Kriegsmarine Kreuzer

17* cruisers between the Reichsmarine and 1945
Germany Day ! The development of ww2 german cruisers started in interwar Germany, restarted in 1933 but cut short by the war, with plan Z postponed and cancelled later. It left the Kriegsmarine with just ten light cruisers and three heavy cruisers just completed, the remainder in completion. This force was certainly not able to turn the tables during the war, and indeed they were lost early on, never giving their full potential as commerce raiders in Raeder's strategy. This article goes through the whole development of German Cruiser lineage from reserve Reichsmarine vessels to (numerous) Plan Z projects. WW2 german cruisers general overview: Between pre-WWI Reichsmarine authorized light cruisers to the K class, the Deutschland class, and Kriegsmarine's heavy cruisers as part of Plan Z, scouts (Spähkreuzer), Minenleger kreuzer and the class D, P and M Panzerschiffe. https://naval-encyclopedia.com/ww2/germany/german-cruisers.php #ww2 #kriegsmarine #germannavy #bremen #hipper #blucher #prinzeugen #deustchland #lutzow #nurnberg #leipzig #grafspee #koenigsberg #koeln #karlsruhe KMS Prinz Eugen as completed in 1940 (hirootoko jr.)

The inheritance of WW1 cruisers

The Kaiserliches Marine had in 1918 still a plentiful array of cruisers, between old protected cruisers, armoured cruisers (called "schwere kreuzer" or heavy cruisers), and more recent scout (or light) cruisers such as the Köln class. The last and best of them were interned in Scapa Flow, later scuttled in 1919, whereas a number were taken over by countries such as France and Italy as war reparation. In the case of France, no less than four, which soldiered on until 1937.
Battle reports from various engagements saw the validity and confirmation of the role of the cruiser together with lighter units, high seas torpedo boats for screening the main battle fleet, perform minelaying missions, hunting down enemy flotillas, patrol and prey on convoys. It showed also the limitations of armoured cruisers in the battle line (loss of Blücher for example). Battlecruisers seemed more promising in any case. This was confirmed also that armoured cruisers stood little chance even against less armoured capital ships, the battlecruisers that sank the the Scharnhorst class at the Falklands. The treaty of Versailles fell like an axe of the Kaiser's proud and affluent navy: Germany would be limited to just six cruisers (six pre-dreadnought battleships, six light cruisers, twelve destroyers, and twelve torpedo boats). This was the rank of a Scandinavian coastal navy like Sweden, and quite an humiliation. The six cruisers in question what were left from war reparations and internement: Essentially 1900 models that were at the root of the previous cruiser lineage: The Gazelle (1898) and Bremen class cruisers (1903). For the newly created Reichsmarine, the order of the day was to rebuilt at least a defensive fleet based on this, in the hope of replace some of these ships on obsolescence grounds when possible as authorized by the allied commission, and prepare a whole generation of future officers for a possible future expansion. This is not a surprise when the first new, modern cruiser built for the Reichsmarine was a school cruiser: RMS Emden.

Reichsmarine cruisers

The Reichsmarine in 1935. Note the initial six cruisers of the Gazelle class were reinforced by two more used as school ships (and thus granted not in the total), RMS Berlin and Hamburg from the Bremen class. Since Germany needed cash, the old Niobe (Gazelle class) was sold to the newly formed Kingdom of Yugoslavia as Dalmacija in 1925. Thetis was sold and broken up in 1930, Nymphe in 1932 and used as source of spares for the others. It left only Amazon, Medusa, Arcona, Berlin and Hamburg. The missing sixth cruiser ws indeed a new one: RMS Emden (see later).

Flottenkreuzer (FK1) Entwurf 1916

The case of Flottenkreuzer (Entwurf 1916): This was last project, unbuilt, planned in 1916. If completed, they would have been enlarged Köln(ii) class, but very little informations is available on this design. Likely to have been called the "Aachen class", its Displacement was to have been 4025 tonnes Normal, 4,850 tonnes Full Load for 131/136 m oa x 12.4 x 4.6 meters and 7.85 meters in Side Height, carrying 5x1 15cm (5.9")/45 SK L/45 main guns, two 8.8cm (3.46")/45 SK L/45 AA guns, and four single deck 60cm TT (H8 Torpedo) plus rails for 100 Mines. Armor was 40mm at the Belt max, 30mm on Turtleback and 15-30-15mm flat for the Armored Deck, 30mm for the Citadel, 80mm for the CT, 50mm for the Gun Shields, 30mm for the Rangefinder and powered by two steam turbines with 3.5 m screwss fed by five Double-Ended Oil-Firing Boilers (18 atm/264.5 PSI) 52,000 SHP Forced and estimated 33 knots, aslo Forced heat. With 1150 tonnes this gave her 5,185 km (2800 nautical miles) at 17 knots on paper and she was crewed by 356 (15 officers/341 sailors). src1 src 2. She was an interesting step as her design became the basis for the new KMS Emden in 1924.

Interim Cruisers: Gazelle class (1900)

KMS Niobe KMS Niobe in Yugoslavian service as Dalmacija in Kotor harbour, 1941. [caption id="attachment_901" align="aligncenter" width="800"]SMS Frauenlob SMS Frauenlob in 1915[/caption] Gazelle appearance in 1914

Kriegsmarine KMS Niobe (later Dalmacija)

Dalmacija kotor 1941 The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes initially received by treaty former Austro-Hungarian Navy vessels after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. But the Allied powers seized the majority of these, allocated them notably to France and Britain. Left with only twelve modern torpedo boats, Yugoslavia wanted at least a lead ship, a more powerful vessel. When the occasion arose through intermediaries, a commission purchased the old Niobe when Germany placed her for sale in 1925.

