WWI Technology

New Technology

• 1914 new weapons were developed; machine guns, airplanes, armoured tanks

• Commanders, however, failed to fully understand the new technology

• Therefore, their war strategy was a “War of Attrition” - each side repeatedly attack the other until exhausted and unable to continue. It literally was victory to the last man standing.

U-boats• “Unterseeboot” or submarine used mostly by the Germans and destroyed

many of the Allies ships with torpedos.

• they were most effectively used in an economic-warfare role, enforcing a naval blockade against enemy shipping. The primary targets of the U-boat campaigns were the merchant convoys bringing supplies from the British

Empire and the United States to Great Britain.

Depth Charges• These “dropping mines” were anti-submarine weapons

developed by the British to counter the U-boats. These barrels were full of TNT or other explosives. They were brought into regular use in 1916.

• The first delivery mechanism was to simply roll the "ashcans" off racks at the stern of the attacking vessel. Originally depth charges were simply placed at the top of a ramp and allowed to let roll. Improved racks, which could hold several depth charges and release them remotely with a trigger, were developed towards the end of the First World War.

Dreadnoughts were the “big guns” on the sea that had a lot of power but were slow and easy targets.

These eventually evolved into “battlecruisers”

Technology on LandWWI saw the British creation of tanks – they came out

of the necessity to crush barb wire, and shelter the men following behind from gunfire. The first tanks were slow and bulky, and often stalled or got stuck in the mud.

WWI Tanks

Technology on Land con’t

• Bigger field guns and cannon

- machine guns created

– Germany’s “Big Bertha” arch shells 25km upward to hit targets 120km

– Guns fired shells filled with explosives and shrapnel (metal balls or fragments)

– Flame throwers were a common “no man’s land” weapon

“Big Bertha”

Big Bertha’s Damage

War in the Air

• Planes were still a recent development and used by the British, at first, for reconnaissance. After the Germans got into the air as well, planes were used to shoot down the enemy. One on one air fights were called “dogfights” and always ended in death, as the pilots were not given parachutes

• Fly boys• dogfights

• While Canada did not have its own air force, many Canadians became heroes within the British ranks. Pilots experienced the most popularity by citizens and were virtual celebrities.

• Canada’s most famous flying ace was Billy Bishop

War in the Air con’t

Dirigibles or “Zeppelins” were invented in Germany and used for scouting and bombing. These airships were inflated with gas like hydrogen and propelled by an engine underneath. Because they were so

large and slow, however, they were not used again in WWII. The 1930s did see them used as

passenger planes.

THE END

• The Man Comes Around