Naval History Homepage and Site Search

 


 

World War 1 at Sea


NAVAL STAFF MONOGRAPHS, The Official Admiralty Publications covering 1914 to c1917



Links to main World War 1 pages:
- Military & Naval Chronology
- Naval Operations -
Merchant Navy
- Navy and Army Despatches
- Honours and Gallantry Awards
- Royal & Dominion Navy Casualties
- Warships & Auxiliaries of the RN
- Guide to Warship Locations
- Campaigns, Battles & Actions
HMAS Sydney which sank the German SMS Emden in 1914  (Photo Ships, click to enlarge)

return to World War 1, 1914-1918


PDF downloads made available by the Royal Australian Navy


 Introduction


After being referred to a download the British Admiralty's "HM Ships Damaged or Sunk, 1939-1945", I emailed the RAN to ask about access to similar resources. The helpful response I had from Maree Whittaker-Jones of the Australian Department of Defence, led me to what I can only describe as a treasure trove - a nearly complete set of the official Admiralty reports on the conduct of the war at sea from 1914 to c1917. The RAN set can be found here.


Monograph 9, White Sea Station, 1914-1919 has not been found. An additional, unnumbered Monograph, reviewing German cruiser warfare, 1914-1918, also exists. This has a separate link - see below.


Having discovered this treasure, and as ungrateful as I am, I was still disappointed the series did not carry on to cover the entire war. The only hint I have found of the reason for this is that the official naval history (links in Section 4) had by now been completed. In fact, the German cruiser warfare monograph was only published in 1940.


The London Gazette Navy Despatches listed in section 5 covers some of the latter years of the war, especially Zeebrugge/Ostend and operations in Russia.





 





1. LIST OF VOLUMES



Volume 1 Cover


Regulations for Care of Secret Documents


Title Page
Volume Publication Date Monograph(s)
1 Nov 1920   1 - Coronel, 1914
  2 - German cruiser squadron in the Pacific, 1914
  3 - Falklands, 1914
  4 - Goeben and Breslau, 1914
2 Jan 1921   5 - Cameroons, 1914
10 - East Africa to July 1915
3 July 1921   6 - Passage of the British Expeditionary Force August, 1914
  7 - The Patrol Flotillas at the Commencement of the War
11 - The Battle of Heligoland Bight, August 28th 1914
  8 - Naval Operations connected with the Raid on the North-East Coast, December 16th, 1914
12 - The Action of Dogger Bank, January 24th, 1915
4 July 1921 15 - Naval operations in Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf, to April 1916
5 Apr 1922 The Eastern Squadrons, 1914
14 - The first Australian convoy, 1914
16 - The China Squadron, 1914, including the Emden hunt
17 - The East Indies Squadron, 1914
20 - The Cape of Good Hope Squadron, 1914
6 Mar 1922
18 - The Dover Command, Vol 1, to December 1917
7 Sep 1922
19 - Tenth Cruiser Squadron, Vol 1, 1914-1916
25 - The Baltic, 1914
8 Mar 1923
21 - The Mediterranean, 1914-1915 (excluding Dardanelles and Gallipoli)
9 Oct 1923
Volume 9 is a slightly abridged version of Monographs 22, 26 and ?27. See 1914-1916 volume at end of this list:
22 - Atlantic 1, 1914
26 - Atlantic 2, 1915
27 - Battles of Coronel and the Falkland Islands, 1914 (in more detail in Monographs 1 and 3)
10
Apr 1924
23 - Home waters, Part 1, from the outbreak of war to 27th August 1914
11 Dec 1924
24 - Home waters, Part 2, September and October 1914
12 May 1925
28 - Home waters, Part 3, from November 1914 to the end of January 1915
13 Oct 1925
29 - Home waters, Part 4, from February to July 1915
14 Apr 1926
30 - Home waters, Part 5, from July to October 1915
15
Sep 1926
31 - Home waters, Part 6, from October 1915 to May 1916
16
Mar 1927
32 - Lowestoft Raid, 24th-25th April 1916
17
Oct 1927
33 - Home waters, Part 7, from June 1916 to November 1916 (excluding Jutland)
18
May 1933
34 - Home waters, Part 8, December 1916 to April 1917
19 Aug 1939
35 - Home waters, Part 9, 1st May 1917 to 31st July 1917
1914-16 - Compendium of Monographs 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 22, 26, 132Mb file, lengthy, may be difficult to download and save. Note 13 is not available on its own, but can be consulted online in this volume:
13 - Grand Fleet, August 1914 to November 1916, published Feb 1921
- 1940 Review of German Cruiser Warfare, 1914-1918, Volume and Monograph number is not known. (Internet Archive)