As Germany was forbidden from exporting armed warships she was disarmed in the Deutsche Werke shipyard prior to transfer, inclusding the removal of some armor, and her conning tower. But she was also modernized, notably having a new clipper bow, and her radio modernized. On 7 August 1926, she started sea trials and was officially transferred, taken to the Tivat arsenal (Kotor Bay) on 3 September 1927 to be renamed Dalmacija (Dalmatia), received her new intended armament.

In Royal Yugoslav Navy service and according to Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, she had six Škoda 8.5 cm (3.35 in) L/55 quick-firing guns on deck, presumably one fore and aft, the rest on the broadside, and initially four, later six 2 cm (0.79 in) anti-aircraft guns. Naval historian esteemed her main battery had 8.6 cm (3.4 in) dual-purpose guns instead (either Škoda or Bofors), and was completed by four 20 mm Swiss Oerlikon single-mount AA guns. Naval historian Milan Vego said this was more likely six 8.3 cm (3.27 in) L/35 AA guns and four Škoda 47 mm (1.9 in) guns back by six machine guns. Aidan Dodson concurs correct this by precising these were 55-caliber Skoda M27 type, not AA guns, and added that she also carried two 15 mm (0.59 in) Zbrojovka ZB-60 AA machine-guns.
Dalmacija was used as a gunnery training ship and by May-June 1929, with the submarines Hrabri and Nebojša sortied with the the submarine tender Hvar and six torpedo boats to Malta, the first of such cruisers by the Royal Yugoslavian Navy, then visited Corfu and Bizerte. According to the British naval attaché, they made an overall very good impression in Malta. In 1930, the cruiser saw her foremast modified, with supporting struts making it a tripod. Dalmacija made several more training cruises in the Mediterranean while being the Navy's flagship.

When WW2 broke out however she was mobilized despite her age, as a training ship, anchored in Kotor until the invasion of April 1941. Anchored as a defense vessel, she provided a decent heavy anti-aircraft protection to the port as she was. Following the Yugoslav surrender, she was captured by the Italians on 25 April, renamed Cattaro, and returned in limited service with the Regia Marina, as a gunboat and gunnery training ship, moved in Pola. On 31 July 1942, she was torpedoes while underway during a training cruiser, by the submarine HMS Traveller, south of Premantura (Istrian coast) but missed.

Her fate is somewhat foggy, and either she was transferred to the Independent State of Croatia,becoming its main training ship as Znaim. Or returned to German service in September 1943, staying in the Adriatic Seamanned by a mixed German and Croatian crew as KMS Niobe. According to Twardowski she was Italian, then Croatian and renamed Damatia, whereas Aidan Dodson states she was under boiler repairs at Pola when falling into German hands.

At least the latter noted its armament at the time: Six 8.4 cm (3.3 in) AA guns, four 47 mm AA guns, four 20 mm Oerlikon AA guns, twenty-six 20 mm Breda AA guns. For Navypedia, she was rearmed in September 1943, with a 2,360/2,953t displacement, 104.4m long, 12m wide, 5.20m draught, 16kts, six single 84/55 Škoda M.27, six single 20mm/65 C/38 guns. She was recommissioned on 8 November and refitting on 21/22 September when attacked by the two British Motor Torpedo Boats MTB 226 and MTB 228 northwest of Zara, but missed. KMS Niobe escorted convoys through the Adriatic from 13 November 1944 (Operation Herbstgewitter) with the 71st Infantry Division to Cres, Krk, and Lussino.

On 19 December 1944, 18:00, she ran aground on the Silba island due to navigational error. The ship was stuck and soon spotted by local Partisans that informed the British, and three days later, MTB 276 and MTB 298 attacked her. Static, she was an easy prey, both hit with her torpedoes, as well as the tug Parenzo moored alongside. In all, 19 crewmen were killed and the Germans abandoned the wreck, some staying behind to sabotage or carry out weaponry and sensible equipment, then blasted out the ship. She was later cannibalized for spare parts by the Partisans and her remains stayed on Silba until 1947, raised and broken in 1952.

Kriegsmarine KMS Nymphe

KMS Nymphe was among the six light cruisers permitted by the Versailles commission to be retained. She was in Wilhelmshaven by 4 November 1920 and by November 1922 to early 1924, modernized at Deutsche Werke: Original ram bow replaced with modern clipper bow (overall length 108.7 m or 357 ft), new mast, new battery of 10.5 cm SK L/45 guns, all in compact U-boat mountings. She also had two 50 cm (20 in) torpedo tubes, deck-mounted. Recommissioned on 30 November 1924 she underwent sea trials under command of KzS Ernst Bindseil and even became flagship of light Naval Forces, Baltic Sea on 18 December (Konteradmiral Iwan Oldekop). Next under FK Georg Kleine in January 1925 she underwent routine training exercises but also cruised in Norwegian waters, visiting Merok (25-30 June). By 1926 she made a major training cruise from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, stopping in Cadiz 20-24 May, Mahón, Menorca 27-29 May, Málaga 1-8 June, Vigo 12-13 June and back home for the summer fleet maneuvers. 4-5 September saw her in Skagen, Denmark (new commander FK Fritz Conrad after Kleine, and then KzS Wilfried von Loewenfeld in March 1927). She made another Atlantic cruiser and port call, was however in the Bay of Biscay when caught by severe weather (winds 10–12 Beaufort scale) and was repaired at El Ferrol 2-14 April. She visited Santa Cruz 17-20 April, La Luz (Málaga) 24 April-2 May, Lanzarote (Canary) 3-9 May, Horta, Ponta Delgada (Azores, 14-23 May, 24- 29 May) and Seville 3-7 June, Cadiz 7-8 June and summer fleet maneuvers when back. 1928 saw her in a fleet cruise to Norway by July 1928 after a short refit, stoppping at Bergen and Ulvik. By September, FK Wolf von Trotha took command (her last) and on 15 October, KAdm Walter Gladisch but the cruiser was only active for six months, decommissioned on 16 April 1929, in Kiel, replaced by the new light cruiser Königsberg. She shortly became a barracks ship until 31 March 1931, stricken, sold on 29 August, BU in Hamburg.

