 are American citizens. US threatens to join the war effort against Germany. Germany agrees to a law compelling submarine to check merchant cargo and allow the crew to escape, before sinking the ship.

German fleet in the Mediterranean is based at Austrian port of Pola. They have the U-35, which is twice as long as the Narwhal at 65m, has 4 torpedo tubes and can stay submerged for 16 hrs straight. It has a gun on deck. The British arm their merchant fleet, which starts hunting for German submarines and attacks them when they surface to inspect them. Meanwhile, due to the blockade, famine looms in Germany. May 1916, Germany decides to end the blockade by steaming their Navy out of port and engaging the British fleet. The 2 fleets find each other by chance. Gemran use the rangefinders to calculate the distance of the enemy fleet. The Germans attacks at 6:43 am. The British are caught off guard. On the first day, British fleet loses half of their cruisers. But just then, the British main fleet joins the battle. Germans now know that they cannot win the battle. They retreat into the twilight. German sank more ships that the British, but the British fleet was far larger and could absorb the losses. Germans failed to break the blockade.

Germans intensify U-boat attacks to break the deadlock. In Feb 1917, they announce all out submarine warfare. They rules they signed upto are junked. They want to starve Britain into submission before the US joins the war effort. They start sinking 25% of British merchant fleet. The US is alarmed as Britain was only a few months away from surrender. US declares war on Apr 6th 1917. Allies start bunching merchant ships in convoys (since they only had 200 destroyers and 1000 merchant ships) and protecting convoys with destroyers and dreadnoughts. Destroyers move at 70 kmph, twice as fast as a u-boat. They also have depth charges to sink submarines underwater. Convoys reduce shipping losses by 75%.

Left with no choice, Germany orders a final battle in Oct 1918. The fleet is ordered out of port. The sailors know that this is suicide mission, and they refuse to sail. They revolt and start a revolution. In Nov 1918, the German Govt requests an armistice. The allies impose strict conditions. They intern the German fleet at Scotland.

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