# GERMAN U-BOATS DEPARTING FOR BATTLE / WORLD WAR I NEWSREEL FIRST WORLD WAR 73682

This silent German newsreel shows World War I U-boats preparing for war patrols, and departing for combat, and then sinking vessels on the high seas. Some of the rare images in this film include a U-boat stopping a sailing vessel in the Atlantic, forcing the crew to abandon ship and then sinking the enemy vessel. This type of "gallant" warfare would be replaced by less kind methods -- unrestricted submarine warfare. Unrestricted submarine warfare is a type of naval warfare in which submarines sink vessels such as freighters and tankers without warning, as opposed to attacks per prize rules (also known as "cruiser rules"). Prize rules call for submarines to surface and search for merchantmen and place crews in "a place of safety" (for which lifeboats did not qualify, except under particular circumstances) before sinking them, unless the ship has shown "persistent refusal to stop ... or active resistance to visit or search". The U-boat campaign of World War I, waged intermittently by Germany between 1915 and 1918 against Britain and her allies. This was ostensibly the reason for the entry of the United States into the war in 1917, together with the Zimmermann Telegram. It was also a casus belli for the entry of Brazil into the war in 1917. Following the use of unrestricted submarine warfare by Germany in the First World War, countries tried to limit or even abolish submarines. Instead, the London Naval Treaty required submarines to abide by prize rules. These regulations did…

- Kind: Newsreel
- Genres: War, News, Industrial and advertising
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/73682GermanSubmarineToPlunger)
- Licence or status: none stated by the archive
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/73682GermanSubmarineToPlunger?play=1)