World War 1 is usually seen in terms of the titanic battles of the Western Front in France and possibly the sideshow of Turkish Gallipoli, with the naval Battle of Jutland appearing out of the mists of the North Sea; just an interruption to the war on land . . . .

In fact the land war was far more extensive - see map below. As for the naval struggle, had this been lost by the Allies, Germany and the Central Powers would have been victorious .......

The battle at sea became crucial to Allied success once the German Army had failed to inflict a crushing defeat on France and Russia in the first weeks of war .......

Most of the Allied war at sea was fought by the Royal Navy as can be gauged from the number of ships and men; also those lost and killed:

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