Editing Imperial German Navy (section)

==War crimes==
{{Main|German war crimes#World War I}}
[[File:Scarborough raid poster 1915 LOC cph.3g11297.jpg|thumb|Poster condemning the 1914 [[Raid on Scarborough]]]]

The Imperial German Navy was implicated in several [[war crimes]] committed during the First World War, most notably:
* [[Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby]] in 1914, in which several British ports were bombarded causing 112 civilian deaths.{{sfnp|English Heritage, ''The Shelling of Scarborough in the First World War''|2014}}
* The [[U-boat campaign]]. [[Prize rules]], which required [[commerce raider]]s to warn their targets and allow time for the crew to board lifeboats were disregarded and [[Merchant vessel|commercial vessel]]s were sunk regardless of nationality, cargo, or destination. Following the 1915 sinking of the {{RMS|Lusitania}} the practice was withdrawn, but was then resumed in February 1917. This outraged the U.S. public, prompting the U.S. to enter the war on [[Allies of World War 1|Allied side]].{{sfnp|Amos|2017|p=1}}
* The execution of the civilian captain [[Charles Fryatt]], who, while in command of the passenger ship {{SS|Brussels}}, attempted to ram the submarine {{SMU|U-33|Germany|2}}.{{sfnp|Ben-Yehuda|2013|p=82}}
* The sinking of the [[hospital ship]]s [[HMHS Llandovery Castle|HMHS ''Llandovery Castle'']], [[HS Koningin Regentes|HS ''Koningin Regentes'']] and [[HMHS Dover Castle|HMHS ''Dover Castle'']].{{sfnp|van der Heyden|2020|p=5}}