Wonderful piece of history on film. None of these long lost souls could have ever imagined we'd be gawking at them almost 100 years later from our beds.
Video was in its infancy at this time, roughly 20-25yrs. So glad people had the inspiration to capture things like this. So jealous of future generations. They will be able to view our lives in video 30,000 years from now. Imagine today if we can see video from 30k years ago!! But still grateful ffor the short period we have.....
This is NOT all the same u-boat-- snippets of different boats ! MOST of the footage is of u-35 on which my great uncle Richard Berger was oberbootsmatt-- the capt is wearing the white sweater ( Lothar von Arnuald de perrie) that footage is from a 1917 patrol. This crew survived & "uncle Dick' died in the USA ( Hempstead, LI, Ny) in 1974. I have scads of info & pics of the u-35 & it's all time record of 224 kills.
"My record cruise was quite tame and dull. We stopped the vessels. The crews boarded the lifeboats. We inspected the ships' documents, told the crews how they could reach the next port and then sank the stopped prize." - Lothar Von Arnauld De La Perière
Then much of the footage is in the Mediterranean Sea because that is where de la Periere operated. Interestingly he is the top U-Boat ace of all time with 446,000 tons sunk-189 ships. He almost always used his deck gun. Only fired about 75 torpedoes.
@@lawrencewood289 Yes, thank you ! Also, the U-35 had one torpedo fired at it skip over it's forward deck (between the gun and tower) fired by the French sub FARADAY that almost took "Uncle Dick" with it !!! Needless to say, it got the U-35's attention !!
And you're proud of all the death and destruction this crew and uboat caused?? Have you any inkling of the horrible deaths caused by this ship? Have some compassion for those poor souls. They drowned, sucking water into their lungs, and died slowly in the most horrific manner other than burning to death. It's disgusting that you brag about this.
Amazing footage. I hope you are in contact with the national archive to make sure this movie is kept in good condition and/or scanned at super high resolution? This must be the rarest WWI footage ever.
My father was a bombardier during WW II, in a B-24 Liberator, and his ship was shot down. It's a harrowing story. But even with all of the U.S. combat losses during the air war, MORE fliers lost their lives in accidents and mishaps because it was cutting edge technology and not perfected, rushed into service because of the war. NOW, I'm trying to imagine the sailors aboard THESE subs because at the time THEY were cutting edge. How many were lost simply to mechanical failure or human error. The mind boggles at their courage!! Great YT video; you are to be commended and thank you!
. Great film , eerie music, thanks. I live in Harwich Essex UK .Shortly after the Armistice in November 1918, it was at Harwich was where dozens of German U-boats officially surrendered to the Allied forces. Their exact number is not known, but there were estimated to be between 120 and 150 U-boats in total, along with various other German ships and support machinery. Thought this info might be of some interest to those who have watched this piece of film .
The first part of the film, in which the submarine was loaded, takes place in the port of Kiel on the Blücher bridge. In the background you can still see the old signal tower. I come from Kiel and I was 8 years old when he was demolished in 1958.
I am a stoic guy just ask anyone who knows me, but I can’t help but to feel overwhelmed with pride when I see these young MEN. I hate the German/ Austrian alliance In that war because of who was leading the Austrians at that time but I LOVE the heart and optimism from the soldiers I see in this video! I’m so proud of all of these Germans! If they were to have fought each country one at a time they would have had a well deserved victory! No one country could have bested them. God bless them all!
For the curious: Die Besalssung des Seglers wird an Bord genommen: The sailor's harness is taken on board Eine U-boot-falle: A submarine trap Heimwärts: Homebound Reichstelle für der unterricht film: Reich's Office for Teaching Film. Also, officers have the black visors on their hat. That list was probably? US -> British shipping info. In WWI their encryption sucked, so they couldn't rely on radio. So they probably got these lists, a map, a watch, a compass, and that's it.
I served on-board SSN-651in the US Navy. The way they were loading stores and loading torpedoes is almost exactly the same way it is done today, over 100 years later.
Thanks for replying for it made me watch this for a 2nd time. Note how small the sub is. And the extended periscope before diving. All very cool looking. All very damn dangerous. No way I could do it, in any submarine. I guess you have to want to be there. Not me. Even more so in these crude machines. Bravo to these sailors and they at least made it home this mission for the film was developed.
I only associated U Boats with WW2 so imagine my suprise when I saw this. They may seem primitive by today's standards, but in 1914 they were highly advanced technology. Remember the famous passenger liner Lusitania was sunk by one- pushing popular sentiment towards war(WW1).
Great video! Not a lot of film footage of the WW1 German Uboats and not a lot of them were sunk like in the second world war!!!! The first U boats were very primitive compared to the submarines of the second world war!!!!
Can anyone recommend any books by someone who served in WW1 U boats? I'm looking for non-fiction; memoirs for example, not so much a history book as an individual's experiences.
@@TheaLorraine thank you for your reply. Unfortunately the title you mention is about American subs in WW2 and it's German U boats in WW1 that I'm interested in. Two years since my post and I'm still looking.
