Chapter Summaries

The British Expeditionary Force drove German troops from Le Havre with support from the Royal Navy, lifting British morale and giving them hope of holding the port until the decisive naval battle. General Kluck and Lieutenant General Ludendorff learned the scale of their losses and concluded they could not retake Le Havre without first dealing with the British fleet.

• General Haig reported that German forces had retreated from Le Havre under naval gunfire, and ordered continued shelling and surveillance.
• General Haig told Sir French that the British had driven the Germans out, while Sir French focused on whether they could hold Le Havre until the Royal Navy's decisive battle.
• The British troops celebrated their first victory over the Germans, and their morale began to recover.
• Lieutenant General Ludendorff reported that the German forces had lost nearly ten thousand men and more than five hundred artillery pieces in two hours.
• A staff officer reported that the British fleet included twenty-one Pre-dreadnoughts and thirteen Armored Cruisers, and Lieutenant General Ludendorff said the Germans had to drive the fleet away before they could continue the battle.

After British warships devastated the German attack on Le Havre, Wilhelm III learned that the army could not safely resume its offensive without countering the naval threat. He refused to send the High Seas Fleet south because Britain, France, and Italy appeared to be preparing a counterattack against the German Navy.

• Wilhelm III received Falkenhayn and Waldersee, who reported that British naval bombardment had halted the 1st Army Corps and 8th Army Corps’ assault on Le Havre.
• Waldersee said the German forces had lost more than ten thousand men and several hundred artillery pieces, and that their morale had suffered.
• Falkenhayn explained that the armies had withdrawn beyond the British fleet’s gun range and might be unable to capture Le Havre without neutralizing the threat.
• Falkenhayn asked Wilhelm III to send the High Seas Fleet south to defeat the British ships.
• Wilhelm III rejected the request because the German Navy needed its capital ships to guard against a possible British, French, and Italian counterattack.

With the British fleet’s bombardment preventing a German assault on Le Havre, Oscar rejected both a costly attack by obsolete German ships and a lengthy delay. He ordered carrier-based aircraft sent to Le Havre to strike the British fleet, leaving the army to rest and reorganize while protecting nearby airfields.

• Falkenhayn told Oscar that the German army had to halt its attack on Le Havre because British naval bombardment would make the losses intolerable.
• Waldersee proposed deploying German pre-dreadnoughts and armored cruisers against the British ships, and Falkenhayn supported the idea.
• Oscar rejected that plan as an unfair and needlessly costly use of the German Navy’s weaker ships, while Waldersee suggested waiting for the High Seas Fleet to resolve its crisis.
• Oscar warned that waiting would give the British time to evacuate the 300,000 troops at Le Havre, then proposed using carrier-based aircraft against the British fleet.
• Oscar ordered the 1st Army Corps and 8th Army Corps to rest and reorganize, directed them to protect the airfields around Le Havre, and said he would send carrier-based aircraft to attack the British ships.

Germany prepared to use its carrier-based aircraft against the British fleet supporting the defense of Le Havre. Vice Admiral Ingol arrived with four Carrier-based Aircraft Wings, leaving the British unaware that a major air strike was imminent.

• The German Navy developed the larger Kaiser Wilhelm-class carriers to operate fighters, bombers, and torpedo bombers, while its Carrier-based Aircraft Unit trained ahead of their entry into service.
• Oscar selected the Carrier-based Aircraft Unit to attack the British fleet of Pre-dreadnoughts and Armored Cruisers near Le Havre.
• Four Carrier-based Aircraft Wings redeployed from Germany to airfields near Le Havre.
• General Kluck and Lieutenant General Ludendorff welcomed Vice Admiral Ingol and his unit, hoping they would destroy the British warships.
• Ingol expressed confidence that the aircraft, armed with 250-kilogram Aerial Bombs and 450-millimeter Heavy Torpedoes, could defeat the British fleet.
• The British Expeditionary Force and Royal Navy celebrated stopping the German advance, unaware that an air attack was approaching.

The German Navy prepared a carrier-aircraft strike against the British fleet near Le Havre, while the British Expeditionary Force remained confident behind the fleet’s protection. The first German aircraft formation headed toward the British ships, leaving Sir French and General Haig alarmed and scrambling to warn General Cavisson.