Kriegsmarine KMS Thetis

KMS Thetis was another cruiser authorized by the Treaty of Versailles and she was modernized in the early 1920s in the same way as her sisters. Recommissioned on 2 April 1922 she was assigned to the Marinestation der Ostsee or Baltic Sea Naval Station under FK Walther Kinzel. After 1922 routine training exercises the next year saw her in overseas cruises, to Mölle, Sweden, 11-15 July and Loen 18-24 July. In October KzS Ernst Bindseil took command as the fleet was reorganized, Thetis being promoted to flagship of light naval forces, Baltic, with KMS Medusa and the I Torpedo-boat Flotilla under Kommodore Iwan Oldekop, later konteradmiral. Thetis in July 1924 visited Estonia, Tallinn 5-10 and Pärnu 12-14 July. On 30 November she was decommissioned in Wilhelmshaven, replaced by KMS Nymphe. She became a barracks ship in Wilhelmshaven until early 1929, stricken on 27 March, sold to Blohm & Voss, BU in Hamburg, 1930.

Kriegsmarine KMS Amazone

KMZ-Amazon-and-Admiral_Hipper_Blohm__Voss_shipyards_1939 KMS Amazon and Admiral Hipper at Blohm and Voss shipyards, 1939 Part of the authorized six light cruisers, Amazone was modernized, rearmed at the Reichsmarine Werft, Wilhelmshaven in 1921-1923 (clipper bow, ten 10.5 cm SK L/45 guns in U-boat mountings, two 50 cm (20 in) deck launchers) recommissioned on 1 December 1923 under KzS Walter Gladisch, replacing KMS Arcona as flagship, light forces, Marinestation der Nordsee with the light cruiser Hamburg, II. Torpedo-boat Flotilla. 1924 was spent in exercises and visits abroad, notably Bodø in Norway. In March 1925, KzS Eduard Eichel took command and the routine resumed, she visited Rotterdam, and trained in the Eidangerfjord, Norway in June-July. May-June 1926 saw her in the Mediterranean, and by September FK Alfred Saalwächter took command. In 1927 she made a major cruiser in the Atlantic 28 March-16 June and by September FK Albrecht Meißner took command. She visited Norway on mid-1928 with the battleship Schlesien, stopping at Molde and Merok and was in manoeuvers at Skagen, Denmark. She stayed in the baltic by 1929 making a single trip to Gothenburg, Sweden by August. After the Reichsmarine reorganization on 1 January 1930 Amazone from the Reconnaissance Forces Command (Counter-Admiral KAdm Gladisch) she was decommissioned in Wilhelmshaven on 15 January, used as barracks ship, stricken on 31 March 1931 but not BU. Instead she assigned to the Submarine Acceptance Commission in Kiel. She became an auxiliary for the Warship Construction Test Office. After 1939 she was towed to Bremen, and keep her role as accommodation hulk after 1945 for refugees from eastern Europe. In 1954, plans to convert her into a floating youth center did not succeed and she was BU at last in Hamburg.

Kriegsmarine KMS Medusa

SMS Medusa was among the light cruisers the new German Navy permitted to retain as per Treaty conditions. She was used by the Reichsmarine when clearing minefields laid in the North Sea, converted into a mother ship for the planned 12th Minesweeper Half-Flotilla, which was never created in the end. Instead, she was recommissioned on 17 July 1920 (FK Alexander Werth in command) as the first major warship commissioned of this new postwar navy. She was assigned to Marinestation der Ostsee, as lead ship for two Baltic sea torpedo boat flotillas and the survey ship Triton. She carried President Friedrich Ebert on a trip to East Prussia, visited foreign ports until 5 September 1920, notably Fårösund, Visby on Gotland.



On 10 February 1921, the battleship Hannover, recommissioned relieved Medusa as the fleet's flagship. With the torpedo boat flotillas conducted the first annual fleet training exercises this summer 1921, in the western Baltic. Medusa visited also ports in the Baltic until 2 August such as Uddevalla and Gothenburg in Sweden and operated in the fall of winter, as an icebreaker in the Gulf of Riga until 12 February 1922, and visited Windau in Latvia but had to be overhauled and repaired when back home. In the next summer, after fleet training, she cruised to Gävle in Sweden (22-26 June), then Finland (29 June-3 July) and in September, had a new captain, KK Ernst Meusel, also her last commanding officer. Back to Gothenburg on 11-15 July 1923 she commanded the I Half-Flotilla in a new cruise to Molde and Åndalsnes in Norway. In October 1923, the reorganizion had her replaced by a battleship and she became part of the light naval force. In July 1924, she visited Gävle and when back on 26 September, decommissioned.

