Prince Henry of Prussia: The Rise of U-Boat.

[flo]

Another possibilty for strengthening the colonies

This Timeline is really interesting. Subscribed.

I did light research on it (wiki), and it looks like there were 3 at the start of the war (North Sea, Baltic, Tsingtao. In this ATL, there is the 4th and 5th in Kamerun and Dar Es Salaam. The point of the West Africa and East Africa sub ports is they have a lot of extra supplies, and they are lightly fortified ports. 15CM naval guns and 105mm sub guns and lots of mines. The 15CM is junk against BB, but it keeps the cruiser and smaller ships away. Also, they sink any mine layers clearing the minefield, so first the Guns have to be silence with BB guns with more range, then minelayers have to clear.

The Marines are not critical, I just wanted flexibility to do something like attack an island in the Atlantic. The real issue is an upgrade port with stockpiled ammo and fuel. And repair facilities. Also, as long as the keep resupplying, the land forces will keep growing with conscription. At 10-20 natives per German of military age, it can get quite large. I am now doing research on merchant raiders to get the formula right since they acquire more ships which can become more raiders. Much like a virus. Right now the rules I am using is 6 additional ship in West Africa, and 3 in East Africa. The number of ships grows by 50% per month in WA and 25% in EA and each ship does around 6000 tons sunk/capture per month. Right now I am reading another book to get the numbers a bit more precise.
.

Hm, how unrealistic would it be to station one or two of the oldest pre-dreadnaughts and some older armoured cruisers in West Afrika and East Afrika. They can act as harbour defence. Or just take the guns, ship them to Afrika, and scrap the ships (e.g. the Brandenburg or Wörth-class). The latter could be done after the war started, since there is no blokade yet.

flo

 

[Adler]

Only the Japanese used heavy siege artillery in ww1 on Entente side at the very beginning. And they used surplus navy guns. The Germans (Big Bertha) and Austrians had newly developed weapons, which the Entente needed to develope. They can use, like the Japanese, however naval surplus guns.

A remark on Douala and Dar-Es-Salam. If they are naval bases the Germans would have likely added not only 10,5 cm or 15 cm guns, but also heavier guns. Tsingtao had 2 24 cm guns, 4 21 cm, 7 15 cm, 6 12 cm and 2 10,5 cm guns as well as 4 28 cm coastal howitzers.

I guess the Germans would have at least a few heavy guns at both bases, too. Just to prevent, that a single battleship can do, what you mentioned.

Furtheremore, these bases are relative save as they are in the center of the colony. As both commanders were very capable men it would last some time to conquer them. Especially Dar-Es-Salam should be safe until 1916.

Adler

 

[Obfuscated]

Only the Japanese used heavy siege artillery in ww1 on Entente side at the very beginning. And they used surplus navy guns. The Germans (Big Bertha) and Austrians had newly developed weapons, which the Entente needed to develope. They can use, like the Japanese, however naval surplus guns.

A remark on Douala and Dar-Es-Salam. If they are naval bases the Germans would have likely added not only 10,5 cm or 15 cm guns, but also heavier guns. Tsingtao had 2 24 cm guns, 4 21 cm, 7 15 cm, 6 12 cm and 2 10,5 cm guns as well as 4 28 cm coastal howitzers.

I guess the Germans would have at least a few heavy guns at both bases, too. Just to prevent, that a single battleship can do, what you mentioned.

Furtheremore, these bases are relative save as they are in the center of the colony. As both commanders were very capable men it would last some time to conquer them. Especially Dar-Es-Salam should be safe until 1916.

Adler

It seems that the bases are mostly a submarine show and are probably limited to 'submarine' approbiate gear for requistion.

Prinz Henry can probably get all the small 'submarine' stuff he wants but runs into problems with bigger 'bigship' gear.

 

[BlondieBC]

This Timeline is really interesting. Subscribed.




Hm, how unrealistic would it be to station one or two of the oldest pre-dreadnaughts and some older armoured cruisers in West Afrika and East Afrika. They can act as harbour defence. Or just take the guns, ship them to Afrika, and scrap the ships (e.g. the Brandenburg or Wörth-class). The latter could be done after the war started, since there is no blokade yet.

flo

The Germans will be working on that, just they have not got around to it. Pre made war plans can be executed quickly, but if something has not been thought of beforehand, it often takes months to do it. In OTL, it took the U-boats 3 or so months to start merchant raider, here they started in month one. As to big guns, North and South America are much easier places to get them in the ATL.

 

[BlondieBC]

It seems that the bases are mostly a submarine show and are probably limited to 'submarine' approbiate gear for requistion.

Prinz Henry can probably get all the small 'submarine' stuff he wants but runs into problems with bigger 'bigship' gear.

This is correct. I worked hard to avoid prewar butterflies, and touching the naval budget of the big ships is massive political issues in Germany. Also, England would ignore an "easily conquerable" sub base, but the bigger guns probably trigger a reaction. And there are no BB in the South Atlantic, one Pre-dread in India, one in Hong Kong, and the HMS Australia. Tsingtao is vulnerable due to lack of a colony behind it. Now West Africa is frantically working on bigger guns but it seems unreasonable for them to show up yet, so I have not yet done the research to see if possible.

Douala looks secure to naval attack to me. The coastline funnels into a river mouth with base on the river bank. After the war started, the German moved some of the smaller guns to Bioko Island which is Spanish Owned. Using this island with 105mm and 15cm guns, mines and submarines, there is a 50-100 mile naval defensive perimeter around this base.

Dar Es Salaam is near Zanzibar, and the U-boat defense of the port is effectively blockading the island. Both sides will have to decide what to do with Zanzibar.

 

[BlondieBC]

Slightly modified based on comments. Only the naval battle is edited for ship names, the first use of depth charges, and one ship returns to port.

August 16, 1914: The Admiralty begins a three month plan to reinforce the Grand Fleet with larger ships from the overseas fleets. The first ship to receive recall orders is the Queen Elizabeth from the Mediterranean. The UK to Gibraltar to Suez to India to Singapore will receive secondary priority for ships. The South Atlantic ships are planned to be slowly recalled. A priority will be placed on eliminating German naval bases in the Pacific to free up badly needed warships.

August 17: In a private meeting with the Prime Minister, the Press Secretary tells the PM that the news of the naval disaster cannot be kept secret much longer because of bodies picked up by Norwegian ships and photographs of debris fields. The PM brushes him off.

August 20: The German papers announce a great victory at sea with 7 British dreadnought sunk and over 20 other ships. In Hamburg, after a victory parade, the Kaiser promotes Schultze to Admiral and awards him the Pour le Mérite with Oak Leaves. The crowd wildly cheers. In a private dinner afterwards, the Kaiser ask Von Schultze what he needs to win the war. Von Schultze replies, "Give to Prince Henry and I control of the Navy, and we will starve England into submission."

August 21: English papers quote Churchill saying, "The Kaiser is a delusional fool who can only dream of naval success, and his 'victory in the North Sea' is much ado about nothing."

August 22: At the GHQ, the Kaiser can be heard screaming in rage after reading the quote. He immediately approves a full assault by the High Seas Fleet on England. By 2 pm that afternoon, the High Seas Fleet is at sea with all heavy ships that can maintain a 16 knot pace. The High Seas Fleet will make a straight run towards Scarborough England. When 20 miles from the coast, turn NW on a path parallel to the cost. Two hours later, eighty torpedo boats sail into the foggy North Sea to sweep the seas of enemy ships. At 8 pm, all available U-boats sortie from their base to screen for the High Seas Fleet. The U-boast take a straight course to their screening line running roughly due east of Edinburgh.

August 23, 9:00 am: As the morning fog burns away, a British destroyer spots the High Seas Fleet and reports the position to the British Admiralty. Within minutes, the destroyer has been sunk by the screening ships.

09:10: C-6 spot the HSF due NW at 8 nm, and begins an approach.

09:35: C-5 spots smoke trials of the HSF at a range of 12nm due north.

10:00: The High Seas fleet turns NNW.

