In 1918, after three years of incessant war, the Germans’ objective was clear:
to free up Eastern troops and send them west before the Entente's new partner,
the United States, could change the tide of the war.
To achieve this, Germany planned Operation Albion, an attack on the Russian-occupied Baltic islands.
After the revolutionary turmoil in Russia during the early part of 1917, the German High Command
believed that capturing the islands would outflank the already suffering Russian defenses and leave
the capital of Petrograd vulnerable to attack, forcing the fractured nation into surrendering.
Months later, as World War 1 wound down,
the Germans finally launched their planned assault on the Baltic Islands.
And despite not having any previous experience with joint Navy and Army operations,
nor any sort of established amphibious doctrine, they were ready to give it their all…
Desperate Times
In early September of 1917, the French and British armies were still unable to
break through the German defense on the Western Front. World War 1 had raged on
for three years already, but Germany's position was now weaker than it seemed.
Without strong enough forces to successfully attack the Western Front against the numerically
larger Entente, the German High Command was becoming desperate for a viable plan.
While Germany's allies, the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary, were struggling with resources
after years of war, the Entente had a new and powerful ally: the United States of America.
According to intelligence and estimate calculations,
if the German Army did not achieve a significant victory in the West within nine months,
the American Army would deploy a large enough force to change the tide of the war.
Military General and dictator Erich Ludendorff claimed that if Russia withdrew from the war,
over a million German troops from the East would be ready to travel to the Western Front.
Russia had to be subdued as quickly as possible to make way for a spring offensive in 1918.
Only six months earlier, the Russian Revolution ended with the fall of Czar Nicholas II of Russia,
along with his entire family and ruling regime.
This revolution led to upheaval in all levels of society, including the Russian navy and military.
However, despite prevalent indiscipline and a lack of morale, Russia continued
participating in the war, occasionally putting up stout resistance against German attacks.
Then, on September 8, 1917, the German High Command issued an order of attack
to invade the Baltic islands, a trio of small isles in modern-day Estonia.
Objectives
There were two operational objectives to Germany's plan of attack.
First, the Germans aimed to capture the Baltic Islands to secure the Gulf of Riga,
as their location made the islands a tempting strategic prize.
The entrance to the Gulf of Riga was to the south of the isles,
a crucial spot to turn any of Germany's northeastern European conquests into bases.
Going back to the August 1915 break-in,
the Germans’ top officers had been eying the islands to carry out further operations.
From the Riga Gulf waters, Russian destroyers and submarines had access to the middle and
southern Baltic sea, as well as to German trade routes with Sweden. Meanwhile,
to the north side of the islands, the entrance to the Gulf of Finland
opened the sea route to the Russian city of Petrograd, later Saint Petersburg.
The planned attack would also threaten the Russian capital, exposing it to a land and naval assault.
Also, Germany understood that the domestic turmoil amid the Russian Revolution
made the nation the most vulnerable faction in the war. Thus, they hoped that the continued
German offensive would pressure the Russian government into suing for peace.
With this, the men, equipment, and weapons in the East could finally be redirected to the West.
A New Undertaking From the creation of the German
Empire in 1871 until its demise in 1918, its armed forces were first and foremost a land power.
Because of this, neither the Army nor the Navy had any experience with joint operations.
An amphibious assault would thus be a complex undertaking for them,
who had practically conducted separate wars with little communication or coordination
throughout the first three years of World War 1.
In addition, the German armed forces had no established amphibious doctrine,
and the invaders of the Baltic islands would have to learn as they went.
General Oskar von Hutier, commander of the Eighth Army,
was in charge of organizing the whole operation.
Because there was no specialized equipment for conducting an amphibious assault,
the German troops would travel ashore in towed boats.
Von Hutier established a strong support relationship between
the commanders of the landing and naval forces
by making them equals and ordering them to solve any issues by talking it out amongst themselves.
In order to complete all the desired objectives, the German commander demanded an extremely high
level of cooperation among his officers and soldiers, in a genuine team effort.
While the General staff officers gathered intelligence within their own units
and prepared reports about the development and challenges that his subordinates faced,
the hands-on officer spent nearly two weeks in the embarkation port
making his presence known and collaborating with his troops to ensure the ultimate success.
Mitigating Risks
The German military correctly identified the Russian Army's center of gravity
or source of strength as Ösel, the main island in the Baltics.
It was the primary connection to sea lines of communication with mainland Russia,
and whoever controlled Ösel and the smaller island of Moon would dominate the Gulf.
However, the Russian forces in Ösel
were the only troops capable of going toe to toe with the Germans, both because of
sheer force numbers and because they could escape to Moon island or to the mainland.
The German strategists cleverly ignored the clear center of gravity
and devised a bold plan that is still taught today as part of maritime warfare theory.
In Operation Albion, the German government called for the Navy to establish enough control at sea
to support simultaneous amphibious landings at
the less populated Tagga Bay and Pamerort on Ösel Island.
