The book's plans, photographs, engineering detail, and construction chart introduce its account of late 1918. German leaders planned cruiser raids in the Thames and Flanders to draw out the Grand Fleet, supported by battleships, minelayers, torpedo boats, and submarine ambushes. The plan followed armistice approaches and the end of attacks on merchant shipping, making naval honour and bargaining position part of a militarily desperate decision. Desertions and mutiny exposed sailors' refusal to undertake a perceived suicide operation while peace was near, forcing cancellation and contributing to the unrest at Kiel.
Chapter · 3:14:32-3:21:24
Kaiser's Cruisers and the High Seas Fleet's 1918 endgame
A technical cruiser reference closes with the failed final sortie and naval unrest that helped ignite the German Revolution.