ABSTRACT

Originally published in 1980 ‘Luxury’ Fleet (the phrase was Winston Churchill’s) was the first history of the Imperial German navy from 1888 to 1918. After tracing the historical background to German naval ambitions, the first two sections of the book analyse Admiral Tirpitz’s programme of building a battle fleet strong enough to engage the Royal Navy in the North Sea. The author shows the fleet in its European setting and describes the warships and the attitudes of the officer corps and seamen. The final section of the book discusses the tactical deployment of the German fleet during the First World War, both in home waters and overseas; and it weighs the balance between those who supported fleet actions in preference to those who favoured cruiser and submarine warfare.

chapter |5 pages

Introduction

part One|87 pages

Part One

chapter I|8 pages

Modest Beginnings

The Prussian/German Naval Tradition to 1888

chapter II|16 pages

Kaiser Wilhelm II

The Tears of Hope and Misdirection, 1888—1898

chapter III|21 pages

The “New Course”

Alfred v. Tirpitz, Architect of the Battle Fleet, 1897–1905

chapter IV|15 pages

The Dreadnought Challenge

The Master Plan Goes Awry, 1905–1911

chapter V|24 pages

“We Have Them Up Against the Wall”

Dénouement, 1912–1914

part Two|47 pages

Part Two

chapter VI|16 pages

A Place in the Sun

The German Colonial Empire and the Navy, 1884–1918

chapter VII|29 pages

“Men Fight, Not Ships”

The Personnel of the Imperial German Navy

part Three|117 pages

Part Three

chapter VIII|35 pages

August 1914

The War that Came Too Soon

chapter IX|21 pages

Jutland 1916

Missed Opportunity or Fortunate Escape?

chapter X|27 pages

“Museum of Experiments”

The End of the Battleship Era, 1914–1918

chapter XI|23 pages

“Between the Thames and Helgoland”

German Naval Policies, 1917–1918

chapter XII|9 pages

The Sun Sets

Scapa Flow 21 June 1919