Then, employing maximum speed and maneuver, the German landing forces
would immediately strike decisive points in simultaneous attacks all across the island.
These actions would enable friendly naval fires in support of the ground forces
while also cutting off the Russian's escape route.
As a result, German planners mitigated significant risk in manpower
by identifying an incorrect center of gravity when conducting a maritime operation.
Resources
On October 12, 1917, German land forces of about 25,000 men
launched their complex, ambitious attack on the Baltic island cluster,
beginning with an assault on the beaches of Tagga Bay, on the northwest coast of Ösel.
In addition to men, the Germans had at their disposal 5,000 horses,
1,400 vehicles, and enough machine guns, mortars, and munitions to last for 30 days.
The land forces were also supported by a large naval force
consisting of one battlecruiser, several dreadnought battleships,
light cruisers, a mine cruiser, torpedo boats, U-boats, and a transport vessel.
Meanwhile, a naval task force would provide fire support and deal with
any attempted intervention from the Russian Navy. The land and sea forces would also be
supported by seaplanes constantly flying reconnaissance and bombing missions.
The Russians knew the geopolitical importance of the Baltics
and thus had formidable coastal batteries and garrisons stationed at Ösel and on the
nearby Moon island since the beginning of the war.
Over 20,000 Russians from three different infantry regiments
were stationed in the three main islands. The Tagga bay
was protected by Russian Battery Number 45, with machine guns mounted in critical areas,
while the southern entrance to Moon island was also well protected by several heavy batteries.
In addition, over 10,000 mines had been laid in the nearby Irben Straits area
going back to the early years of the war, and Moon island was protected by 1,300 mines.
The Russian Navy forces in the Riga Gulf supporting the garrison
consisted of a couple of pre-dreadnought battleships, two cruisers,
one protected cruiser, 21 destroyers, and a few gunboats and submarines.
All in all, Operation Albion would be the largest
combined operation undertaken by the Germans at that point in the war.
No Opposition
Despite proper coastal batteries and numerous garrisons in Ösel and Moon island,
the combination of low Russian morale and the bold and focused actions of the
German forces prevented any Russian advancement.
In addition, the Russians suffered from an evident lack of initiative by their top commanders,
which translated into poor communication. Some coastal batteries even refused to
engage the German ships, hoping that their non-resistance could spare their life.
As such, the German landings were achieved without severe opposition from their enemy.
It was the weather that proved to be their harshest obstacle,
as the mud and incessant rain delayed some of the operations.
Soon after landing, German cyclist troops pushed to divide the Russian forces by occupying a dam
that connected Ösel and Moon, attacking the enemy as soldiers tried to cross the barrier and escape.
While Russian naval forces and even several Royal Navy submarines attempted to intervene in the
Baltics, their efforts were unsuccessful, resulting in the loss of several vessels.
On the other hand, the Germans lost no capital ships during the operation.
Withdrawal
By October 16, Ösel, the largest of the islands and the operation’s main objective,
was in German hands.
Days later, the Germans occupied the islands of Moon and Dago, taking over 20,000 Russians as
prisoners along with machine guns, artillery, and other equipment during the whole ordeal.
Meanwhile, the Russian Army evacuated Muhu island on October 20.
Operation Albion was extremely successful despite the Germans having never conducted
an amphibious operation of that size, and the resulting booty was immense.
The invasion of the Baltic islands was one of the final blows to the Russian Army's morale
and confidence. And although negotiations with the Russians continued into early 1918,
it was clear that they wanted to withdraw from the war.
In fact, less than six weeks after the operation, the Russians sued for peace.
Soon after, the Germans transferred one million troops to the Western Front, and
Germany launched a spring offensive on March 21 against the Entente's forces in the area.
Despite a strong start, the troops struggled to maintain momentum because of many logistical
issues, and while there were some territorial changes, the end was inconclusive for the Germans.
Operation Albion
Germany’s Operation Albion was planned and conducted in a little over a month
by staff without any previous experience in an amphibious operation.
The victory, which ultimately took Russia out of the war soon after,
demonstrated that excellent planning and coordination could lead to success
even if it was all new. The German’s effective chain of command drove unity of effort
and laser-like focus on the operational objective: the precious Baltic islands.
Notably, Operation Albion also had a minor World War 2 connection. During the invasion of the
Baltics, Lieutenant Ernst Lindemann served as a wireless officer aboard the battleship SMS Bayern.
Lindemann later became the captain of the ill-fated Nazi battleship Bismarck.
Also, the Soviets, now in a more stable position, launched their own Operation Albion in late 1944.
During the Moonsund Operation, the Red Army managed to wrest control of the islands
and take them from the German 23rd Infantry Division, resulting in an overwhelming victory.
Thank you for watching our video! Let us know your thoughts on Operation Albion in
the comment section below, and please share this video with someone who might like it.
Also, for more historical and military content, don’t forget to subscribe to
this and all the channels in our Dark Documentaries family. And stay tuned!