On 1 February 1928, she became a barracks ship, for torpedo boat and destroyer crews, anchored in Wilhelmshaven. On 29 March 1929, she was stricken and continued her career as an unnamed barrack ship until WW2 broke out. In July 1940, she was converted into a floating FLAK (AA) battery, at the Rickmers Reederei shipyard, Bremerhaven, under her old name, KMS Medusa.
Flakschiffe KMS Medusa
Completely rebuilt, she had in her new configuration one 10.5 cm SK C/32 gun, four 10.5 cm SK C/33 guns, two 3.7 cm (1.5 in) SK C/30 guns, four single 2 cm/65 C/38 (0.79 in) Flak guns. Full displacement was now 3,100t, and machinery was removed entirely. Assigned to Naval Anti-aircraft Group 222, she protected the port of Wilhelmshaven, anchored off Varel from 13 August 1940. In 1944 - 1945, Arcona and Medusa sw the removal of one 37mm/80, two 20mm/65 but the addition of two single 40mm/56 FlaK 28, a Flekvierling (quad) 20mm/65 C/38, and a FuMO 212 or FuMO 213 radars. On 19 April 1945 an Allied air attack targeted her. Bombs and near-misses killed 23, wounding 41 of her crew while she was crippled, but stayed afloat, more wreck than ship. She was therefore scuttled on 3 May, a few days befoe the end of the war. What was left was examined by British occupation troops, and estimated she was a danger so close to the Wiesbaden Bridge. Her wreck was salvaged in 1948–1950 and BU.

Kriegsmarine KMS Arcona

[caption id="attachment_22987" align="aligncenter" width="560"] KMS Arcona (Reichsmarine) off Wilhelmshaven, stationed in Kiel, circa 1925.[/caption]
Arcona as minesweeper Mothership 1919-1920
Arcona was not authorized by the Versailles treaty it seems, not she was in clear service. Since Germany was responsible for clearing mines in the North Sea, Arcona was selected in early 1919 to be a mother ship for minesweepers (The pre-dreadnought battleship Preussen was deemed unsuited). She was modified at the Reichsmarine Werft (former Kaiserliche Werft) in Wilhelmshaven keeping only her stern guns, to detonate mines encountered, and modernized communication set plus extra accomodations. Kapitänleutnant Erich Haeker took command by May 1919 and she was then assigned to support V Minesweeping Flotilla until February 1920. She was then decommissioned for a full modernization and more effective fleet service.
As Marinestation cruiser 1921-1939
She received the same modifications as the other Gazelle class (new bow, new guns, new TTs) and by 25 May 1921, recommissioned, assigned to the Marinestation der Nordsee (KAdm Konrad Mommsen), under command of FK Friedrich Hermann. She visited Arendal, Sandefjord (Norway) this summer as Frederikshav (Denmark) for the inauguration of a monument to German sailors who had died in the Battle of Jutland. She returned in drydock to have her clipper bow reinforced and mofified as to serve as an auxiliary icebreaker by February 1922, for the western Baltic and Kattegat, Gulf of Riga. While there she received ice damage, and had to retire, replaced by the battleship Hessen, being repaired later. By mid-1922, she visited Balestrand in Norway, and by 1923 Åbo in Finland, Karlskrona in Sweden and this summer KzS Walter Gladisch took command. She was decommissioned eventually on 1 December 1923, replaced by Amazone. Nevertheless she stayed other utility tasks for 7 years before stricken on 15 January 1930: Barracks ship in Wilhelmshaven, Swinemünde (1936) Kiel (1938) and until September 1939.
Flakschiffe KMS Arcona
Flakschiffe Arcona in WW2 Flakschiffe Arcona in WW2 In May 1940 she was towed for conversion as floating anti-aircraft battery in Swinemünde: 1x 10.5 cm SK C/32 gun, 4x 10.5 cm SK C/33 guns 2x 3.7 cm SK C/30 guns 1x4 2 cm guns, but also rebuild superstructures, new bridge, new FCS, larger AA light projectors. No care was given to their powerplant, and possibly part was removed for more accomodation and ammunitions storage. Towed to Wilhelmshaven, she was assigned to Naval Anti-Aircraft Group 233, and later at Brunsbüttel. In 1945 she was scuttled to prevent capture on 3 May. She was nevertheless discovered when the RN took control of Brunsbüttel on 7 May. Seized with four U-boats and Z31 they had their ammunition unloeaded, weapons removed and she was BU in 1948–1949.

Bremen class (1903)

None of these were active in WW2, but some served in the interwar.

Kriegsmarine KMS Berlin (1900)