• Vice Admiral Ingol told General Kluck and Lieutenant General Ludendorff that the British fleet was near Le Havre and that German carrier aircraft would attack it; he also reported that ten pre-dreadnoughts were sailing to support the assault.
• Sir French asked General Haig about morale in Le Havre, and Haig said the troops felt confident because they believed the Royal Navy could protect them.
• At nine o’clock on May 10, Vice Admiral Ingol ordered the 3rd and 4th Carrier-based Aircraft Wings to take off, sending 128 aircraft toward the waters west of Le Havre.
• Sir French and General Haig watched the German aircraft pass over Le Havre and realized they were likely targeting the Royal Navy fleet.
• Sir French ordered a telegram sent to General Cavisson to warn him of the approaching German aircraft.

Vice Admiral Cavisson ordered the British fleet to flee after learning that German aircraft had been deployed, but the German carrier planes caught the ships as they tried to disperse. Four German torpedo bombers attacked HMS Indomitable, leaving its captain shouting for the battleship to evade.

• Vice Admiral Cavisson received an urgent telegram warning that German aircraft had been deployed and ordered the British fleet to sail west at full speed.
• The British ships began turning around in confusion as German carrier aircraft appeared in the eastern sky.
• Cavisson ordered the fleet to disperse and evade the incoming German attack.
• A German carrier-aircraft commander signaled his planes to attack freely in squads of four.
• Four German torpedo bombers caught up with HMS Indomitable and launched torpedoes from less than five hundred meters away.
• The captain of HMS Indomitable shouted for the battleship to evade the approaching torpedoes.

German Navy carrier-based aircraft devastated the British fleet, sinking HMS Indomitable and HMS Montagu. The British ships had no effective way to defend themselves against the attacks.

• A German torpedo and bomb heavily damaged HMS Indomitable, leaving her flooded and on fire.
• Vice Admiral Cavisson learned that HMS Indomitable was heavily damaged and left the crew to decide how to respond.
• Further German aircraft attacks sank HMS Indomitable, the first British Navy Pre-dreadnought lost in the battle.
• British sailors recognized the power of German aircraft as the attacks continued to scatter and damage their ships.
• HMS Montagu’s captain ordered the battleship to increase speed, but the Chief Engineer warned the boilers could not take more strain.
• German Navy carrier-based aircraft caught HMS Montagu and sank her.

German carrier-based aircraft devastated the British fleet, sinking warships in successive waves of attacks. By the time the German air groups finished their final cleanup, almost no British warships remained afloat.

• Vice Admiral Cavisson ordered the British fleet to sail west and told its crews to hold out until German aircraft exhausted their ammunition.
• A bomb detonated HMS Devonshire’s magazine and destroyed the armored cruiser.
• German Navy Carrier Air Group 3 and the 4th Wing returned to rearm after sinking five battleships and four armored cruisers.
• German Navy Carrier Air Group 5 and the 6th Wing arrived and resumed the attack, shattering the British fleet’s morale.
• German Navy Carrier Air Group 3 and the 4th Wing returned for a final strike and sank the remaining British warships.

Vice Admiral Cavisson’s fleet lost its Pre-dreadnoughts and Armored Cruisers to German carrier-based aircraft and withdrew, ending its support for the British Expeditionary Force at Le Havre. Sir French, General Haig, and General Gough learned of the defeat and faced the coming German attack without confidence.

• Vice Admiral Cavisson watched the fleet’s losses and concluded that the Royal Navy could not defeat the German Navy.
• Cavisson told the staff officer to inform the Expeditionary Force that the fleet had lost all twenty-one Pre-dreadnoughts and thirteen Armored Cruisers and could no longer provide fire support.
• At Le Havre headquarters, Sir French asked General Haig whether the Royal Navy could withstand the German aircraft, and Haig replied uncertainly.
• Sir French received Cavisson’s Telegram reporting the fleet’s losses, leaving General Haig and General Gough stunned.
• Sir French asked whether the Expeditionary Force could withstand the German offensive without naval support, but Haig and Gough gave no answer.

The German Carrier-based Aircraft Unit destroyed the British fleet off Le Havre, restoring German morale and devastating the British Expeditionary Force’s confidence. On May 11, a German battleship fleet arrived offshore, leaving Sir French and his troops facing an imminent attack with little hope.

• Vice Admiral Ingol reported that the 3rd and 4th Carrier-based Aircraft Wings had sunk several British warships and that the 5th and 6th Wings were attacking.
• General Kluck, Lieutenant General Ludendorff, and Vice Admiral Ingol agreed to resume the attack on Le Havre after a German battleship fleet arrived to bombard the city.
• The Carrier-based Aircraft Unit sank all 21 British Navy Pre-dreadnoughts and 13 Armored Cruisers, along with several other warships, and German morale recovered.
• Sir French ordered the British Expeditionary Force to hold its defensive lines and organized Gendarmerie to stop soldiers fleeing toward the docks.
• German artillery resumed shelling Le Havre, and on May 11 a fleet flying German Navy flags appeared offshore, alarming the British troops and Sir French.

