Franco-Prussian War - French and Prussian Naval Activities

French and Prussian Naval Activities

At the outset of the war, the French government ordered a blockade of the North German coasts, which the relatively small North German navy (Norddeutsche Bundesmarine) could do little to oppose. Despite this, the blockade was only partially successful due to crucial oversights by the planners in Paris. Conscripts that were supposed to be at the ready in case of war were in use in Newfoundland fisheries or in Scotland, thereby reducing manpower. Therefore, only partial elements of the 470-ship French Navy put to sea on 22 July 1870. Before long, the French navy began to suffer shortages of coal. An unsuccessful blockade of Wilhelmshaven and conflicting orders on whether or not to proceed to the Baltic Sea or to return to France made the French naval efforts ineffective.

To relieve pressure from the expected German attack into Alsace-Lorraine, Napoleon III and others in the French high command planned at the outset of the war to launch a seaborne invasion of northern Germany. It was hoped that the invasion would not only divert German troops from the front, but also inspire Denmark to assist with its 50,000 strong army and substantial navy. However it was discovered that Prussia had recently installed formidable defences around the major North German ports, including coastal artillery batteries consisting of Krupp heavy artillery that could hit French ships from a distance of 4,000 yards (3,700 m). The French Navy lacked the necessary heavy weaponry to deal with these coastal defences, while the difficult topography of the Prussian coastline (see the article Wadden Sea) made a seaborne invasion of northern Germany impossible.

The French Marines and naval infantry tasked with the invasion of northern Germany were subsequently dispatched to bolster the French Army of Châlons, where they were captured at the Battle of Sedan along with Napoleon III. Suffering a severe shortage of officers following the capture of most of the professional French army at the Siege of Metz and the Battle of Sedan, naval officers were taken from their ships to officer the hastily assembled gardes mobiles or French reserve army units.

As the autumn storms of the North Sea took their toll on the remaining patrolling French ships, the blockade became less and less effective. By September 1870, the blockade was finally abandoned altogether for the winter, and the French Navy retired to ports along the English Channel, remaining in port for the rest of the war.

Isolated engagements took place between French and German ships in other theaters, such as the blockade by FS Dupleix of the German ship Hertha in Nagasaki, Japan, and the gunboat battle between the Prussian Meteor and the French Bouvet outside of Havana, Cuba, in November 1870.