[caption id="attachment_45515" align="aligncenter" width="792"] The German cruiser "Berlin" decommissioned in Kiel, and behind her the old pre-dreanought Hessen[/caption] Berlin was among the six light cruisers authorized as per the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, initially a training hulk for boiler room crews in Kiel starting on 16 December 1919 under Oberleutnant zur See (First Lieutenant) Clamor von Trotha (December 1920-April 1921) and KL Hans Walther. However the Reichsmarine allocated funds to modernize her and take a more active service. A modernization and adaptation as a training ship for naval cadets started at Wilhelmshaven, decommissioned on 10 June. The modifications resembled previous cruisers: Clipper bow, new guns, new communication set, partly rebuilt bridge, and new accomodations for cadets. She was recommissioned on 2 July 1922 under KzS Wilfried von Loewenfeld, joining the Naval Training Inspectorate.She made the first of many training cruises, the first in Scandinavian waters and Netherlands, and the newt year, Norway, Iceland, the Faroe Islands. By October 1923, KzS Paul Wülfing von Ditten took command. On 15 January 1924 she made the longest overseas cruise so far, going to mid-Atlantic, Azores (Ponta Delgada) and when back Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas (Canary Islands), Funchal and Cartagena in Spain, then back to Kiel on 18 March. Then summer fleet maneuvers, Reichswehr ministed Otto Gessler. On 1 November she made another longer cruiser to Central and South America. She stopped along the way in the Azroes, Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Cartagena, Veracruz, Havana, La Guaira, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Ponta Delgada when back. She was damaged by a severe storm in the Bay of Biscay but arrived in Kiel on 16 March 1925. By July she changed captains for KzS Ernst Junkermann. She departed on the next 9 September for the western coast of South America (Ponta Delgada, Hamilton, Port au Prince, Colón, Puerto Madryn, Argentina, Guayaquil, Callao, then Valparaiso, Corral, Talcahuano, Punta Arenas, Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro and back via Vigo, Kiel on 22 March 1926. On 25 September however her role as training ships was taken over by the new light cruiser Emden and her crew was reduced., under FK Hans Kolbe. Transferred from the Naval Training Inspectorate, Marinestation der Ostsee she made another cruise to the central Atlantic in April-June 1927, stopping in the Azores, Portugal and Spain. Fleet maneuvers and a naval review for President Paul von Hindenburg on 14 September from the battleship Schleswig-Holstein. The latter moved to Berlin to be carried to Königsberg. After kMS Hamburg was decommissioned, Berlin was reassigned to the Naval Training Inspectorate on 1 October and started a last cruiser on 1 December, for 15 months to East Asia, making many port calls and stopping at Fremantle in Australia. Back in Cuxhaven on 7 March 1929, then Kiel, she was decommissioned on 27 March, placed in reserve until 1 October 1935, stricken, barracks ship in Kiel until 1945. Postwar she was loaded with chemical weapons, scuttled in the Skaggerak on 31 May 1947.

Kriegsmarine KMS Hamburg (1900)

kms berlin Another photo of KMS Berlin. Unfortunately no photo exist to my knowledge of Hamburg in the interwar. SMS Hamburg was devoid of crew and unable of service in 1920. Instability drawn its sailors in arms during the Revolution of 1918–1919. Under the Reichsmarine, all ships permitted under the Versailles Treaty were made ready, and Hamburg was selected, recommissioned on 7 September under FK Bernhard Bobsien, Marinestation der Nordsee as flagship under KAdm Friedrich Richter and later Walter Hildebrand, managing the II, IV, and VI Flotillas tasked of clearing minefields. Later the unit was commanded by KAdm Konrad Mommsen from 2 April 1921 and she stayed a flagship. She made a visit to the Shetland Islands 13-17 June, a first foreign visit of any German warship. By July 1921, SMS Hamburg took part in fleet training exercises with Hannover and Medusa, I and II Flotillas. She escorted minesweepers (8th-11th Minesweeper Half-Flotillas) clearing another minefield. In Kola Bay however she was targeted by a Soviet coastal battery and the captain ordered to return fire before leaving the area. This was one quite an inciden, reflecting the attitude of the Bolsheviks towards the Germans at this stage. The cruiser after her mission visited Vardø, Hammerfest, Tromsø, Ålesund and Bergen, back to Wilhelmshaven on 31 August. By February 1922 she became an auxiliary icebreaker in the Baltic but her weak hull sent her in drydock for repair. Replaced as flagship by the battleship Braunschweig she spent the rest of 1922 visiting Odda and summer fleet maneuvers, plus FK Erich Heyden taking command. In July 1923 she visited Hanko in Finland, Rønne on Bornholm however unrest in Weimar forced her in by October with her escort torpedo boats detached to the Harburg district while Hamburg sent a landing party ashore to help the police. After 15 October an Oberbefehlshaber der Seestreitkräfte was created to manage the two Marinestation and Hamburg became flagship for KzS Adolf Pfeiffer, North Sea. 1924 saw a routine of exercises, visit to Riga and summer maneuvers, then change of captain (KzS Lützow), and commander (KAdm Erich Raeder) and Franz Wieting in January 1925. Hamburg was transferred to Marinestation der Ostsee, Kiel. By May, KzS Ernst Junkermann took command, then KzS Paul Wülfing von Ditten, KK Hermann Densch. She was assigned to the Training Inspectorate as training ship under FK Otto Groos and prepared for a circumnavigaion cruiser. Carl Wilhelm Petersen (mayor of Hamburg) presented his city flag to the cruiser on 14 February 1926 and embarked to Cuxhaven. Hamburg sailed to the Atlantic, stopped at Pontevedra (Spain) Funchal (Portugal) Las Palmas (Canary), reached the West Indies, passed the Panama Canal, visited North and Central America (stayed a while in San Francisco) then sailed to the Pacific Ocean, Honolulu and Japan, the Philippines (Manila, Iloilo City), Java ion the Dutch East Indies, Indian Ocean (Colombo), Red Sea, Suez Canal, Mediterranean, Vigo and back in Wilhelmshaven on 20 February 1927. This was also her farewell tour. She was decommissioned on 30 June 1927, reserve in 1928, stricken on 31 March 1931, then converted as barracks ship for submarine crews in 1936, in Kiel until 1944, then towed to Hamburg 7 July 1944 for scrapping when sunk by British bombers on 27 July, raised in 1949 and BU in 1956.

