The North Sea, to my knowledge anyway, remained in a stalemate for the majority of the War. Had, say, the British scored a decisive victory over the German Navy, incapacitating their capacity to fight back, could a landing in the style of Gallipoli be feasibly attempted? Say, near Wilhelmshaven or the Elbe, or perhaps even Holstein/Kiel?
The Royal Navy had been planning for such a thing as early as 1913. These plans didn't require the destruction of the German Navy, but instead focussed on capturing an island off the coast of Europe. This would then be used as a forward base for attacks on the German coast, and as a way to draw the German navy into a trap. In 1913 Rear Admiral Lewis Bayly was directed to produce a report on the possibility of seizing such a base for the RN, focussing on the German, Dutch or Danish coast. He selected two targets for an invasion; the German island of Borkum and the Danish island of Sylt. The seizure of these islands was planned in some detail, with Bayly concentrating mainly on deception and amassing sufficient force to overwhelm any defender. He also drew up plans for the landing craft that would be needed for such an operation. Bayly's initial plan was scrapped, but the RN kept the possibility of seizing either island in mind. In August 1914, further plans for the capture of Borkum and Sylt were circulated. Supported by Churchill, work on these plans continued through December 1914. On the 3rd of January 1913, Admiral A K Wilson, was ordered to make preparations for an assault on Sylt. This would require monitors for bombardment duty, transports for 12,000 men and flat bottomed landing craft. The attack was to be carried out on either the 1st of March or the 15th April, depending on the speed of preparation. Churchill was supported in his enthusiasm for the Sylt plan by Admiral Fisher, but this was mainly because Fisher saw it as a necessary predecessor to his own amphibious plan. Fisher's plan called for the RN to destroy the German fleet off Sylt, before waltzing into the Baltic, sweeping aside any remaining German coast defence ships, and landing a million Russian soldiers on the Pomeranian coast, a short walk from Berlin. To this end, he began construction on all the ships needed, ranging from the Courageous-class large light cruisers (perfect for destroying the old pre-dreadnoughts defending the Baltic) to some of the first modern landing craft. These were the X-lighters; capable of carrying 500 men, they were powered by diesel engines, armoured against small arms fire, and had a bow ramp. The invasion of Gallipoli put paid to both this scheme, and the Sylt plan. Ships, men and materiel earmarked for these landings were instead diverted to the Dardanelles.
There were also plans for amphibious landings on the Belgian coast. One of these, involving the landing of troops directly in Ostend Harbour, was cancelled due to the establishment of a new coastal defence battery that could cover the harbour. The other, a major undertaking to land troops and tanks from huge pontoons on the beaches west of Ostend, was cancelled after the British Army failed to break out of the Ypres Salient during the Battle of Passchendaele. Amphibious raids were carried out against Zeebrugge and Ostend, to limited success.
For more information on these landing plans see my writing at
and
(This comment has been written using the occasional sentence from these writings)
The North Sea, to my knowledge anyway, remained in a stalemate for the majority of the War. Had, say, the British scored a decisive victory over the German Navy, incapacitating their capacity to fight back, could a landing in the style of Gallipoli be feasibly attempted?
Early in the war the RN didn't even want to wait for that.
But instead use a landing to force a fleet action. There were plans made and then abandoned when Jellicoe came firmly against them to land Royal Marines on Helgoland, the small island off the coast.
Once in possession the island could allow for the blockade to become much tighter as light ships could thin the mine fields, and operate much closer to shore, and hopefully provoke the High Seas Fleet out to fight.
The plan however was harebrained in the extreme, and made worse by the minimal intelligence that existed about the islands defenses, basically coming down to running a few old ships full of marines up onto the island and pier and hoping for the best.
Marder's Dreadnought to Scapa Flow, vol2 gives a good treatment of the idea.