10:15: Four D-Class submarines are order to leave the waters around Edinborough to find and engage the fleet. All available ships on the East Coast of England are order to intercept the fleet.

10:30: The PM asked for permission to use the Grand Fleet which is denied.

10:40: The screening destroyers force the C-5 and C-6 to dive. C-5 will not regain contact with the fleet and C-6 is destroyed by depth charges.

10:54: The lead elements of the HSF begin the bombardment of Sunderland.

12:30PM: The UX-41 spots the D-2, and submerges for an attack run. Twenty-three minutes later, the D-2 is sunk by torpedo.

12:50: All there remaining D-Class submarines can see the smoke trial of the HSF.

12:59: The bombardment of Sunderland ends. Fifteen of the sixteen shipyards are completely destroyed. For several thousand yards from the river, hardly a building remains standing. A uncontrollable fire will consume the remainder of the city. Sunderland has just absorbed the heaviest bombardment in the history of warfare with the HSF shooting 1/3 of its ammo at the city.

1:00: The HSF makes a turn to the NE towards the coast of Norway.

1:10: D-1 realize it can't catch the fleet and heads towards the city to help the wounded.

1:30: The D-3 fires two torpedoes at the SMS Kaiser which both hit near the rear of the ship. The D-3 is forced to dive to avoid being rammed by an escort. The Kaiser will sink within two hours.

01:40: The D-4 hits the SMS Rheinland with one torpedo, and slows to 10 knots and is forced to head directly towards the home port. The three depth-charge capable destroyers are detached to escort the crippled ship safely home.

August 24: The HSF and screening ships return to port. Due to the fleet achieving surprise and traveling at high speed on unexpected paths, the submarines of the British navy were not able to catch the HSF. Over the course of the battle, the torpedo boats were able to drive all British shipping out of the North Sea south of a line from Edinbourgh to Stavanger.

August 26: SMS Magdeburg runs aground and the Russians recover naval code books.

August 28: No major naval actions in the North Sea.

August 29: Front Page of NY Times has two main headlines, "Grand Fleet Defeated in North Sea" and "Sunderland Massacre".

The British Admiralty realizes it has lost the control of the North Sea and the initiative on the High Seas.

C Class http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_C_class_submarine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Kaiser_(1911)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Rheinland

 

[BlondieBC]

August Merchant Shipping Update:

WA = West Africa, EA = East Africa, PO=Pacific Ocean, NA = North Atlantic

OTL Merchant Tonnage Sunk/Captured: 62,000
Additional Tonnage Sunk/Captured by Merchant Cruisers (including mines) for the Month: 17,000.
Additional Tonnage Sunk/Captured by U-boats: 83,000.
Total Tonnage: 162,000.


(WA) Merchant Raider Bulcher begins laying 300 mines off ports and waterways of South Africa. There are 7 Merchant Cruisers more than OTL in the South and Central Atlantic. Generally speaking, each ship can carry 300 to 500 mines, is fitted with torpedo tubes, is fitted with multiple 15 cm naval guns, and carries more than a platoon of "marines". Repeated, heavy mining of Entente Colonial harbors are beginning to create severe logistical issues for the Entente. More than the irregular, sometimes painful losses of ships to mines is the behavioral impact on merchant shipping. Merchants are reluctant to leave a port unless the shipping lane has been swept for mines that day. Some neutral shipping that normally works the shipping lanes in the British Empire are refusing to travel to Entente ports and are seeking work at lower paying, non-combat routes. By the end of September, all merchant shipping insurance companies are refusing to insure shipping to/from any Entente ports. To compensate, shipping rates rise to over 200% of prewar levels, if ships can be found. The British government is forced to agree to pay for all lost ships to avoid the loss on neutral merchant shipping, and even then shipping rates are still 10-20% above prewar levels. Due to naval losses, the British have no warships south of the North Atlantic shipping lanes.

(EA) There are 3 Merchant Cruisers more than OTL in the Indian Ocean, and minefields are beginning to appear around most major and many minor Entente ports. The British have 1 pre-dreadnought and 60 other warships in the Indian Ocean. Most of these ships are obsolete for modern warfare. The Admiralty has cut orders to move half of the warships to the Mediterranean and North Atlantic over the next 3 months.