New built cruisers (1925-1939)

This was a grdual affair. After having modernized many 1900 cruisers of the Gazelle and Bremen class as seen above, most were gradually decommissioned as the Reichsmarine planned new classes. This was perfectly authorized by the Versailles treaty commission to naval affair to replace ageing exiting ships by new ones.

Rebuilding Shipyard skills: Emden

The launch of KMS Emden, die Woche, January 1925 in Wilhelsmhaven. Thus, the Reichsmarine started a program of modernization in the 1920s including for a start, a new cruiser based on latest WW1 design to just rebuilt its shipyard's skills: Emden. Afterwards, was planned the "K" class (after the three namesake cities, Königsberg, Karlsruhe, and Köln). They were a bold step forward, not only with a new armament in triple turret (skipping the twin turret step entirely), and also try a new construction technique, welding instead of riveting to save weight. Not only for performances, but also overall tonnage savings under the commission's auspices. There an interesting point to make here. It's the Versailles treaty which framed the new Reichsmarine, not the Washington treaty after 1923, but the treaty which forbade new battleships (six former ones authorized), said nothing about cruisers, but announced a general limit of 10,000 tonnes and a number: 6. This means the new Weimar republic was perfectly in its right to decommission these antiquated cruiser and replaced them for new ones.

German light cruisers 1926-1936

The launch of Köln at Wilhelsmhaven Thus the new Könisgberg class was planned and announced as intended to replace previous Gazelle-Bremen class vessels. German engineers for these ones tried to stay well within the Versailles Treaty limitation, while departing at the same time completely from the Emden design. The great novelty in these turrets maximizing firepower at all angles was added to a quirkcy arrangement, with one forward, axial and two aft, in echelon arrangement, which was never seen before for that class of ships (or since). In 1924, the imposed limited displacement limited protection, armament, so only speed was left to play with. As a result, these cruisers were marked by a very, very light construction thanks to the all-welded hulls, but leaving her with sketchy longitudinal strength, even taking the light superstructures in account. Their L/B ratio exceeded 11:1 on plans. They were essentially enlarged destroyers but registed when trialled an abnormal torsion, and durability issues resulting in poor seaworthiness. They were followed in the late 1920s and to 1935 by two larger light cruisers with enlarged designs but the same, improved formula, KMS Leipzig and Nürnberg. They are detailed below. Overall, these early cruisers were not that successful, tok heavy losses, but played their part in Norway and afterwards. Only two survived in Norway by 1943.

Weimar's trick: The "pocket battleships"

Entwurf Design I/M26, alternative proposal for the Panzerschiffe The new regime had grand plans after 1933 for new cruisers, light and heavy, even intermediate corsairs like the Deutschland class, which remained the most audacious endeavour of the Weimar Republic, it's major asset in a new war with France: The Deustchland class. The latter were planned not as a replacement for the pre-dreadnpoughts as it was forbidden, but simply as "cruisers", with a catch, as nothing prevented Germany a caliber above 28 cm it was assumed by the allied commission not design was realistically possible with these guns on no more than 10,000 tonnes standard. At best, short coastal ships a la Sverige (and even reduced) were possible. Entwurf-3-b, possible successor of the Deutschland class, Similar but with larger displacement, higher speed and better Armor, up to 220mm for the armor belt. Admiral Zenker, probably the most influencial figure of the Reichsmarine by then, thus planned to built three cruisers armed with 28 cm guns, a caliber well known by pre-WWI german yards, and yet, upgraded, with new fire control systems, and engineers had the daunting task of fitting them on a "light" cruiser no more than 10k tons. The process started in 1926, with a serie of designs examined, each with variations in 28cm guns turrets, twin and triple. There were delayed due to elections and strong opposition before 1928. Social Democrats campaigned with “Food not Panzerkreuzer”. Since it was public, the allied commission tried to stop their construction, fearing, rightly so these vessels, faster that they could not fight, stronger that could catch them, were the perfect commerce raiders. It was a dissuading class of ships, but also relaunched an arms race in Europe, the French building its Dunkirk class, the Italian planning the Littorio class later. The Reichsmarine in between offered to the allies to comply to the Washington Treaty with a ratio of 125,000 long tons compared to UK’s 525,000 long tons (533,000 t). UK accepted, twisting France's arm. Of course this was later revised with the anglo-german agreement of 1935, a naval treaty giving far more leeway to Germany, now free to built the Scharnhost class battlecruisers and later Bismark class capital ships, but also giving some room for its new heavy cruisers (see later).

