Warships - Death at Sea

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.

WW II features aircraft carriers, battle cruisers, destroyers, submarines. Naval battles play out on surface, underwater and in the air. Carriers are a game changer. U-boats come up against Allied destroyers in the Atlantic, who are armed with hedgehogs and depth charges. Submarines had seconds to escape after being detected.

In 1919, German fleet (74 ships and their crew) was interned at Scapa Flow in Scotland. Brits didn't supply provisions, and the Germans had to fish for food. They weren't allowed to come off the ships. Predicting that the British wanted the ships as war payments, the German admiral decides to scuttle the entire fleet by opening up valves at the bottom of each hull. By the time the British react, 52 ships are sunk.

The German navy is no more and the resentment will fester for yrs. US and Japan start building their fleets, while Britain is still the largest fleet in the world. The Japanese pioneer with the aircraft career. At first, they are not seen as a threat as the capability of aircraft are not caught up with those of the carriers. Flight decks are too short, and installed over guns. But the Japs are convinced of their potential and continue to better their designs Japs knew in 1921 that their future enemy would be the USA and taught their cadets the same. AS a victor in WW 1, Japs took over German colonies in the pacific and posed a threat to US influence in the region. In 1933, Hitler becomes the chancellor of Germany. He scraps the peace treaty and begins rearming Germany and builds a new navy.

Germans bring new tech like welding the armor, instead of riveting it. This reduces weight by upto 20% and makes the ships faster. Germans plan to build 10 battle ships, 8 aircraft carriers, 160 smaller warships, and 249 submarines. Bizmarck and Turpitz are 251 m long and the biggest ships in Europe. They were fast at 55 kmph. Germans planned to build the entire Navy by 1947, but Hitler was impatient. He was a land animal, and didn't understand navies. By 1939, the fleet is only 20% complete. On 1st Sep 1939, Hitler attacks Poland. Money is poured into the army. The navy gets nothing. In May 1940, Germany begins the invasion of France. Due to the speed of the German advance, many french ships sail for England. but 2 days later France sues for armistice with Germany and most of their fleet is still in Algeria (France is the world's 4th largest fleet).The British take over the French ships in England and sink the fleet in Algeria after the French refuse to hand over their ships to Britain. This attack kills 1297 French soldiers.

Charles De Gaulle launches the free French forces. In May 1941, Bismarck sails on its first mission to destroy British convoys in the Atlantic. British dispatches the HMS Hood to counter the Bismarck. Bismarck hits HMS hood and kills 1421 sailors. The British bring an armada of 42 battleships and 2 aircraft carriers to stop the Bismarck. A plane spots the Bismarck and drops a torpedo, which hits the ship from behind. The Bismarck's rudder gets wedged in its propeller, so it can only go around in circles. The next morning the British fleet moves in and sinks the ship. Of the 2311 sailors, only 111 survive. Hitler dispatches his submarines to throttle the Atlantic. The type 7-C carries 5 torpedo tubes (4 forward, 1 rear). They start dominating the Atlantic, while Japanese attack Pearl Harbor on Dec 7th, 1941. They deploy aircraft carriers including the Akagi (which was a destroyer converted into a carrier), with 66 planes. The flight deck is only 260 m. Japs trained extensively for the mission. Overall, 353 aircraft participated in the mission. At Pearl 185 ships were at anchor. 8 battleships. All 8 are sunk or damaged. 2403 sailors died. 4 days later, Hitler declares war on the US. But now the Brits have ASDIC (a precursor to sonar). But ASDIC can only detect submarines ahead of the ship and they can only attack once the destroyer is ahead of the submarine. So, submarines can escape, if they dive really deep, really fast, since the shock-waves from the depth charges travel upwards and not downwards. Submarines got 30 secs to dive

After Pearl, US starts to arm itself. Women work the factories as men are fighting in the armed forces. During Pearl, their carriers were at sea. US builds more carriers. In 1942, Japan captures large parts of SEA and prepares for a decisive battle with US at midway. The plan was to bomb midway, then have boots on ground. Japanese destroyers would keep the US carriers at bay, if they come to defend Midway. But US code breakers knew of the Japanese plans. So, when the Japs come, US planes from Midway attack the Japanese fleet and the dive bombers had already left base. 6 mins later, 3 Japanese carriers are in flames. 30 US pilots won the battle of Midway. Japanese start retreating from this point on.

Meanwhile Germans break the code used by Allied convoys. The German u-boats would lie in wait and then pick the ships one by one. They were so successful that Britain was running out of fuel. But then Britain introduces the hedgehog or a grenade launcher that shoots 24 of them at once, over a large area of water. It fires ahead of the destroyer, when the ASDIC locates the submarine. The tactic works and Allies destroy 25% of all German U-boats. Now, the goal is to land forces on the occupied beaches of Europe. On 6th June 1944, D Day starts. 150,000 troops are landed on the beaches of Normandy. Churchill and Roosevelt had their doubts about D-Day. But this was the only option. 10,500 allied soldiers die that day. The allies construct a harbor at Normandy, to land 12,000 tonnes of supplies every day.

