The Royal Navy's Second World War methods grew partly from painful First World War experience. The loss of HMS Ben-my-Chree after her fuel system caught fire helped drive later attention to carrier fuel safety and damage control. SM U-9's sinking of HMS Aboukir, Hogue, and Cressy illustrates the need for hydrophones, ASDIC, and earlier warning of submarine attack. The German fleet's night escape after Jutland encouraged stronger British night-fighting practice, while protected anchorages helped motivate harbor-attack methods later demonstrated at Taranto. By 1939, earlier failures had shaped equipment, training, and doctrine. The comparison also challenges the impression that the Royal Navy did little in the Second World War; it fought a different kind of war with methods built from those earlier shocks.
Chapter · 1:39:59-1:41:57
How First World War shocks reshaped the Royal Navy
Ben-my-Chree and U-9 introduce a wider explanation of how First World War shocks shaped British damage control, anti-submarine work, night fighting, and harbor attack.