Kriegsmarine's heavy cruisers

The next step was a first heavy cruiser, a category which already existed (pre-1906 "schwere kreuzer" were in reality armoured cruisers) but this time, the admiralty wanted to go for a first intermediate design with four twin turrets, and from 1933 Admiral Raeder envisioned various options to work like a 7,000 tonnes design featuring single shielded 8-in guns based on a lightly enlarge Leipzig. Indeed since the Versailles treaty still applied, the 6,000 tons standard tonnage was the limit for any cruiser, but in possession by 1919. In 1933 the situation however remains the same on this chapter, even after the breach and compromise found with the Deutschland class. But it's really the Anglo-German Treaty of 1935 which completely unlocked the tonnage limit. It gave the newly established Kriegsmarine a 35% tonnage to the RN, and authorized a levelling up to the Washington treaty, so 10,000 tonnes cruisers, but with a catch: Not before 1943. This of course was quickly brushed aside by Hitler, albeit unofficiaously. The keel of KMS Hipper was promptly laid down, at the end of 1935, with hopes to built five based on a calculated 50,000 long tons of heavy cruisers. In addition the "10,000 tonnes standard" would be announced publicly in paperwork and grossly underestimated. In fact the second pair (Prinz Eugen) fully loaded was close to 20,000 tons... They were built, like the Bismark class designed at the time, like superior to any compeition, fast with an hybrid powerplant using diesels for long range (as commerce raiders again), but for their large displacement "only" four twin turrets with 8-in guns, but a comfortable secondary and AA armament, torpedo tubes, floatplanes and state of the art fire control systems and radars. PLAN Z planned "only" five (two "prototypes", Hipper and Blücher) and three serial, larger (Prinz Eugen, Seydlitz, Lützow). They were all supposed to wage commerce raiding on their own, but had only marginal superiority over their competitors. In an encounter with a County class, they still could count on their artillery range (37° in max elevation for 33,540 m or 110,040 ft range), better than the 8-in BL MK VIII (28,000m or 17 miles) at least on paper. The situation happened when Prinz Eugen duelled at long range with Dorsetshire in May 1941. The story doesn't stop here. See below for projects.

Kriegsmarine KMS Emden (1925)

KMS Emden official photo in 1935 KMS Emden (official) 1935 First postwar cruiser in Germany, the Emden (from the city, also to honor the famous 1914 corsair cruiser), she was authorized in 1921 in an unfavorable economic environment and watchful eyes of the allies commission. Starting with the last known design, she was directly modeled after the last class cruisers of the great war, the "Königsberg II" class. Configuration of the main armament (single shielded 6-in guns) was not of the highest standard compared to those to be developed, but the Reichsmarine was forbidden to study more modern turrets. After commission of the first Köln class ship, Emden, from active cruiser was reclassified as cadet training ship. Under the command of Karl Doenitz, she took part in several international cruises. With the outbreak of war, she actively participated in operations in Norway (Operation Weserübung), without notable action, and spent the rest of her career in the Baltic, training Sea Cadets. In 1945 she took part in the evacuation of civilians and troops from East Prussia trapped by Soviet Forces, and later brought troops from Norway. She also carried the remains of Marshal Hindenburg. Badly damaged in April 1945 by the RAF, she was scuttled at Heikendorfer Bucht and dismantled after the war.

Kriegsmarine K class (1927)

All three were used extensively as training cruisers in the 1930s, making overseas cruises, patrolling during the Spanish Civil War in 1936–1939. They laid defensive minefields in the North Sea by 1939 and saw action in Operation Weserübung by April 1940, Königsberg being damaged by coastal guns, finished off by British bombers, Karlsruhe sunk by the HMS Truant, Köln surviving. She provided gunfire support during Operation Barbarossa, and was sent in Norway in 1942, but was damaged, repatriated and eventually never fully repaired, sunk in Wilhelmshaven in March 1945. She sank even, so her guns were still above water, supporting the defense of the harbour against British forces.

Kriegsmarine The case of the Deutschland class (1931)

Graf Spee at the 1937 Spithead Coronation naval review - Colorized by Irootoko Jr.
The final Deutschland class post-1933 were reclassed as Panzerschiffe (armored ships), even if protection was minimal, albeit better than light cruisers: Main turrets: 140 mm (5.5 in), Belt: 80 mm (3.1 in), Deck: 45 mm (1.8 in). It was tailored to resist 8-in (203 mm) shells, as they could only do 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph). Most heavy cruisers like the british County class were capable of 30-33 knots. The main armament of six 28cm main guns which outranged 8-in guns of heavy cruisers (catch: The turret were turning slow) was completed by six single 15 cm and three 8.8 cm (3.5 in) in single mounts. It was reinforced during the war quite considerably. They patrolled during the Spanish civil war and Graf Spee was present at the 1937 Spithead coronation review. Days before WW2, Deutschland and Admiral Graf Spee were deployed preventively to the Atlantic to start preying on Allied merchant traffic at the first hours of 1st September. Admiral Scheer at the time was in maintenance. Deutschland failed in her first raiding sortie, only sinking or captured three ships. After the loss of Spee she was renamed Lützow. Admiral Graf Spee on her side had more lunck, sinking nine ships in the South Atlantic, fought at the Battle of the River Plate, and damaged, low on fuel (they had diesel engines for 10,000 nm), in poor overall condition she took refuge in Montevideo and thanks to a clever Britsh deception, sailed out to be scuttled. Lützow and Admiral Scheer ended in Norway by 1942 after the last failure (raid of the Scharnhorst pair, of Scheer, and sinking of Bismack). Hitler in a bout of rage decided to scrap the entire surface fleet after frigin Raeder, but Kar Dönitz, formerly at the head of the U-Boat arm, convinced him to sent it instead in Norway to act as a permanent deterrent, keeping tied a large portion of the Home Fleet in Scotland, later reinforced by a part of the US Atlantic fleet. The remaining cruisers preyed on Mourmanks convoys. Admiral Scheer conducted Operation Wunderland in August 1942 in the Kara Sea. Lützow took part in the Battle of the Barents Sea in December 1942. Both were damaged and sent to Germany for repairs, which went very slowly. British bombers got them both in 1944. Lützow was raised postwar, sunk as a target by the Soviets, Admiral Scheer was BU.