In the Pacific, US now has 3000 warships. In 1944, 20 carriers come face to face at Coral Sea, in the biggest carrier battle in history. Japanese lose badly, but refuse to admit defeat. US prepares to invade Okinawa, and Japanese resort to suicide, Kamakaze, tactics. In Europe, Germany launches the type XXI submarine. They can stay underwater for 75 hrs. They have snorkels to run the diesel engines underwater. But it is too little, too late. Apr 30th, 1945, Hitler commits suicide in his bunker. May 8, 1945, Germany surrenders unconditionally. But the war in the pacific continues. Japan refuses to surrender. On Aug 6th, 1945, US drops the atom bomb on Hiroshima. Followed by a 2nd bomb on Nagasaki.

Nuclear age brings nuclear powered naval forces: carriers, submarines, frigates. In 1955, first nuclear powered submarine allowed crew to remain underwater forever. They can now launch ballistic missiles underwater, which are equipped with nuclear warheads. They can strike anywhere in the world and be undetected. So, navies improve their listening systems including underwater sonar cables, towed arrays on helicopters. Destruction was mutually assured and that was the only true deterrence.

In 1945, US was still fighting Japan in the Pacific after Germany surrendered. US invades Okinawa with 200,000 men after pounding it with naval artillery for 5 days. Japs send their fleet, including the Yamato, their largest battleship. She was ordered to ground itself at Okinawa and fight to the death. Yamato never gets to Okinawa and is sunk en-route. But 10,000 US soldiers die at Okinawa. 200,000 Japanese are killed. US project that invading Japan would mean 500,000 US deaths, and millions of Japanese. As the US prepares for an invasion, they transport a top secret cargo to Tinian Island. This was the atomic bomb. Aug 6th 1945, little boy is dropped on Hiroshima. 80,000 civilians are killed within hours. 3 days later US drop another bomb on Nagasaki. On Aug 15th, 1945 Emperor Hirohito announces Japanese surrender.

In the 50's Soviet leader Stalin consolidates his power. He plans 15 carriers, 21 capital ships, 90 cruisers, 222 destroyers and 489 submarines. But soviets knew 1 carrier = 1000 tanks. They scarp the carriers and the capital ships. They focus on building submarines. US meanwhile had 6000 ships, but didn't need as many during peace time. They gather 95 obsolete ships in Bikini atoll in 1946. This is the first nuclear test at sea. Most of the ships remain afloat, but the radiation levels are lethal. On Apr 9th 1949, NATO is born. Attack on 1 treaty state is considered an attack on all. They enemy is the soviets who is putting large sums into nuclear research. On Aug 29th, 1949, Soviets test their bomb.

The navies were once again critical to keep sea routes open in the event of an all out war. Soviets had the German Type XXI subs and had used them to develop state of the art submarine fleets. The US lay submarine cables all over the ocean to detect the soviet subs using sound waves. In 1955 Us launch the USS Nautilus, their first nuclear powered sub. It can stay underwater indefinitely. Soviets have their own nuclear sub in 1958. But the K3 was noisy and could be picked up by US built sensor cables. The Soviets only realize this in the 1980's. They start building a secret naval base in Cuba. In 1962, They had sends ships with nuclear tipped missiles to Cuba, to develop a deterrent against a pre-emptive US attack. US spy ships spotted the launching pads in Oct 1962. JFK announces a naval blockade of Cuba. But the Soviets blink and orders the removal of missiles from Cuba. The Cuban crises ends. The Soviets knew that US submarines were lurking off the Soviet coast, with nuclear ballistic missiles and any attack on US would lead to a devastation of the Soviet Union.

The US submarines work hard to be quieter. The boomers (ones carrying ballistic missiles) have a large patrol area. They are impossible to detect when idling on lowest power. The soviets don't have boomers, but develop submarines with cruise missile launchers with a range of 450 Kms. But the submarines had to remain on surface to pilot the missiles, which made them vulnerable to enemy attacks. The US also builds new carriers, with steam turbines, but nuclear weapons. In 1961, they commission the first nuclear powered carrier, the USS Enterprise. 342 m long and 78 m wide. Has 8 nuclear reactors. 62 kmph. Has catapults to launch jet planes in the air. Angled flight deck meant that take off and landing strips were separate. They also create an plane arrest wire system to capture the aircraft while landing. On an Operational readiness training day, a plane with a missile catches fire when a machines that place air-crafts in position, exhaust gets too close to the missile. The carrier fuel tank catches fire and explodes. If the nuclear reactors caught fire, it would radiate the nearby coast of Hawai. But the crew manages to get the fire under control. The Enterprise is saved.

The Enterprise serves in the Vietnam war to bomb targets in soviet supported North Vietnam. The navy develops speed boats and other smaller crafts (Patrol Craft Fast, or Swift Boats) to navigate the rivers of North Vietnam. Swift boats go at 39 kmph. But they had no protection, and 2 machine guns for offense. Crews frequently modify their boats to protect themselves. More guns, bullet proof vests over the hull, muffle the engines for stealth. After many yrs and casualties, US is forced to retreat from Vietnam.