(PO) There is 0 Merchant Cruiser more than OTL. While less than 40 mines have been laid near Hong Kong, the success exceeded Rose's wildest dreams. All Neutral ships and most Entente ships are refusing to use Hong Kong, and the ports of the Phillipinnes and the Dutch East Indies are horribly backlogged. Due to the target rich enviroment, 3 U-boats claimed 23 boats for 50,000 tons. A majority of the tonnage is made up by 3 large, modern boats sunk withing sight of the Chinese coast. The U-boats are focusing on boats near the coast because of the Cruiser Rules which allow the mere evacuation of the crew to life boats as acceptable, as long as near the coast. The U-boats are interpreting this to mean with 12 miles of any island or coastline, even if uninhabited. In the North Pacific, the Entente excluding Japan has one pre-dreadnought, 8 cruisers, and squadron of destroyers. The ANZAC forces consisting of a modern Battlecruiser and 5 light cruisers, and they are busy supporting amphibious operations.

(NA) Within less than a month, the blockading ships in the North Sea have been driven back to port by German Naval sorties. The blockade line is moved from the North sea to a line running roughly from Scotland to Greenland.

In a series of meetings, the Admiralty informs the War Cabinet about the merchant situation. In the Indian and Pacific Oceans, overall traffic has plunged by over 30%, and some port are down over 70%. The CP have effective control over the South Atlantic and North Sea. An merchant avoidance zone within 600 nm of Dar Es Salaam has been establish. The 2/3 of ANZAC to British Isles traffic that normally use the Cape route has been rerouted to the Suez, as has all South African traffic. Transfer of ANZAC land forces to Europe and Africa has been suspended. By prioritization of shipments that pass through the Suez Canal, essential war supplies can be shipped; however, the food produce from South American cannot be replaced. The War Cabinet decides to immediately implement food rationing and to studying how to ration non-food civilian items. The War Cabinet also instruct that plans be drawn up for attacks on Douala and Dar Es Salaam using first class units. The Army states that the situation in France is extremely grave and that no forces can be pulled from France without losing the war. The Foreign minister states that the French are desperate for more troops and that any removal of troops from France could result in a separate peace by France.

 

[NHBL]

Control of the North Sea

I am, overall, enjoying this timeline. However, the Brisish have so darned many armed merchant cruisers and other light ships that breaking the blockade--IF BRITAIN IS WILLING TO PAY THE PRICE TO KEEP IT--is still a long ways away. About now, the patroling merchant cruisers should be filling all their cargo holds with barrels--ships so fited can take LOTS of torpedo hits and still float. Escort the merchant cruisers with submarines--towing them, and have a telephone in the cable. This was done in OTL. If this getsd a kill or two, surface ships will hesitate to engage mercahnt crusiers.

Add Q-ships earlier than in OTL, perhaps. The U-boat menace is much more severe, so countermeasures will come faster. Above all, the British have to force Germany to react. The Royal Navy is quite competent.

Also, the Royal Navy has predreadnoughts in huge numbers--so huge that they were converting them to all sorts of other uses.

Britain can and will publish LOTS of photos of the burned out town--civilians burned to a crisp, cathedrals, hospitals, and schools in ruins, lines of regfugees.

It's still early--if the British play their cards right in Ireland, they may well be able to convinve more Irish that the Germans are villians, unworthy of allying with. (Of course, the British and the Irish are not known for dealing with each other well...)

This has hurt Britian, but it's time for "The Empire Strikes Back!"

 

[BlondieBC]

I am, overall, enjoying this timeline. However, the Brisish have so darned many armed merchant cruisers and other light ships that breaking the blockade--IF BRITAIN IS WILLING TO PAY THE PRICE TO KEEP IT--is still a long ways away. About now, the patroling merchant cruisers should be filling all their cargo holds with barrels--ships so fited can take LOTS of torpedo hits and still float. Escort the merchant cruisers with submarines--towing them, and have a telephone in the cable. This was done in OTL. If this getsd a kill or two, surface ships will hesitate to engage mercahnt crusiers.

