Pohl, Georg von Müller, and Friedrich von Ingenohl initially favored preserving the fleet intact and restricting it to local defense rather than seeking the Grand Fleet. Pohl went further by advocating attacks on British merchant shipping without the traditional cruiser rules. The Kaiser and chancellor first rejected this approach because of the danger of antagonizing neutral powers, but Pohl continued pressing the proposal. The policy therefore joined a conservative surface-fleet posture to a diplomatically risky form of commerce warfare.
Chapter · 22:18-24:21
Fleet preservation drives an early U-boat campaign
German naval leaders expected a short war and kept the High Seas Fleet near home, while Pohl pressed from November 1914 to remove cruiser-rule limits on U-boats.