In June 1974, US vessel Glomar Explorer officially looks for minerals on the ocean floor. But they are searching for a sunken Soviet sub, K-129. The fuel leaked and ate through the hull. The US knew where the sub was due to their underground sonar cables. US recovers 6 bodies, and parts of the submarine. In 1975 the US puts Nimitz class of carriers in service. But the soviet carriers had a different mission profile and were aimed at anti submarine operations. In 1981 US launches the Ohio class nuclear submarines with space for 24 ballistic missiles, each with upto 14 warheads. They are very quiet and cannot be detected underwater. In 1980's Soviets know about the underwater sonar system of the US and start hiding under the arctic ice. From there they can launch their missiles (which have range of 9000 kms) to any city on the globe. France develops their own nuclear subs. They also launch the F70 frigates, specifically for anti-submarine operations. They develop a towed sonar array to detect submarine sound patterns, without being clouded by the noise of the ship itself.

The Soviets develop anti-ship air-crafts such as the Tupolev-16. They carry cruise missiles with range of upto 700 kms. The Tupolev-22M was twice as fast as the Tupolev-16. This tenuous balance of firepower keeps world peace for several decades. But this is threatened in the late 1980's.

As the 21st century arrives, technology takes center stage in marine warfare. Soviet Union has collapsed and US are unchallenged on the seas. Drones. Terrorism emerges as a new enemy. China is a rising power. Russia is a developing a nuclear armed and nuclear powered torpedo, that can travel 1000's of kms to strike its target.

In 1987 Soviets launch the Kirov class of battle cruisers. They replace guns with missiles. 20 nuclear tipped. anti-ship missiles. each can take out a fleet of enemy ships. For defense, if carries anti aircraft and anti-ship missiles. US has no comparable battleships. But the soviets are going bankrupt by fueling the arms race. Ronald Reagan decides to bring back the US battleships. He brings back the IOwa class battleship and modernizes the USS Wisconsin. Tomahawk cruise missiles, which could be nuclear. Reagan modernizes 4 Iowa class ships and puts them into service, compelling the Soviets to track each one of them.

In 1990 Iraq invades Kuwait. US is compelled to intervene as its energy supplies are at risk. US attacks on Jan 17th 1991. USS Wisconsin is pressed into service. Tomahawks are deployed. along with the heavy guns on the ship. Pioneer drones are deployed for surveillance. After the gulf war, the Wisconsin is retired since the Soviets are no longer a super power. Soviets were forced to spend 3 times as much to match US firepower and this pushed them to bankruptcy. In Dec 1991, Gorbachev announces the disbandment of the soviet union. Russia inherits bulk of the fleet that it cannot afford. They were scrapped and sold for tonnage.

US is suddenly the only superpower in the world and has 10 large super carriers. each carrier is accompanied by cruisers, submarines and destroyers. But in 2000, terrorism emerges as a threat with an attack on Destroyer USS Cole (an Arleigh Burke class ship). Cole berthed at Yemen to refuel. A boat approaches the ship and explodes hundreds of kgs of explosives, blasting a hole in its hull. 17 sailors are killed and 39 injured. On Sep 11th 2001, world trade center is brought down by terrorists. In 2003 Us and its Allies attack Afghanistan. Even though weapons are very sophisticated, there are civilian casualties. The US conduct tests and simulations to see if their carriers are safe from small conventional submarines that can attack it underwater. The tests are conducted in 2005, but the results are kept top secret till date. The rouge submarine, is able to penetrate all the protective screens around the carrier and is able to launch dummy torpedoes at it. A small conventional sub defeats $ 6.2 Bn ship and 5000 men.

Pirates are a new threat to ships and navies all over the world. Navies deploy frigates to protect their merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden against Somalian pirates. New age frigates, such as the French Lafayette, are made from composite materials which reduce its radar cross-section and make them invisible to the enemy. But ships do make a wake, and wakes are easily seen on radar. Ships are armed with close range arms to deter pirates. If a merchant ship is captured, special forces are deployed via helicopters. Pirates captured are not brought to justice as no country wants to prosecute them, so they are released after 12 hrs. So, their equipment is destroyed, and the pirates are let go.

Increasingly China is improving its presence on the world seas. They want to become a major naval power and invest billions in their navy. They purchase an unfinished Ukrainian ship and convert it into the country's first aircraft carrier. Liaoning enters service in 2012. It has a steam engine, and doesn't have enough power for catapults. So it has a ramp and planes rely on their jet engines for takeoff power. It carries 40 planes and 14 helicopters. But in 2013, US launches the USS Gerald Ford, a $ 13 Bn super carrier. carries 75 planes, 8 helicopters. Has electro-magnetic catapults. But China is determined to close the gap. Russia is re-entering the game too. Putin revives the Russian economy with crude oil sales. he then pours money into modernizing the armed forces. 2 of the Kirov class battleships are being modernized. They also deploy a long range nuclear armed and powered torpedo, called the Poseidon. It can travel thousands of kms over great depth. It can be exploded underwater to create a giant tsunami that will radiate the entire east coast of the US and make in inhabitable for decades to come.