Rear Admiral Richter Fiers’s German fleet reached Le Havre too late to fight the British fleet, which the Carrier-based Aircraft Unit had already destroyed, so it began shelling the city to support the German army. The bombardment devastated British positions in Le Havre, leaving the British Expeditionary Force to endure the kind of naval fire it had previously inflicted on German troops.

• Rear Admiral Richter Fiers saw British troops and sailors fleeing Le Havre and regretted that his fleet had arrived after the Carrier-based Aircraft Unit sank the British ships.
• Richter Fiers ordered the ten German battleships to prepare to bombard Le Havre and told the 1st Army Corps and 8th Army Corps they could request targets.
• The German battleships opened fire with their main and secondary guns, targeting Le Havre’s western districts where the British Expeditionary Force had gathered.
• Explosions destroyed buildings, headquarters, and British positions, causing heavy casualties among the British troops.
• A British officer raged against the bombardment as the British Expeditionary Force suffered the same kind of naval shelling it had inflicted on German forces.

German naval guns devastated the British Expeditionary Force at Le Havre, leaving its troops demoralized and unable to resist. In the afternoon, German corps launched a massive assault, and the British defenses began collapsing immediately.

• General Kluck and Lieutenant General Ludendorff watched the German fleet bombard Le Havre and prepared the infantry to attack as soon as the shelling ended.
• German shells destroyed British defenses and shelters, killing large numbers of soldiers, including men buried when a 280mm shell struck a basement.
• Sir French, General Haig, and General Gough watched helplessly as British losses mounted and feared the force could not withstand the coming assault.
• After a morning of bombardment, German infantry launched an attack from five directions with more than a hundred thousand men.
• British units broke down when they encountered the German assault, and the battle began collapsing in Germany’s favor.

German forces captured nearly half of Le Havre as the British Expeditionary Force’s resistance collapsed. Sir French and other senior commanders escaped by submarine, leaving the remaining troops to surrender in large numbers.

• German troops overwhelmed British positions in Le Havre, and by the evening of May 11 they had captured nearly half the city.
• General Haig told Sir French that the British soldiers lacked the will to fight and could hold out only until the following evening.
• General Haig proposed surrendering the troops, while Sir French sought a way to escape capture.
• British Expeditionary Force Headquarters arranged for a submarine to evacuate Sir French, General Haig, General Gough, and a few others.
• After discovering their commanders had left, British troops surrendered to the Germans, often as entire units.

The British Expeditionary Force surrendered at Le Havre, and German commanders declared the battle over. Facing the worsening French position, President Poincaré and Prime Minister René Viviani agreed to continue the war for now, but only until the Combined Fleet’s decisive battle with the German Navy.

• More than two hundred thousand British Expeditionary Force soldiers surrendered to German forces at Le Havre, ending the battle.
• General Kluck and Lieutenant General Ludendorff welcomed the surrender and discussed the French army’s continuing retreat.
• President Poincaré and Prime Minister René Viviani warned that France’s prospects had become bleak after the British defeat.
• Marshal Joffre argued that a naval victory could bring colonial resources and American aid, while a French victory could recover the nation’s losses.
• Poincaré and Viviani agreed to persist in the war but said France must seek peace if the Combined Fleet failed to defeat the German Navy.

Churchill and Admiral John Jellicoe inspected the Allied fleet gathered at Morecambe Bay for a decisive battle against the German Navy. With Admiral Lame and Admiral Paul pressing to act, Churchill said the fleet was ready to put its plan into motion.

• The Royal Navy gathered its remaining warships alongside French and Italian vessels at Morecambe Bay, its last secure naval harbor.
• Churchill told Admiral John Jellicoe that the Allied fleet had assembled thirty-six Capital Ships and expressed confidence in defeating Germany.
• Churchill said he had blocked Cabinet efforts to punish Vice Admiral Cavisson for the losses at Le Havre, fearing harm to morale before the decisive battle.
• Admiral Lame and Admiral Paul arrived to represent the French and Italian fleets.
• Admiral Lame asked when the Allies could fight, and Churchill replied that the Combined Fleet was ready and its plan could begin.

