Jutland: The Unfinished Battle: A Personal History of a Naval Controversy by Nick Jellicoe ISBN: 1848323212 Published byUS Naval Institute Press on May 15, 2016 Pages: 352
Written by the grandson of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, who commanded the British Grand Fleet at Jutland, this is a fresh examination of the battle and its aftermath, offering many new perspectives on both the British and German sides of the battle, and on the bitter controversies that have surrounded it since the moment the battered ships returned to harbor.
The book’s focus on U-Boat Deutschland makes it easy to understand the experimental vessel and keep track of the groups connected with it. Deutschland was one of two subs designed as underwater freighters to avoid the British blockade. The other, the Bremen, was lost at sea on its initial voyage.
Support of the U-Boat was only one of the activities of the Baltimore sabotage group; it also attempted to spread diseases to horses being sent to the Allies.
Deutschland made only two successful trips before it was re-commissioned as a standard submarine after America entered the war.
The Germans and Americans in the U.S. who acquired the trade goods for shipment to Germany were in peril once the U.S. entered the war; most escaped. While some people, civilian and military, toured and inspected the Deutschland while docked in Baltimore, it was not until after the war that interviews with the cell’s surviving participants revealed how extensive and successful the Baltimore group had been.
A well written and unexpectedly interesting case study of an unusual aspect of the war.
Comments Off on The American Foreign Legion: Black Soldiers of the 93d in World War I
The American Foreign Legion: Black Soldiers of the 93d in World War I by Frank E. Roberts ISBN: 1591147344 Published byUS Naval Institute Press on June 15th 2004 Pages: 259
Len's Summary: The Harlem Hell Fighters of the 369th Regiment (15th New York National Guard) were part of this division, whose individual infantry regiments fought under French command.
Comments Off on From Imperial Splendor to Internment: The German Navy in the First World War
From Imperial Splendor to Internment: The German Navy in the First World War by Nicholas Wolz ISBN: 1591141745 Published byUS Naval Institute Press on July 15th 2015 Pages: 320
Len's Summary: Years of relative inactivity for Germany’s battle fleet while submarines dominated the action.
Len's Summary: Admiral William S. Sims twice President of the US Naval War College, gunnery expert and commander of US Naval Forces in Europe during WWI was a true military intellectual.
Comments Off on Before Jutland: The Naval War in Northern European Waters, August 1914-February 1915
Before Jutland: The Naval War in Northern European Waters, August 1914-February 1915 by James Goldrick ISBN: 1591143497 Published byUS Naval Institute Press on May 15th 2015 Genres:Military, Naval Pages: 400
Len's Summary: The German High Seas Fleet faces the British in the North Sea and the Russians in the Baltic.
Len's Summary: Britain’s famed ship yards near Glasgow. During WWI John Brown’s, produced over two hundred thousand tons of warships -- mainly destroyers, but also including HMS Repulse and Prince of Wales -- and 1,700,000 tons of machinery for the Royal Navy during WWI. This is a companion volume to the author’s Clydebank Battlecruisers (USNI 2011).
Comments Off on Billy Mitchell’s War with the Navy: The Interwar Rivalry Over Air Power
Billy Mitchell's War with the Navy: The Interwar Rivalry Over Air Power by Thomas Wildenberg ISBN: 0870210386 Published byUS Naval Institute Press on October 15th 2013 Pages: 288
Comments Off on Torpedo: The Complete History of the World’s Most Revolutionary Naval Weapon
Torpedo: The Complete History of the World's Most Revolutionary Naval Weapon by Roger Branfill-Cook ISBN: 1591141931 Published byUS Naval Institute Press on August 15th 2014 Pages: 256
Len's Summary: The greatest single game-changer in naval warfare allowing small, inexpensive torpedo-firing ships to menace dreadnoughts.
Comments Off on The Zimmermann Telegram: Intelligence, Diplomacy, and America’s Entry into World War I
The Zimmermann Telegram: Intelligence, Diplomacy, and America's Entry into World War I by Thomas Boghardt ISBN: 1612511481 Published byUS Naval Institute Press on October 15th 2012 Pages: 319
Len's Summary: The author contends that Zimmerman’s telegram was a spontaneous initiative, not part of an overall German strategy. In America, he asserts, it proved divisive, alienating isolationists, pacifists, and lawmakers.
Comments Off on Float Planes and Flying Boats: The U.S. Coast Guard and Early Naval Aviation
Float Planes & Flying Boats: The U.S. Coast Guard and Early Naval Aviation by Robert B. Workman Jr. ISBN: 1612511074 Published byUS Naval Institute Press on July 15th 2012 Pages: 322
Len's Summary: Few remember that the U.S. Coast Guard air crew participated in the first-ever transatlantic flight (by Curtiss flying boats) in 1919.
We are changing the WW1HA’s newsletter’s publication schedule to monthly. Publishing “Here and There with the WW1HA” twice a year provides too few opportunities to interact effectively with the membership! So, we’re going to go with shorter, monthly publications via our Constant Contact mailing list. My goal is that each issue will contain a brief comment from the President / Officers, a quick summary of WW1-related news, and a focus on a member and his/her research in each issue. What else should it include? You tell me: lavarennes@meuse-argonne.com.
Membership was very low at the beginning of the year, so we have formed a Membership Committee. The first action taken was to contact 2020-22 members who had not renewed in 2023. That was the low-hanging fruit. The second action will be to increase year-end renewal reminders and touch points with the membership—also low-hanging fruit. The third action will be to explore ways to reach beyond our current customers.
On 11 March we held our first quarterly Fireside Chat—with 27 participants—using Zoom. Again, this provided interaction with our members. We will be doing these quarterly and will be announcing the next one shortly. The top two responses of how/why members got excited about WW1 were 1) family involvement in the war and 2) aviation. How do we use this information to grow membership?
A small group of us are actively posting in the World War One Historical Association’s Facebook Group. Join us there.
Ed Klekowski is itching to do a Summer (third) issue of World War One Illustrated. He is working on the first Summer issue as we speak.
I have not made major changes to the website yet, because of the above-mentioned initiatives. That said, I did modernize the Chapters/Events Page to reflect our current activities.
I hope these efforts breathe new life into the Association, and I want to encourage you to do your bit. If you have a good idea, tell me about it. Better yet, step up and be willing to take a more active role.