Original Item: Only One Available. This is a totally original Imperial German WWI Naval War Ensign Battle Flag, with a large Balkenkreuz (Beam Cross) in the field, with a circle around the Imperial German Eagle at the intersection of the cross. The canton of the flag contains the imperial state colors and the Prussian Eisernes Kreuz (Iron Cross). The flag is made of cotton or linen, the standard material for flags of the period.

The flag measures 33’ tall and 5’ across, one of the medium sizes used. The flag header is canvas, marked and with a hanging system. The flag is marked with Sturm Fl. which we believe to be for “Storm Flag”, a classification of the type of flag according to the size.

The flagpole is the original one that would have been used on a U-Boat. Unlike all other ships that had fixed metal flagpoles, the German U-Boats had to be able to remove them easily for when they submerged. The early WWI U-Boats had metal staffs with rope hoists, however they were abandoned after 1916. They were replaced with wooden ones that fit into sockets and then secured and this is the same type that was used up into WWII. The sailor who brought the flag home appears to have snapped it out of the socket, leaving the remaining 12 to 15 inches of wood still in place.

This flag is in very good condition, with only minimal age toning and some staining on the header, tearing and holes. It is one of the most attractive issued flags during WWI, and would make a great display piece.

On 5 September 1914, HMS Pathfinder was sunk by SM U-21, the first ship to have been sunk by a submarine using a self-propelled torpedo. On 22 September, U-9 under the command of Otto Weddigen sank the obsolete British warships HMS Aboukir, HMS Cressy, and HMS Hogue (the "Live Bait Squadron") in a single hour.

In the Gallipoli Campaign in early 1915 in the eastern Mediterranean, German U-boats, notably the U-21, prevented close support of allied troops by 18 pre-dreadnought battleships by sinking two of them.

For the first few months of the war, U-boat anticommerce actions observed the "prize rules" of the time, which governed the treatment of enemy civilian ships and their occupants. On 20 October 1914, SM U-17 sank the first merchant ship, SS Glitra, off Norway.[citation needed] Surface commerce raiders were proving to be ineffective, and on 4 February 1915, the Kaiser assented to the declaration of a war zone in the waters around the British Isles. This was cited as a retaliation for British minefields and shipping blockades. Under the instructions given to U-boat captains, they could sink merchant ships, even potentially neutral ones, without warning.

In February 1915, a submarine U-6 (Lepsius) was rammed and both periscopes were destroyed off Beachy Head by the collier SS Thordis commanded by Captain John Bell after firing a torpedo. On 7 May 1915, SM U-20 sank the liner RMS Lusitania. The sinking claimed 1,198 lives, 123 of them American civilians, and the attack of this unarmed civilian ship deeply shocked the Allies. According to the ship's manifest, Lusitania was carrying military cargo, though none of this information was relayed to the citizens of Britain and the United States, who thought that the ship contained no ammunition or military weaponry whatsoever and it was an act of brutal murder.[citation needed] Munitions that she carried were thousands of crates full of ammunition for rifles, 3-inch (76 mm) artillery shells, and various other standard ammunition used by infantry. The sinking of the Lusitania was widely used as propaganda against the German Empire and caused greater support for the war effort.[citation needed] A widespread reaction in the U.S was not seen until the attack on the ferry SS Sussex, which carried many citizens of the United States.

The initial U.S. response was to threaten to sever diplomatic ties, which persuaded the Germans to issue the Sussex pledge that reimposed restrictions on U-boat activity. The U.S. reiterated its objections to German submarine warfare whenever U.S. civilians died as a result of German attacks, which prompted the Germans to fully reapply prize rules. This, however, removed the effectiveness of the U-boat fleet, and the Germans consequently sought a decisive surface action, a strategy that culminated in the Battle of Jutland.

Although the Germans claimed victory at Jutland, the British Grand Fleet remained in control at sea. Returning to effective anticommerce warfare by U-boats resumed. Vice Admiral Reinhard Scheer, commander in chief of the High Seas Fleet, pressed for all-out U-boat war, convinced that a high rate of shipping losses would force Britain to seek an early peace before the United States could react effectively.

The renewed German campaign was effective, sinking 1.4 million tons of shipping between October 1916 and January 1917. Despite this, the political situation demanded even greater pressure, and on 31 January 1917, Germany announced that its U-boats would engage in unrestricted submarine warfare beginning 1 February. On 17 March, German submarines sank three American merchant vessels, and the U.S. declared war on Germany in April 1917.

Unrestricted submarine warfare in early 1917 was initially very successful, sinking a major part of Britain-bound shipping. With the introduction of escorted convoys, shipping losses declined, and in the end, the German strategy failed to destroy sufficient Allied shipping. An armistice became effective on 11 November 1918. Of the surviving German submarines, 14 U-boats were scuttled and 122 surrendered.

Of the 373 German submarines that had been built, 178 were lost by enemy action. Of these, 40 were sunk by mines, 30 by depth charges, and 13 by Q-ships; 512 officers and 4894 enlisted men were killed. They sank 10 battleships, 18 cruisers, and several smaller naval vessels. They further destroyed 5,708 merchant and fishing vessels for a total of 11,108,865 tons and the loss of about 15,000 sailors. The Pour le Mérite, the highest decoration for gallantry for officers, was awarded to 29 U-boat commanders.[citation needed] Twelve U-boat crewmen were decorated with the Goldene Militär-Verdienst-Kreuz, the highest bravery award for noncommissioned officers and enlisted men. The most successful U-boat commanders of World War I were Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière (189 merchant vessels and two gunboats with 446,708 tons), followed by Walter Forstmann (149 ships with 391,607 tons), and Max Valentiner (144 ships with 299,482 tons). Their records have not been surpassed in any subsequent conflict.