Add Q-ships earlier than in OTL, perhaps. The U-boat menace is much more severe, so countermeasures will come faster. Above all, the British have to force Germany to react. The Royal Navy is quite competent.

Also, the Royal Navy has predreadnoughts in huge numbers--so huge that they were converting them to all sorts of other uses.

Britain can and will publish LOTS of photos of the burned out town--civilians burned to a crisp, cathedrals, hospitals, and schools in ruins, lines of regfugees.

It's still early--if the British play their cards right in Ireland, they may well be able to convinve more Irish that the Germans are villians, unworthy of allying with. (Of course, the British and the Irish are not known for dealing with each other well...)

This has hurt Britian, but it's time for "The Empire Strikes Back!"

Broadly speaking, the new blockade will be as effective as OTL blockade except that it was totally ineffective for the first 45 days of the war. The problem with the blockade in the North Sea is that it is less than 20-40 hours from German naval bases, and the British are losing too many ships. Without the Grand Fleet to keep the High Seas Fleet bottled up, regular raids are made on British blockading ships. I am just not writing the battles, because they are dozens of them per month.

Also, it takes time for a 100K man organization to change, and there have been many unexpected challenges. Looking at OTL, it often took months to make obvious changes, and I am doing this delay in the ATL. I also doubt there is a stockpile of enough barrels to fill hundreds of ships holds.

Printing the images is a double edge sword. Yes, it helps in opinion in the USA, but they want Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Ottomans, and Greece to join the Entente. Emphasis weakness can also cause harm.

You seem to have some additional concerns with the British reaction, but I am not so sure I understand exactly what. What exactly have the British done before September 1, 1914 that you find troubling?

 

[BlondieBC]

Early September

(EA) September 2: Multiple scouting teams are landed on Zanzibar and Pemba Island by fishing boat and U-boat. The scouts report that Zanzibar is fortified with a reinforced company of marines, ten 100mm guns, ten 51mm guns, and 2 torpedo tubes. Pemba is fortified with understrength company of marines with two 100mm guns.

(PO) September 3: Rose changes the Patrol pattern of the submarines. The three subs from Hong Kong are changed to one sub at Hong Kong and two at Singapore.

(NA)Churchill is replaced by Arthur Balfour as First Lord of the Admiralty. For personal safety reasons, Churchill is immediately sent to exile in the United States. He never returns to England, and he dies in 1927 of alcohol poisoning.

September 4: The Kaiser forms the Admiralty Council consisting of Von Schultze, Prince Henry, and the commander of the High Seas Fleet. Over the next year, many old time admirals are transferred to unimportant posts or retire. The de facto commander of the German Fleets are Prince Henry and Von Schultze. They immediately begin overhauling the German ship building program and naval operations.

(PO) September 5: Japan lands troops in Lungkow without being detected by Tsingtao naval forces.

(PO) September 8: After radioing new instructions to his submarines at sea, Rose sails from Tsingtao with his 2 merchant cruisers and 6 submarines. These ships and the Yap forces will rendezvous east of the Philippines.

September 10: (PO): The Japanese foreign minister inquires as to the effectiveness of the British Navy, and informs the British that the Japanese are currently unable to help protect British shipping interests.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Balfour

 

[Adler]

If Churchill is away, then the idea of tanks are also dead. At least for some time.

Adler

 

[Josephus]

If Churchill is away, then the idea of tanks are also dead. At least for some time.

Not really. The idea was around. At least the French were working independantly on tanks. But the British would be further back in development.

 

[BlondieBC]

If Churchill is away, then the idea of tanks are also dead. At least for some time.

Adler

Thanks for the tip. I knew Gallipoli is effectively cancelled too, probably with the forces redirected to an African attack. ANZAC is stuck in Australia for now. Churchill was an effective "Eastern Strategy Champion", and there will likely be no more assaults on fortified ports.

I was not planning on getting rid of Churchill, but the story demanded someone take the blame. Any other big Churchill butterflies in WW1?