2. LIST OF MONOGRAPHS

Monograph Number Subject Volume
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
-
Coronel, 1914
German cruiser squadron in the Pacific, 1914
Falklands, 1914
Goeben and Breslau, 1914
Cameroons, 1914
Passage of the British Expeditionary Force August, 1914
Patrol Flotillas at the Commencement of the War
Naval Operations - Raid on North East Coast, Dec 16th, 1914
White Sea Station, 1914-1919 (not found)
East Africa to July 1915
The Battle of Heligoland Bight, August 28th 1914
The Action of Dogger Bank, January 24th, 1915
The Grand Fleet, August 1914 to November 1916
The first Australian convoy, 1914
Naval operations in Mesopotamia & Persian Gulf, 1914-1916
China Squadron, 1914, including the Emden hunt
East Indies Squadron, 1914
Dover Command, Vol 1, 1914-1917
Tenth Cruiser Squadron, Vol 1, 1914-1916
Cape of Good Hope Squadron, 1914
Mediterranean, 1914-1915
Atlantic Ocean 1914
Home waters 1, from the outbreak of war to 27th August 1914
Home waters 2, September and October 1914
Baltic, 1914
Atlantic 2, 1915
Battles of Coronel and the Falkland Islands
Home waters 3, from November 1914 to end of January 1915
Home waters 4, from February to July 1915
Home waters 5, from July to October 1915
Home waters 6, from October 1915 to May 1916
Lowestoft Raid, 24th-25th April 1916
Home waters 7, from June 1916 to November 1916
Home waters 8, December 1916 to April 1917
Home waters 9, 1st May 1917 to 31st July 1917
Review of German Cruiser Warfare, 1914-1918 (Internet Archive)
Vol. 1
Vol. 1
Vol. 1
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
Vol. 3
Vol. 3
-
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
Vol. 3
1914-16
Vol. 5
Vol. 4
Vol. 5
Vol. 5
Vol. 6
Vol. 7
Vol. 5
Vol. 8
Vol.9
Vol. 10
Vol. 11
Vol. 7
Vol. 9
Vol. 9
Vol. 12
Vol. 13
Vol. 14
Vol. 15
Vol. 16
Vol. 17
Vol. 18
Vol. 19
-