You might try: IRON COFFINS, By Herbert A. Werner, a WW2 first hand narrative of a German submariner. Not WW1, but will give you 'the feel' of what life was like as a Sea Wolf.....
What once was the most feared for the sailors. Has became their most valueable weapon. To Dive in the ocean is like Discovery a New continet. The moment You Cross the Line of the water You are in a hole New world. This moment should be given as much importance as the walk in the moon.
@@oceanhome2023 Technically speaking, YES they could. But it was a question of 'how long' the crews could stand the temperature & the feted, toxic fumes (inside) these Iron Coffins.....
Funny to see everyone replayed the sail boat. I imagine everyone was like... seriously? They wasted a torpedo on a boat made of wood? What was that boat gonna do them? Hit them with a splinter?
All those beautiful sailing ships that got sunk in ww1, never to return. ww1 was the last hurrah for commercial sail, save for the South American nitrates and Australian wheat that lasted another 10 to 20 years.
Thanks so much "WWII" History Channel". I have always been interested in hard to find history of WW1 German submarine 'stuff''. Why is that? Anyhow I really appreciate the video and hopefully there will be more info/books, videos, etc, on the German Navy WW1 and submarines (GASP!!) / u-booats, of WW1,.
Not particularly. The main operation was in the Dover Straits blocking the U-Boat ports of Ostend and Zeebrugge. Many U-Boats chose to go Northwards to avoid this. The North Sea barrier tried to replicate it but wasn't terribly successful.
It is so sad seeing these beautiful, proud merchant ships being crippled and sunk in the middle of the ocean. The loss of life in both of the world wars immense, mostly unarmed merchant mariners. Submarine warfare just seems so un-seamanlike to me. It makes me reminisce of the age of sail when naval vessels would strike the colors and engage head on for king and country...
Todd - That's war. mate...horrible, unfair most of the time, but it's war and you'got to defend your country with the tools you have available, and then - if possible - survive...Let's hope we'll never see a world war again.
Blockading and cutting off the food suply for milions of children, elderly and women doesnt sound very Seamanlike either. The proud Royal Navy wouldnt even allow that when for the early part of WW1 german u-boats checked, and if war material was found the ship would be sunk and the crew interned or allowed to leave on lifeboats once they got closer to the shore. Therefore unhumane as you may call it, it was justified.
That's disturbing. In a way, every single one of those boats sunk is a mass grave. That's what war is. No glory, just hoping that you sneak up and kill everyone before they can kill you. Thanks for sharing.
The German U-boats essentially cut off Britain's food and ammunition supply. The French mutinied, and the Russians went home. By 1916 Germany was close to winning World War I or the Great War. Were not it for the Americans, Germany would have been victorious. There would have been no World War II or Cold War. BTW, great film.
Nice revisionist history. The US didn't enter the war until April 1917, and it was a year before the first AEF troops landed in France. Pershing's division participated in 3 battles in the last 100 days of the war. Germany was tired and short of troops after 5 years of war, and surrendered because they had intelligence on the Allies reserves. Actual American involvement was almost nil. British Empire casualties on the first afternoon of the Somme were half what the US suffered in the 7 months they were at the front.
Josh Cole The sinking of an unarmed French boat, the Sussex was the primary motivation behind President Wilson’s decision to lead the United States into World War I. But was the Sussex actually sunk? The answer is no. The Sussex was mistaken for a minelayer by a German U-boat which torpedoed it. However, it was not sunk but was subsequently towed to the French port of Boulogne. With this as a pretext the U.S. sent over 4 million men to Europe to help Britain. It should have allied itself with Germany, instead, and put an end to the British Empire which happened anyway thanks to Churchill.
Sad in a way. It reminds me of the old pacifist saying, "A bayonet is an instrument with a worker at each end". All this for the ego of the Kaiser who got away scot free at the end of the war.
Based on most historical accounts from numerous sources, the Germans were the aggressors in both WW1 and WW2. We cant always attach equal moral equivalence to both sides of any conflict.
mightyoak - "....from numerous sources" ! Hahahahaha ! Are these neutral, independent, or biased, partial and with tight ties to the winning side ? To begin with, the killing at Sarajevo had nothing to do with Germany, no German citizen was involved, but the Brits and French immediately declared war to the Kaiser ! It was A PLOT against Germany because the Kaiser was building a powerful fleet that could challenge and defeat (as it happened at Jutland) the Royal Navy ! Don't let your country's biased and untruthful accounts fool you.
Pedro Lista Carey actually well respected historians from many countries noted German aggression as the likely cause of WW1& WW2. I will gladly refer you to resources if you are interested.
@@montemartinez9935 No the war would not have happened if the Kaiser had not catalyzed the Austrian response to Serbia and then unleashed the Schlieffen Plan on Belgium and France.
Most of records its a fake I think not a real fights.Its filmed for propaganda.If you look for angle of camera etc...Sill likes it and music you added too,just note :-)
Interesting but would not call it 'fantastic' as many Allied lives are being lost in this video at the hands of these German submarines and what an awful death that would have been..
