Operation Albion: The German Conquest of the Baltic Islands

by Michael B. Barrett

In October 1917, an invasion force of some 25,000 German soldiers, accompanied by a flotilla of 10 dreadnoughts, 350 other vessels, a half-dozen zeppelins, and 80 aircraft, attacked the Baltic islands of Dago, Osel, and Moon at the head of the Gulf of Riga. It proved to be the most successful amphibious operation of World War I. The three islands fell, the Gulf was opened to German warships and was now a threat to Russian naval bases in the Gulf...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0253349699
• ISBN13: 9780253349699
• Release Date: February 2008
• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 1.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Good read, well researched, but marred by errors and mistakes

I found this book very interesting and well written. The author does a good job of making the story readable and exciting. It seems well researched and is richly annotated. In short, I enjoyed reading it. However, det book does contain a number of errors that could easily have been avoided by better editing or proofreading, both factual errors and typos or mistakes. For example the Hindenburg Line is mistakenly referred to as the "Siegfried line". On p 84 the author claims that the predreadnoughts Andrei Pervozvannyi and Imperator Pavel I were dreadnoughts of the Sevastopol-class, despite correctly listing the ships of the Sevastopol-class in an earlier chapter. The Moltke is consistently referred to as a cruiser, which might possibly be forgiven on the grounds that the germans called their battlecruisers "Grosse Kreuzer", or large cruisers, during WW1, but surely in an english language book battlecruiser is the expected term. Generals are referred to as Admirals, years are confused etc. The most amusing one is on p 58, where the reader is presented with the interesting fact that "Herring constituted the mainstay of the population during the winter". These mistakes detract from my rating of the book. They give me as reader the unfortunate impression that the exhaustive and impressive research that undoubtedly underpins the book might perhaps not have been coupled with broad background knowledge of WW1 on the authors part. Despite this, I will recommend the book as a good read and an interesting and well researched book an a hitherto in english litterature neglected operation in WW1. I give it 4 stars, despite the errors, for the good flow and easy readability.

Operation Albion

Excellent. If you want to know about the largest amphibious invasion of WWI this is it. Very detailed right down to indiviual operations. Never heard of this operation before. Read this book, you won't be disappointed.

The Definitive Work on the German Conquest of the Baltic Islands

I may be wrong, but I believe this is the ONLY book-length work in English that contains more than a passing mention of the German conquest of the Baltic Islands. It is certainly the definitive work as all other works devoted to this operation are reasonably short articles in journals. A very great bonus to this obvious reason for reading this book is that it is very well written, accompanied by maps that materially assist in following the campaign, and structured so that the reader's questions are usually answered before they are formulated. I will not attempt to revisit the ground covered by the lengthly review by ML Shakespeare, but wish to note that this work could not have been written until after 1990 when the Soviet/Russian primary sources began to become available. The author has made superb use of those sources, marrying them up with the German naval sources, and delivering an outstanding work. An additional point is that the availability of this book in 1941 might have materially aided the US Navy and Marines in constructing an effective tactical doctrine for amphibious invasions of hostile territory. Instead, the US planners studied the failed Gallipoli campaign and attempted to construct plans to avoid Hamilton's mistakes. The African assault was ignored as irrelevant and adding nothing beyond what could be learned from Gallipoli. Unfortunately, there was much to be learned from the German Albion operation, but US planners were almost totally devoid of information concerning its details. If the reader is interested in amphibious operations, the number of contested assault landings in history that were successful before World War II can be counted on one hand. Albion is by far the most relevant and should be seen as the direct forerunner to the Marine landing at Guadacanal (unopposed) and the Torch landings in North Africa. In short, this is a seminal and definitive historical work on a previously ignored and almost unknown military campaign. I recommend that all interested parties reading this review BUY and READ this book.

Operation Albion

Iy is an out standing history of one of the most unknown but sucessful amphibious operations of World War I. The author did a fantastic job of making it interesting reading. Highly recommended to any person who is interested in World War I.

Planning, Boldness, Surprise

Where was the most successful amphibious operation of World War I? Was it in Turkey, German East Africa, or maybe Estonia? In the first amphibious assault of the war (1914), a large British Indian Army attempted a landing at Tanga, German East Africa that ended in disaster. Winston Churchill's Gallipoli Campaign (1915) is regarded as a symbol of military incompetence and calamity resulting in 141,113 Allied casualties. . Author Michael B. Barrett's "Operation Albion: The German Conquest of the Baltic Islands" brings to light an amazing, completely overlooked campaign so completely atypical to the ubiquitous World War I trench war narrative we are so accustomed to. "In October 1917, an invasion force of some twenty-five thousand soldiers of the German XXIII Reserve Corps, accompanied by a flotilla of 10 dreadnaughts, 350 other vessels, a half-dozen zeppelins, and 80 aircraft" set out for the Gulf of Riga. Operation Albion's objective was the capture of Russian controlled Baltic Islands, near Riga, and uncomfortably close to Russia's capital, St. Petersburg. Why were the Baltic Islands an attractive target for Germany? Dr. Barrett reveals, "The Germans hoped their seizure would be the final blow to a Russian seething with revolutionary discontent, and even if the loss of the islands did not lead to immediate capitulation, capturing them would breach the Russian defenses and doom St. Petersburg." Dr. Barrett's meticulously researched and finely written book draws on new material recently made available from Russian archives. This well- constructed narrative lets the reader eavesdrop on meetings as the Germans carefully planned their invasion of the Baltic Islands. "What is astonishing," cites the author, "is that Operation Albion was conducted by military forces with no experience in either amphibious or joint warfare." The author takes us inside the "kriegsspiel" where the commanders carry out their final war game rehearsal of Operation Albion. Dr. Barrett does a fine job presenting the myriad issues German planners faced. The success of the invasion depended on careful coordination of landings, bombardments and timely seizure of key positions. Much of the German time- table hinged on Russia's slow initial reaction and, always, there was the incessant threat of mines. Naval planners agonized over how minesweepers would quickly carry out their vital work without detection. German battleships were assigned the bombardment of fortifications and shore batteries. Quickly, assault troops were to be ferried ashore in torpedo boats and motor launches. Local artillery support for the landings was to be supplied by 88mm and 105mm guns aboard the torpedo boats. In good weather, aircraft based from a seaplane tender would provide air cover and reconnaissance. Among the planners, there was much apprehension about possible interference from a squadron of British submarines known to be operating from the nearby Finland coast. The bu