The first world war is usually thought of as a great land war. But there was war at sea around the globe from the very start. Even though the maritime war lacked the headline deadly battles like the Somme, Verdun, Tannenberg, or the Piave River it played a decisive part in the outcome of the conflict. It had a central influence on naval history and international engagement for decades to come. In Germany naval events at the close of the war had a crucial bearing not just on the period around the Armistice but exercised a far reaching influence right into the 1930s and the rise of Nazi Germany and beyond. For Britain's navy it marked a key turning point that showed they were no longer rulers of the waves. It confirmed USA's rise as a naval superpower. This book portrays key events of the first world war at sea through contemporary postcards, many of the pictures never before published, with detailed notes on the images. In an age before widespread cinema newsreels, television, or social media, postcards provided the main medium for communication of news and views for individuals. These contemporary images give immediate insight into that time.