3. LIST OF SUBJECTS

Subject Volume Monograph
Atlantic 1, 1914
Atlantic 2, 1915
Baltic, 1914
Battle of Coronel, 1914
Battle of Dogger Bank, January 24th, 1915;
Battle of Falklands, 1914
Battle of Heligoland Bight, August 28th 1914;
Battles of Coronel and the Falkland Islands;
Cameroons, 1914; 
Cape of Good Hope Squadron, 1914.
China Squadron, 1914, including the Emden hunt;
Dover Command, Vol 1, 1914-1917;
East Africa to July 1915;
East Indies Squadron, 1914;
First Australian convoy;
German cruiser squadron in the Pacific, 1914
German Cruiser Warfare, 1914-1918 (Internet Archive)
Goeben and Breslau, 1914
Grand Fleet, August 1914 to November 1916
Home waters 1, outbreak of war to 27th August 1914
Home waters 2, September and October 1914
Home waters 3, November 1914 to end of January 1915
Home waters 4, February to July 1915
Home waters 5, July to October 1915
Home waters 6, October 1915 to May 1916
Home waters 7, June 1916 to November 1916
Home waters 8, December 1916 to April 1917
Home waters 9, 1st May 1917 to 31st July 1917
Lowestoft Raid, 24th-25th April 1916
Mediterranean, 1914-1915
Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf, 1914-1916
Passage of the British Expeditionary Force August, 1914
Patrol Flotillas at the Commencement of the War
Raid on the North East Coast, December 16th, 1914
Tenth Cruiser Squadron, Vol 1, 1914-1916
White Sea Station, 1914-1919 (not found)
Vol. 9
Vol. 9
Vol. 7
Vol. 1
Vol. 3
Vol. 1
Vol. 3
Vol. 9
Vol. 2
Vol. 5
Vol. 5
Vol. 6
Vol. 2
Vol. 5
Vol. 5
Vol. 1
-
Vol. 1
1914-16
Vol. 10
Vol. 11
Vol. 12
Vol. 13
Vol. 14
Vol. 15
Vol. 17
Vol. 18
Vol. 19
Vol. 16
Vol. 8
Vol. 4
Vol. 3
Vol. 3
Vol. 3
Vol. 7
-
22
26
25
1
12
3
11
27
5
20
16
18
10
17
14
2
-
4
13
23
24
28
29
30
31
33
34
35
32
21
15
6
7
8
19
9






 

4. HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR - NAVAL OPERATIONS

by Sir Julian S Corbett and Henry Newbolt, including plans within volume


Volume 1, August to December 1914 (Heligoland, Coronel, Falklands)


Volume 2, December 1914 to Spring 1915 (Dogger Bank, Suez Attack, Dardanelles and Gallipoli) - with maps from front and rear pockets


Volume 3, Spring 1915 to June 1916 (Gallipoli evacuation, Jutland)  - includes maps and diagrams from separate case


Volume 4, June 1916 to April 1917 (after Jutland, overseas campaigns, Mediterranean, German raiders, build-up to unrestricted U-boat warfare)


Volume 5, April 1917 to November 1918 (unrestricted U-boat campaign, Zeebrugge and Ostend, North Russia, armistice)

           Appendices (U-boat campaign summaries, Royal Navy strength, ships losses and casualties)






 

5. NAVAL DESPATCHES from the LONDON GAZETTE, 1914-1920



Achilles and Dundee, Action of HM Ships (31301)

Antwerp, Naval Brigade operations (28996)

Armoured Car Squadron, RNAS (28948)

Belgian coast operations (29126)

Belgian coast operations (29436)

Dardanelles, Naval attack on (31322)

Dogger Bank, Battle of (29088)

Dover Patrol (29680)

East Africa (30133)

Emden, sinking of German cruiser (29025)

Falklands, Battle of (29087)

Gallipoli - Naval awards (29214)

Gallipoli - landings (29264)

Gallipoli - Naval mentions (29507)

Gallipoli - Evacuation (30015)

Heligoland Bight, Battle of (28948)

Jutland, Battle of - Action in the North Sea (29654)

Jutland, Battle of, Commendations and Awards to Officers (29751)


Königsberg, destruction of German cruiser (29395)

Leopard, sinking of German raider (31301)

Mesopotamian Campaign (30298)

Minesweeping, East Coast operations (29076)

Mines, (Postwar) Protection against risks of (31336)

Ostend Raid, First (31189)

Ostend Raid, Second - Honours (30870)

RNAS - operations (28948)

RNAS - Friedrichshafen airship shed attack (29025)

RNAS - Heligoland Bight, Naval seaplane operations (29076)

Russia, North Russian Expeditionary Force - White Sea (31063)

Russia - Caspian Sea (31590)

Russia - Baltic Sea (31856)

Russia, North Russian Expeditionary Force (31906)

Russia, North, in 1918 (31970)

Submarine operations (28948)

Zeebrugge and Ostend Raids (31189)





return to World War 1, 1914-1918

or to Naval-History.Net


revised 26/11/15