During the Great War, the Imperial German Navy used long range raiding ships to attack Allied shipping along international sea routes. These raiders comprised not only warships but disguised civilian merchant vessels using guile in their attacks. One of these raiders, Seeadler, sailed to attack Allied merchant ships in December 1916. Captained by Count Felix von Luckner, its journey and its captain would become legendary as Mark Khan explains.
THE GREAT WAR | WAR AT SEA
At the beginning of the First World War, Great Britain quickly moved to establish a blockade of Germany capitalising on the naval supremacy of the Royal Navy’s Grand Fleet. Minefields were laid and naval patrols combined to prevent merchant ships supplying Germany with raw materials and food. The success of the Allied sea blockade resulted in the declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare by Germany on 1 February 1917. Attacks by U-Boats on merchant vessels were made to disrupt trade and weaken Great Britain, an island dependent on sea trade. It was not only submarines but also warships and converted merchant ships operating independently that were utilised by the German Imperial Navy to attack Allied shipping wherever it could be found.