And did I provide enough details for people to understand the general supply situation in for the UK? It is complicated enough to write a book about, but basically i was trying to show that the UK has enough to fight a war for now, but only by real sacrifice by the English people involving rationing of food and doing without luxury items and consumer goods. The gist is that as long as they Suez route is open, Britain can stay in the war with rationing.

 

[Josephus]

Open, but not without problems... the Austrians have a few Uboots, too, and they weren't too bad with them.

 

[Reichenfaust]

If Churchill is away, then the idea of tanks are also dead. At least for some time.

Adler

The Austrians could invent it. They almost did OTL.

 

[NHBL]

Food and devastation

How much of the west of England been mined? If it hasn't been mined too badly, American ships should be able to pour in carrying non-contraband--such as FOOD. U-boats can inspect such ships--but they are not subject to seizure under The Hague Treaties of 1907. Britain could get away with it because of a distinctly un-neutral USA--but Germany can't, and likely won't try at this point.

I forget how little time has gone by since the start of the war, and changes do take time. As for batles in the North Sea, if the Germans are raiding the blockade line to the extent you're describing, there should be British subs out to sink raiders.

The pics of the devastation won't be contained, so IMVHO, getting the best possible use from them is important. Emphasize the civilian deaths, landmarks destroyed, etc. Some shells must have hit non-military targets--c church that has clearly been blasted down, as opposed to just burned out, is a powerful image.

If there's a Catholic neighborhood and church in the debris, emphasize this in Ireland. There's a great opportunity to portray this as a terror raid instead of a military strike.

The Hague Treaties of 18907 are very useful for any Great War era piece. Article 9 is HERE: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hague09.asp

And of course, propagandists on both sides can play up supposed violations all day...

 

[BlondieBC]

How much of the west of England been mined? If it hasn't been mined too badly, American ships should be able to pour in carrying non-contraband--such as FOOD. U-boats can inspect such ships--but they are not subject to seizure under The Hague Treaties of 1907. Britain could get away with it because of a distinctly un-neutral USA--but Germany can't, and likely won't try at this point.

I forget how little time has gone by since the start of the war, and changes do take time. As for batles in the North Sea, if the Germans are raiding the blockade line to the extent you're describing, there should be British subs out to sink raiders.

The pics of the devastation won't be contained, so IMVHO, getting the best possible use from them is important. Emphasize the civilian deaths, landmarks destroyed, etc. Some shells must have hit non-military targets--c church that has clearly been blasted down, as opposed to just burned out, is a powerful image.

If there's a Catholic neighborhood and church in the debris, emphasize this in Ireland. There's a great opportunity to portray this as a terror raid instead of a military strike.

The Hague Treaties of 18907 are very useful for any Great War era piece. Article 9 is HERE: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hague09.asp

And of course, propagandists on both sides can play up supposed violations all day...

I am just to early September, so under 40 days of warfare. The UK will use the raid for propaganda, so the USA probably is a bit more pro-UK, but Britain is "losing at sea" and no one likes to join a loser. Ireland is an interesting subject, and could go both ways. All of Ireland is free or Ireland rallies around the King.

The mining west of Britain is about the same as OTL. There are a lot more mines around Africa and India. Probably 3000 over OTL, by September 10th.
The focus here is on U-boats, and most of the early mines were not U-boats. The big change is mines is at Dover. Due to panic, the British have completely mined the Channel at Dover, and no ships of any kind can pass. Germany has been following cruiser rules, and having successes, so they likely continue. With 8 destroyers to cover the Pacific, the U-boats can board without much risk at all. And since life boats is if "near land", the U-boats are mostly working withing 12 miles of land. Quick shot to stop ship. Torpedo if it runs. People have 15 minutes to get to life boats, scuttle ship.

Here is why North Sea blockade line did not work, and why UK went to Greenland line. This line can be made to work with enough ships.

August 4 War starts.

August 8 Lines still getting setup. Full Panic retreat of all ships. Scapa Flow has all ships leave and go back to Irish Sea.

August 12 Start resetting up line.

August 23 Raid forces retreat of blockade line.

