{"slug": "imperial-german-navy", "label": "Imperial German Navy", "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_German_Navy", "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q156649", "qid": "Q156649", "description": "1871–1919 maritime warfare branch of the German Empire's military", "entries": 22, "years": 12, "span": [1878, 1918], "span_label": ["1878 CE", "1918 CE"], "topics": [{"title": "Disasters & Accidents", "count": 10}, {"title": "Conflict & Security", "count": 5}, {"title": "Technology & Infrastructure", "count": 3}, {"title": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "count": 2}, {"title": "Culture & Society", "count": 1}, {"title": "Exploration & Expansion", "count": 1}], "also_known_as": ["German Imperial Navy", "Kaiserliche Marine"], "related": [{"slug": "u-boat", "label": "U-boat", "shared": 6}, {"slug": "royal-navy", "label": "Royal Navy", "shared": 3}, {"slug": "north-sea", "label": "North Sea", "shared": 3}, {"slug": "liverpool", "label": "Liverpool", "shared": 2}, {"slug": "ireland", "label": "Ireland", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "scotland", "label": "Scotland", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "isle-of-man", "label": "Isle of Man", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "april", "label": "April", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "new-york-city", "label": "New York City", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "aberdeen", "label": "Aberdeen", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "firth-of-forth", "label": "Firth of Forth", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "baltic-sea", "label": "Baltic Sea", "shared": 1}], "items": [{"year": 1878, "year_label": "1878 CE", "section": "Disasters & Accidents", "date": "May 31", "text": "31 May – the Imperial German Navy ironclad turret ship SMS Grosser Kurfürst is accidentally rammed and sunk by SMS König Wilhelm on manoeuvres off Folkestone with the loss of more than 275 crew (an event witnessed by Arthur Sullivan).", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365304990#Events", "title": "1878 in the United Kingdom", "revid": 1365304990, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1898, "year_label": "1898 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": "April 30", "text": "30 April – The German Fleet Association is founded in Berlin to arouse popular understanding and interest in the Imperial Navy. The government favors the construction of battleships in the Reichsmarineamt under Alfred von Tirpitz.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1331893548#Events", "title": "1898 in Germany", "revid": 1331893548, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1899, "year_label": "1899 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "March 14", "text": "14 March – Kaiser Wilhelm II takes direct command of the Imperial Navy.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1367120407#Events", "title": "1899 in Germany", "revid": 1367120407, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1900, "year_label": "1900 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": "June 14", "text": "June 14 – The Reichstag approves the second of the German Naval Laws allowing expansion of the Imperial German Navy.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373317536#June", "title": "1900", "revid": 1373317536, "section": "Events › June"}}, {"year": 1904, "year_label": "1904 CE", "section": "Technology & Infrastructure", "date": "April", "text": "April - The German Imperial Navy introduces SOS as a distress signal.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1331893996#Events", "title": "1904 in Germany", "revid": 1331893996, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1906, "year_label": "1906 CE", "section": "Technology & Infrastructure", "date": "August 4", "text": "August 4 – The first Imperial German Navy submarine, U-1, is launched.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373343237#July–August", "title": "1906", "revid": 1373343237, "section": "Events › July–August"}}, {"year": 1913, "year_label": "1913 CE", "section": "Disasters & Accidents", "date": "September 9", "text": "September 9 – Helgoland Island air disaster: The first fatalities aboard a German airship occur, when the Imperial German Navy Zeppelin dirigible LZ 14 is forced down into the North Sea off Heligoland during a thunderstorm, killing 16 of the 22 men on board.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373505613#September", "title": "1913", "revid": 1373505613, "section": "Events › September"}}, {"year": 1914, "year_label": "1914 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": "August 7", "text": "August 7 – The United Kingdom (Japan's ally since 1902) officially asked Japan for assistance in destroying the raiders from the Imperial German Navy in and around Chinese waters.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369517761#Events", "title": "1914 in Japan", "revid": 1369517761, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1914, "year_label": "1914 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "December 8", "text": "December 8 – World War I: Battle of the Falkland Islands: A superior British Royal Navy squadron under Doveton Sturdee defeats ships of the Imperial German Navy under Maximilian von Spee (who goes down with his ship).", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373518346#December", "title": "1914", "revid": 1373518346, "section": "Events › December"}}, {"year": 1914, "year_label": "1914 CE", "section": "Disasters & Accidents", "date": "December 16", "text": "December 16 – World War I: Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby: Imperial German Navy battlecruisers bombard British North Sea ports, resulting in 137 deaths, mostly civilians.