Churchill and the Allied admirals formed a combined fleet under Admiral John Jellicoe to face Germany in a decisive naval battle. They planned to ambush the German Commerce Raiding Fleet four days later, hoping to weaken it before confronting the German main fleet.

• Churchill announced that Vice Admiral Martin’s twelve battleships were ready to return to Britain for the decisive battle.
• Churchill proposed a Combined Fleet under Admiral John Jellicoe, with Admiral Lame and Admiral Paul as deputy commanders and Vice Admiral David Beatty as chief of staff; the French and Italian admirals agreed.
• Admiral John Jellicoe presented a plan to attack the German Commerce Raiding Fleet in western waters while the main Allied fleet cut off its retreat from the Irish Sea.
• Admiral Lame questioned whether the Allied fleet could catch the fast German battlecruisers, and Jellicoe said the Allies would ambush them along their known cruising routes.
• Churchill ordered Vice Admiral Martin to sail that day and set the attack on the German Commerce Raiding Fleet for four days later.

A British fleet of twelve battleships secretly left Norfolk under American flags, while Germany spotted its departure and struggled to understand the Americans’ intentions. Scheer ordered the German fleet to prepare for combat, and the High Seas Fleet sailed into the Atlantic.

• Vice Admiral Martin led twelve British battleships out of Norfolk under American flags, with American support that advanced US interests while keeping the fleet’s mission secret.
• A German reconnaissance vessel spotted the fleet, reported its departure, and then lost track of it under cover of night.
• At Kiel Harbor, Reinhard Scheer and Hipper debated whether the Americans were preparing a confrontation or a surprise attack.
• Scheer ordered the German Commerce Raiding Fleet to combat readiness and sent the High Seas Fleet into the Atlantic.

Emperor Qin Tian discussed Germany’s victories and plans with Falkenhayn and Count Tirpitz, as the Empire prepared to invade Britain after destroying the British Expeditionary Force in France. The chapter ended with Oscar ordering the navy to prepare for a possible American intervention, confident Germany would prevail.

• Falkenhayn reported that more than two hundred thousand British Expeditionary Force troops had surrendered at Le Havre, leaving the force effectively annihilated.
• Oscar and Count Tirpitz agreed that France’s defeat was imminent and discussed crossing the Channel to attack Britain.
• Count Tirpitz explained that Germany would contain the remaining British fleet inside the Irish Sea while avoiding its naval mines.
• Count Tirpitz reported that an American fleet of twelve battleships had left Norfolk and entered the Atlantic, with its destination unknown.
• Oscar ordered the German Navy to prepare and to strike the Americans if they entered the war, while Falkenhayn affirmed Germany’s confidence in victory.

Vice Admiral Martin led a British-crewed fleet disguised as American warships toward waters west of Ireland to lure German forces into a trap. A German patrol spotted a fleet, leaving Rear Admiral Lübeck’s ships on alert.

• Vice Admiral Martin criticized the American warships’ high price and slow speed while leading the disguised fleet across the Atlantic.
• Vice Admiral Martin received orders to attack part of the German raiding fleet west of Ireland and draw in its other forces, then confirmed he would comply.
• Vice Admiral Martin hoped the American flags would let his fleet approach the Germans unnoticed and launch a surprise attack.
• Rear Admiral Lübeck and his staff discussed the quiet patrol and dismissed Britain’s chances of winning.
• A staff officer reported a fleet due west, and Rear Admiral Lübeck ordered all ships to heighten their alert.

Vice Admiral Martin led the British fleet, disguised as Americans, into a confrontation with Rear Admiral Lübeck’s German battlecruisers and ordered an attack before the Germans could react. The chapter ended as the British battleships opened fire at roughly eleven thousand meters.

• Vice Admiral Martin split the British fleet, sending its 2nd Battleship Squadron on an encircling maneuver while the 1st Battleship Squadron advanced toward the Germans.
• Rear Admiral Lübeck’s three Blücher-class battlecruisers encountered the six battleships of the 1st Battleship Squadron and asked the supposed Americans to explain their presence in the Prohibited Navigation Zone.
• Vice Admiral Martin ordered the British ships to claim they were on routine patrol, prepare for battle, and lower the American flag in favor of the St. George’s Cross.
• Rear Admiral Lübeck warned the British fleet to turn back and prepared his ships as their guns aimed at the approaching battleships.
• Vice Admiral Martin ordered his ships to fire when the distance neared eleven thousand meters, and the Nevada and the other five battleships began bombarding the German fleet.