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First World War (1914-1918)
The U-Boat Menace

The emergence of the submarine was a major development in naval warfare. German submarine - or U-Boat - attacks against Allied shipping in the Atlantic and in European waters posed a major threat to the Allied war effort.

Life Ring, SS Brussels
Life Ring, SS Brussels

This life ring is from the SS Brussels, a British ferry captured by German destroyers in June 1916.

In March 1915, when the German submarine U-33 attempted to capture the Brussels, Captain Charles Fryatt turned his ship and tried to ram the submarine. U-33 dived to avoid a collision and the Brussels escaped. Fryatt had followed British Admiralty instructions that ships' masters should resist surrendering their vessels. The German navy saw Fryatt as a civilian attempting to attack a vessel of war and, after his capture in 1916, tried and executed him as an unlawful combatant.

Life Ring, British
CWM 19390002-677





The Return of U-9
U-Boat Deck Gun
Periscope Lens, U-117
U-Boat Signalling Lamp
Cut-Away German U-Boat Mine
German Naval Mine, U-153
SS Audax Sinking
Life Ring, SS Brussels
Life Ring, UC-77
"We risk our lives to bring you food. It's up to you not to waste it."
Porthole, RMS Lusitania
Qu'importe l'existence des Neutres! L'Allemagne est au dessus de tout! (Neutrality is irrelevant! Germany sees herself above all else!)
HMHS Llandovery Castle
Depth Charge, "Type G"
Model, U-27
First World War Atlantic Convoy
German Submarine U-118