Coal and the Advent of the First World War at Sea

Bibliographic Data

ID10220378
AuthorsJames Goldrick (University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy, Australia, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume21
Issue3
Pages322-337
Publication date2014-06-04
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueWar in History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0968-3445 • E-ISSN: 1477-0385
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0968344513504861
OpenAlexW2036955589
LanguageEN
Citations received3

The changeover from coal to oil propulsion in the world’s navies in the period of the First World War has been treated by many historians largely as a straightforward efficiency exercise in adopting new technology. This article assesses the issues of coal through analysis of the problems related to ship operations which were encountered with manpower, ship design, and coal supply. It argues that the demise of coal became likely through the introduction of turbine propulsion, which gave warships for the first time real potential to achieve and maintain high speeds. It then became unavoidable when the limitations inherent in coal firing became obvious in the context of global, long-range operations and a threat environment that included the submarine and which required surface ships to maintain much higher speeds at sea for vastly more extended periods than they had prior to 1914

Aeronautics · Archaeology · Changeover · Coal · Context (archaeology · Demise · Marine engineering · Operations management · Political science · Propulsion · Submarine · Submarine pipeline · Telecommunications · Turbine · Waste management · Engineering · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History · Law · Maritime and Coastal Archaeology · Aerospace Engineering · Geology · Mechanical Engineering · Oceanography

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub