• ganksy@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    9 months ago

    I feel completely ignorant that I was not aware U-boats were around during WW1

    • PugJesus@kbin.socialOPM
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      22
      ·
      edit-2
      9 months ago

      Unrestricted submarine warfare was actually one of the causes that drew the US into WW1!

      Continent-wide war over the future of civilization? We sleep

      You sink our money-making ships? REAL SHIT

      • SSTF@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        edit-2
        9 months ago

        The very first sinking of a ship by a submarine occurred during the U.S. Civil War, in fact!

        Both the Union and Confederacy operated submarines during the war.

        The very first U.S. “submarine” was used during the Revolutionary War, but it was more of a one off novelty than a move forward in industrialized war like in the Civil War.

        This also happened in conjunction with the rise of ironclads, with the first ironclad vs ironclad battle also occurring in the Civil War.

    • niktemadur@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      8 months ago

      One of the key events that gave the United States the politically-charged push into the war was the sinking of the Lusitania, and it was done by a German u-boat.

      Here’s another weird one you didn’t expect: Germans used zeppelins to bomb London.