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373518346#December", "title": "1914", "revid": 1373518346, "section": "Events › December"}}, {"year": 1915, "year_label": "1915 CE", "section": "Disasters & Accidents", "date": "January 1", "text": "January 1 – WWI: British Royal Navy battleship HMS Formidable is sunk off Lyme Regis, England, by an Imperial German Navy U-boat, with the loss of 547 crew.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373518749#January", "title": "1915", "revid": 1373518749, "section": "Events › January"}}, {"year": 1915, "year_label": "1915 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "January 24", "text": "January 24 – WWI: Battle of Dogger Bank – The British Grand Fleet defeats the German High Seas Fleet, sinking the armoured cruiser SMS Blücher.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373518749#January", "title": "1915", "revid": 1373518749, "section": "Events › January"}}, {"year": 1915, "year_label": "1915 CE", "section": "Disasters & Accidents", "date": "March 11", "text": "March 11 – WWI: British armed merchantman HMS Bayano is sunk in the North Channel off the coast of Scotland by Imperial German Navy U-boat SM U-27. Around 200 crew are lost, a number of bodies being washed up on the Isle of Man, with only 26 saved.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373518749#March", "title": "1915", "revid": 1373518749, "section": "Events › March"}}, {"year": 1915, "year_label": "1915 CE", "section": "Disasters & Accidents", "date": "May", "text": "Sinking of the RMS Lusitania: RMS Titanic's main rival, the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania, is sunk by Imperial German Navy U-boat U-20 off the south-west coast of Ireland, killing 1,199 civilians en route from New York City to Liverpool. The best-known of the celebrities on board is American sportsman Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373518749#May", "title": "1915", "revid": 1373518749, "section": "Events › May"}}, {"year": 1915, "year_label": "1915 CE", "section": "Disasters & Accidents", "date": "May 7", "text": "7 May – Sinking of the Lusitania: British ocean liner RMS Lusitania was sunk by Imperial German Navy U-boat U-20 about 11 mi off Old Head of Kinsale, County Cork, killing 1,198 civilians en route from New York to Liverpool, among them the Irish-born art dealer and benefactor Sir Hugh Lane and Irish composer and conductor Thomas O'Brien Butler.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1372198501#Events", "title": "1915 in Ireland", "revid": 1372198501, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1915, "year_label": "1915 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "October 23", "text": "October 23 – WWI: The torpedoing of armored cruiser SMS Prinz Adalbert results in only 3 men being rescued from a crew of 675, the greatest single loss of life for the Imperial German Navy in the Baltic Sea during the war.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373518749#October", "title": "1915", "revid": 1373518749, "section": "Events › October"}}, {"year": 1916, "year_label": "1916 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "May 31", "text": "May 31–June 1 – WWI: Battle of Jutland, between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet in the North Sea, the war's only large-scale clash of battleships. The result is tactically inconclusive, but British dominance of the North Sea is maintained", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373519106#May", "title": "1916", "revid": 1373519106, "section": "Events › May"}}, {"year": 1917, "year_label": "1917 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "May 1", "text": "1 May – Imperial German Navy Zeppelins L 43 and L 45 conduct reconnaissance patrols over the North Sea off the coast of Scotland, above the Firth of Forth and Aberdeen, respectively.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1362255025#Events", "title": "1917 in Scotland", "revid": 1362255025, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1918, "year_label": "1918 CE", "section": "Disasters & Accidents", "date": "March 1", "text": "1 March – Imperial German Navy U-boat SM U-19 sank HMS Calgarian off Rathlin Island.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1363470512#Events", "title": "1918 in Ireland", "revid": 1363470512, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1918, "year_label": "1918 CE", "section": "Disasters & Accidents", "date": "March 1", "text": "1 March – armed merchant cruiser HMS Calgarian is torpedoed and sunk off Rathlin Island, Ireland, by Imperial German Navy U-boat SM U-19 with the loss of 49 lives.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1363470573#Events", "title": "1918 in the United Kingdom", "revid": 1363470573, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1918, "year_label": "1918 CE", "section": "Technology & Infrastructure", "date": "May 15", "text": "15 May – World War I: Imperial German Navy submarine SM U-90 shells the Royal Navy wireless station on Hirta in St Kilda.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1362255037#Events", "title": "1918 in Scotland", "revid": 1362255037, "section": "Events"}}, {"year": 1918, "year_label": "1918 CE", "section": "Disasters & Accidents", "date": "July 17", "text": "July 17 – WWI: RMS Carpathia (famed for rescuing survivors of the RMS Titanic) is torpedoed and sunk off the east coast of Ireland, by Imperial German Navy submarine U-55; 218 of the 223 on board are rescued.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373520023#July", "title": "1918", "revid": 1373520023, "section": "Events › July"}}]}