Food is an issue because a good share (say 15%) of all food coming to UK comes from South America. This has been cut. The North America to UK line is basically open, and the Australia to UK line is partially cut due to shipping backlogs.

 

[BlondieBC]

German Fleet: Change of Focus

Von Schultze is reviewing the first month of operations. Despite being a huge success, the initial U-boat battles were not a decisive victory. In hindsight, it is clear all 15 boats attacking in a coordinated wolfpack attack would have claimed a large majority of the British capital ships. He knows he will never have such an easy opportunity for victory. He needs commanders above the water commanding any future large engagement. With 21 Zeppelins (LZ 5 to LZ 25) available and 15 schedule for completion in 1915, the navy can keep continuous daytime patrols over the Baltic and North Seas. These patrols will each have either a surface or submarine officer on board to control any ad hoc battles. In addition, 3 Zeppelins can be kept ready for Admirals to board to command major battles of lighter forces.

After keeping the U-boats at sea almost constantly for 30 days, many issues have been found that need to be addressed including minor deficiency with the U-boats and a backlog of repairs. In October, the patrol schedule will have to be reduced to a sustainable level. In the future, 20% of U-boats will be in the training command and 33% of U-boats on patrol at a given time. The most successful captains will be rotated off the U-boats and transferred either to the training command or the new Zeppelin command ships.

Items for the submarine/raider command include the following:

1) Send 3 Zeppelins to Douala, 3 to Dar Es Salaam.
2) Request for designs are sent out to the U-boat manufactures. Von Schultze ask for a design with a 4 knot speed advantage over the fastest battlecruiser with the range of a battlecruiser. He is also interested in a "fast merchant raider" U-boat escort design with extremely long range. All future designs will need a larger complement of torpedoes.
3) Training and assignment of the 12 UX-42 boats completed in the last 4 months of the year.
4) English Channel effectively cut at Dover to all traffic. Need to plan to reroute all traffic around Scotland.
5) Find bigger coastal guns for Africa.
6) Find seaplanes for merchant raiders and refit them.

In a meeting later with Prince Henry, they both agree that it is not practical to attack either the Russian Baltic Fleet or the Grand Fleet while the ships remain in fortified ports. Von Schultze express concerns that any future raids by surface forces on England will result in disaster. The Prince agrees, and he will detail his staff to make studies of ways to overcome the British defenses.

Agenda Items Agreed to include the following:

1) Priority to naval aircraft and aircraft carriers.
2) Zeppelin will be primary method of control and command of lighter raiding fleets. Staff will be directed into working on solutions for escorting the command Zeppelins.
3) Construction on the SMS Sachsen, SMS Wurttemberg, SMS Mackensen, SMS Prinz Eitel Friedrich, SMS Graf Spee, and SMS Furst Bismark will be suspended to free up resources for the U-boat/raider/escort effort and to allow time for a redesign of the torpedo protection.
4) The crews of the Kaiser and Rheinland will be transferred to the U-boat/raider command.
5) Agree to 1915 construction plan for U-boats: 20 UY class (UB II), 20 UZ class (UC II), 60 UX-42 class, 6 subtenders, and 4 transport U-boats (700 tons cargo).
6) Upgrade existing escorts for anti-submarine warfare and build enough to protect capital ships.


UB II http://uboat.net/wwi/types/?type=UB+II
UC II http://uboat.net/wwi/types/?type=UC+II


The British Admiralty is also overhauling operations and plans, and these plans will be revealed as required by the story.

 

[MUC]

I wonder what the use of aircraft carriers and carrier launched aircraft in 1914 is.

At this point aircraft are only useful for recon duties and to engage/shoot down enemy aircraft or zeppelins. They cannot carry the payload necessary to damage/sink large ships.
The recon duties seem to be covered by the Zepellins and British don't have much of a naval air force in place. So, why build aircraft carriers now?

 

[Adler]

SMS Württemberg and the Mackensen class BC were not laid down yet. SMS Hindenburg need a year to be launched, as well as SMS Baden. SMS Bayern can be launched in early 1915. As the HSF lost SMS Kaiser it would be nonetheless needed to complete these ships.

Adler