The Ship That Changed the World: The Escape of the Goeben to the Dardanelles in 1914

by Dan van der Vat

Book Overview

The exploits of the German battle cruiser Goeben at the outbreak of World War I changed the early course of the war and had a decisive impact on subsequent world history. Virtually alone in the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 034035027X
• ISBN13: 9780340350270
• Release Date: September 1985
• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton General Division
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.

Customer Reviews

EXCELLENT HISTORY

Most people never HEARD of this event. A major event in leading up to the war.

positive

This is a good read but I still think the part about these ships in "the guns of august" sets the bar extremely high.

Nicely documented, but ...

Some of the author's points are garbled. For example, Goeben decided not to tangle with five Russian predreadnought battleships whose shooting was excellent. His parenthetical about Troubridge may have found it interesting that Souchon did not feel he could deal with more than two targets is a bit unfair. Troubridge had four armored cruisers never intended to face battleships as equals. The cruiser's armor and armament was decidedly inferior to tackling even a predreadnought. Souchon correctly assessed the situation with the Russians: built to take a licking and to keep on ticking with battleship-appropriate armament and protection. Troubridge would have provided interesting gunnery practice and cost GOEBEN her ammunition supplies in the event the British battlecruisers ever did catch her. Then given that the battlecruisers protection was of the same order as Troubridge's museum pieces... maybe it's a good thing neither task force met up with GOEBEN. A good read. The politics and chutzpah is unbelievable. Extremely poor handling of the Turks' pride and sensibilities got the British just what they asked for. Gotta luv Fisher's comments.