Skip to main content
Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

Tags
Related Content
Topic
Document Type
  • Historical Summary
Wars & Conflicts
  • World War I 1917-1918
File Formats
  • Image (gif, jpg, tiff)
Location of Archival Materials

Tactics and Technology

Naval railway gun, 14"/50 gun, Mark I carriage

Naval 14"/50 railway gun on Mark I carriage at the Baldwin Locomotive Works, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after completion, 1918. 

The types of operations required of naval forces during World War I — many of them involving new or evolving technologies and warfare tactics and techniques — brought with them many new challenges for the U.S. Navy. Among them were geographically far-flung logistics chains and lines of communication; deployment of naval personnel as railway artillerymen in France; new base installations requiring rapid construction; and the ever-present threat of German submarines to the essential transatlantic supply convoys. Each challenge was met, often in a unique way and, for the first time in U.S. history, with Allied nations and their navies as partners. 

Logistics 

Mine Warfare

Naval Railway Batteries in France

Bureau of Engineering 

  • History of the Bureau of Engineering During World War I. This history of the Bureau of Engineering is the fifth of seven monographs in a series on the U.S. Navy in World War I. Read an inductory overview from NHHC historian Jon Middaugh and access the original text in the Online Reading Room.  

Antisubmarine Warfare and Convoying

Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) documents

Razzle Dazzle: The Art and Science of Ship Camouflage During World War I

Exhibit created by the National Museum of the U.S. Navy and the National Museum of the American Sailor. Download exhibit files using the links below:

USS Minneapolis (C-13) in dazzle camouflage

James J. Clerkin Sr. collection, photo S-023.01. USS Minneapolis (C-13) painted in dazzle camouflage. Photos in this collection were taken during the years 1917–1919. Download image.

Published: Tue Feb 26 15:52:59 EST 2019