United States Navy operations during World War I

United States Navy in World War I
Part of World War I War at Sea
"The Sinking of USS San Diego" by Francis Muller.
Date 1917–1919 Location Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, Pacific Ocean Result United States victory, Central Powers defeated in World War I.
Belligerents
United States	German Empire  Austria-Hungary
Commanders and leaders
William S. Sims Austin M. Knight Hugh Rodman	Reinhard Scheer Franz von Hipper
Casualties and losses
431 killed 819 wounded	unknown

United States Navy operations during World War I began on April 6, 1917, after the formal declaration of war on the German Empire. The American navy focused on countering enemy U-boats in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, while convoying men and supplies to France and Italy. Because of United States' late entry into the war, her capital ships never engaged the German fleet, and few decisive submarine actions occurred.

The main theater of World War I was the Western Front. In order to relieve the British and European allies already on the battle front, the United States Navy was tasked with transporting millions of American soldiers and supplies across the Atlantic to France. The United States Navy was ill prepared for war, and the only solution was to begin deploying whatever was available on convoy duty and arming merchantmen with small naval guns manned by armed guard detachments.

Congress declared war on April 6, 1917, which meant the United States Coast Guard automatically became a part of the Department of the Navy.Destroyers and similar escort warships were considered the most effective means of sinking enemy submarines and protecting merchantmen. Therefore, destroyer squadrons were based in the British Isles at major ports including Queenston, Ireland. The capital ships took up positions with the British Royal Navy in the North Sea for an uneventful blockade of the German High Seas Fleet that would last even after the armistice into 1919.

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