Conflict: World War I
When British forces captured the Oosttaverne Wood from the Germans during the Battle of Messines in June 1917, they were surprised to find that one of the trees wasn’t a tree at all—it was a steel-and-iron imitation. This camouflaged “tree” had … Continue reading
Conflict: World War I
German U-boats were the scourge of British shipping during World War I, and until the convoy system was instituted towards the end of the war, the submarines sank ship after ship. Before the use of convoys, the Admiralty tried all kinds … Continue reading
Conflict: Uncategorized
A 19th-century boundary dispute that started between Venezuela and Great Britain ended up bringing Britain and the United States to the brink of war in 1895. After decades of disagreement regarding the location of the western boundary between Venezuela and … Continue reading
Conflict: Civil War
During the American Civil War, British shipbuilders were commissioned to build warships for the Confederacy. One of these ships—the CSS Alabama—was used to capture almost 60 Northern merchant vessels, and in total, the British-built Confederate ships sank around 150 Union … Continue reading
Conflict: World War I
On May 31, 1916, 250 German and British ships and 100,000 sailors clashed in the North Sea in the Battle of Jutland—the biggest naval battle of World War I. Germany wanted to break the British blockade but knew that Britain’s … Continue reading