Making Jello Out of Jellicoe
"
A good Navy is not a provocation to war. It is the surest guaranty of peace."-Teddy Roosevelt
While the newspapers of America were focused on the American fronts, it was in the Atlantic Ocean that the World War was decided. Confederate and Canadian relief was dependent on keeping sea lanes to Britain open. The British, for their part, were dpeendent on America for over half of their food supply and numerous other raw materials. If the United States could cut the supply lines between North America and Britain, or keep the United Kingdom from ferrying troops to America, Britain would be forced to capitulate. On paper, the odds were tilted against Britain; combined, the Germans and Union had enough dreadnoughts where they could predominate in any naval battle. But the two powers were separated by the Royal Navy. Thus, throughout the War Britain did not need to worry about a junction of the Union-German fleets. It did, however, have to worry about losing regional superiority in either theater. A loss in one would assure defeat in the War.
Into this strategic dilemma was thrust John Fisher, who became Sea Lord in 1904 and presided over a reorganization of the Royal Navy. Faced with the demands of the Committee of Imperial Defense to provide handle the threat from America and Germany, he split the royal Navy into two fleets, the Channel Fleet and the Atlantic Fleet, based out of Halifax. In response to the threat from the Union, he pursued construction of the Dreadnought-class battleship, which would give the United Kingdom technological dominance. Proponents of history would be shocked, just shocked, to learn that the US and Germany soon followed suit, so that by August 1914 Britain could deploy twenty Dreadnoughts (with three Confederate) against thirteen Germany dreadnoughts and eleven Union dreadnoughts. A close match, which made the battle of Hampton Roads so important for the war's outcome.
The Union navy had come a long way form the dark days of the Second Mexican War, when California was raided by British marines and the nation's harbors were blockaded at will. Under Admiral Mahan and his successors, the Union readied for war. Mahan's plan for naval combat called for the concentration of the United States Navy in New York, with its two widely separated exits. This concentration would force the British to tie down their navy. Meanwhile, the Union should deploy a force of cruisers to harass the British merchant marine, and if the British were weak enough, they should seize the opportunity to capture British naval bases in Nova Scotia and Bermuda. Mahan's Plan also called for an initial raid on the Confederate Navy, based in Norfolk, before the British could respond. And this is indeed what happened. While the capture of Hawaii would have implications for the rise of America as a global superpower, the battle of Hampton Bay assured that the Confederacy would never be one.
The Battle of Hampton Bay began on the dawn of August 18, 1914, when the light cruisers
Pocahontas, Arkansas [1] and the
John Paul Jones engaged the CSS
Maury and
Maffit off the cost. Admiral Gillmore, commander of the British fleet, ordered the navy to steam out of Norfolk to engage, and the US Task Force withdrew, with the
Pocahontas Arkansas trailing smoke. Indeed, the
Pocahontas had her wireless shut off, and so was cut off from the rest of the fleet save through traditional signalling. Confident of victory, he ordered a significant fraction of the Confederate fleet into pursuit. And was oblivious to the Union Task Force steaming from south of Norfolk.
The Virginia fell almost as quickly as her namesake did.
Future historians would find much to criticize about the Union navy, and its revelations about the nation's lack of naval tactics. When a Union submarine attacked the
Virginia, the Confederate flagship, the latter responded by trying to ram the submarine [2]. But the Confederate navy, poorly coordinated and scattered across the sea in zealous pursuit, ran into the Union dreadnoughts. Admiral Lynch would telegraph to his squadron "Know very little. Hope to learn more as we go." [3] At the end of the day, he telegraphed "Know how to sink Rebel ships. Hope to find more as we go."
This was the first decisive battle of August. The Second, the Battle of the Three Navies, would assure Union naval supremacy off the North American Shore.
The Confederate debacle (and the loss of two of the CSA's dreadnoughts) threatened the British balance of power, and the Admiralty had no choice but to strip the Home Fleet to reinforce its Atlantic Squadron. In addition, France was persuaded to send several of its warships to reinforce the Confederate navy, notably its pre-dreadnought Battleship The
Massena and several other warships. Rallying at Halifax, the plan was to establish a joint fleet under Admiral Jellicoe. Once they arrived, it soon became clear that nobody knew what to do with them.
Jellicoe was no Drake or Nelson. A supporter might call him intelligent and analytical; a critic might call him a worry-wart hypochondriac. He was unwilling to risk the Royal Navy's North American presence without a certainty of victory. But under pressure from Churchill, whose Confederate origins may have influenced him, he dispatched part of the Royal navy Task force, along with the Massena, to rendevous with the Confederacy off of Delaware Bay. Spotted off New England by a fishing trawler [4], they met the Union fleet off of Delaware in the Battle of the Three Navies.
You can imagine the difficulty in having three navies with different codes try to coordinate, which led to one British officer, Sir David Beatty, temporarily broadcast in the clear in order to find out just where the Confederates were.
The Battle of the Three Navies was not a Union tactical victory; indeed, the dreadnought New Jersey required months to repair it, and the US lost the light cruise the
New Orleans. But the
Massena was sunk, as was the
Hood and the
Belle. More importantly, the Franco-British fleet was forced to retreat to Halifax, while Union raiders continued to menace the sea. The British lost a troop transport off the coast of Bermuda in September, which led to a temporary suspension of aid to the Confederacy. For now, the war at sea was in the Union's favor. And in Britain, the curtailment in grain shipments led to the beginning of rationing which would bring an end to the war.
And the Entente in North America were alone.
[1] Named after one of the few Union victories during the Second Mexican War.
[2] This happened at Heligoland. I don't know why either.
[3] This is also stolen from Heligoland.
[4] Yes, that fishing trawler.