Cruiser Aviation

Heinkel 60

Probably the most successful and common model of the interwar was the He 60, with 361 made, also used by Spain and Bulgaria in WW2. This sturdy biplane was operational by 1934, after a developmen tin 1932-33. They were given a liquid-cooled inline BMW VI 6.0 V-12 492 kW (660 hp) engine, but later attemps to obtained the DB 600 went to nil and when WW2 started, this model, replaced by the Arada 196, was seen as lacking power and speed. The last version, He 60D, was introduced in 1936 and production stopped in 1937. The last ones soldiered on until 1943. He 60 over KMS Köln (K class). They were shared by the three K class, as well as Leipzig, Nürnberg, the three Deustchland class practically until WW2 started, possibly also briefly by KMS Hipper after completion, and the two Scharnhorst class.

Heinkel 114

A rather modern parasol monoplane floatplane, the He 114 (1936) had some structural weakness and was never accepted on Kriegsmarine's "cruisers" per se, but auxilary cruisers (Hilfskreuzer): The Atlantis, Widder, and Pinguin. See the page on the He 114.

Arado 196

Arado 196A3 of Bdflgr Prinz Eugen, 1941 The A196 was probably one of the most famous model of the company as far as naval aviation is concerned. The Ar 196 was designed to replace the mediocre He 114, as asked by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium, it was designed by Walter Blume it first flew in 1937, and started service in 1938-39, wit 541 deliveries until August 1944. First monoplane floatplane, it became the standard WW2 shipboard reconnaissance and observation model of the Kriegsmarine, used on the two Birmarck class, the three Hipper class ships, and replacing the He 60 on the three surviving Deutschland but not Graf Spee which used well it until her demise. The A196 also was found on the remaining light cruisers also until their loss, and the Hilfskreuzer that had floatplanes aboard in 1942-43. Outside ships it was used on numerous coastal squadrons, from Norway to the Mediterranean until late 1944 and their most famous action was the capture of the British minelayer sub HMS Seal. Bulgaria also used and many were captured by the Allies, France used its own in Indochina until 1955. More on the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine

Kriegsmarine's cruisers and Plan Z

PLAN Z for cruisers included the following. The Panzerschiffe in their new design were decidedly too large and well armoured by tonnage to be considered as part of the cruisers and are not included here. Heavy cruisers (Schwere Kreuzer): 5 planned, 3 built. Light cruisers (Leichte Kreuzer): 13 planned, 6 built. Scout cruisers (Spähkreuzer): 22 planned, none built. We are going to see the ships built, and projects at the end.

Kriegsmarine Leichtes Kreuzer Leipzig class (1936)

KMS Leipzig

Design of the last German light cruiser class

Started in 1927 on behalf of the Reichsmarine in Whilelmshaven, the Leipzig was an improved version of the previous "K" class, while keeping the essential, but also the flaws. The main part of its structure, especially the hull, was persevered, resulting in structural weaknesses and a "limiting" stability of the width of the hull. The chimneys were grouped together in a single structure, and the superstructure of the forecastle prolonged, the triple turrets rearranged in the axis, and the bow of "classical" again, for a longer length and an increased width. The Nuremberg, on the other hand, was attacked for the Kriegsmarine, and the frontiers of the Treaty of Versailles were freed. It resulted in an increase in size, protection, and weight... Moreover its bridge superstructure was revised, more massive and better protected. His diesels were a new, more economical model. At the end of Nürnberg was the only really successful cruiser of this series of "Leichte Kreuzer".

The Leipzig class in action

Before the conflict, the two ships participated in the naval blockade of arms to Spain (1936-39). At the time of the war, Leipzig was involved in mine clearance operations off the coast of England when it was torpedoed by British submarine HMS Salmon, along with its "twin", the Nürnberg. The Leipzig returned to Germany and was converted into a training vessel, in particular two boilers were replaced to make chambers and its speed had fallen to 27 knots. She returned to service on the occasion of Operation Barbarossa (June 1941), bombing Russian advanced bases in the Baltic. He then remained in the Baltic for training, and entered during an outing in foggy weather in collision with the Prinz Eugen. Repaired, but suffering from problems, he was less and less active. In 1945, he was serving as a dock ship and DCA support at Whilelmshaven. Then he operated off Gdynia to try to slow down the Russian lead. He eventually surrendered to the British. It was scuttled in the North Sea in 1946. The Nuremberg, on the other hand, also torpedoed by the Salmon when she was laying mines, missed operations in Norway. However, she sailed to a fjord for operations against the convoys of the great north, and alternated these missions with those in the Baltic. She eventually surrendered to the allies in Copenhagen in 1945 and was attributed to the USSR as a war-warrant, renamed Admiral Makharov. She retired from service in 1959, the only surviving German cruiser. KMS Leipzig KMS Nürnberg
KMS Nürnberg specifications
Dimensions: 177 x 16.30 x 5.65 m Displacement: 6200 t/8380 tonnes FL Crew: 1150 Propulsion: 2 shafts, Brown-Boveri turbines, 66,000 hp, 2 MAN diesels 12 400 hp Speed: 32/19 knots (xx km/h; xx mph) Radius 5700 Nautical Miles Armament: 9(3x3)x 152 mm, 6x 88 mm AA, 8x 37mm AA, 12(4x3) TT 533 mm, 120 mines, 2 planes Armor: Belt: 30 mm (), Deck: 25 mm (), Turrets 30mm, Conning tower: 30 mm ()

Kriegsmarine Schwere Kreuzer Hipper class (1937)

The Hipper class comprised the first (and last) five German Navy heavy cruisers, of which only three were completed. The fourth, named Seydlitz, was suspended and later to be converted into an aircraft carrier. The fifth, Lützow, was sold half-finished to the Soviet Union in 1940 and never completed either. The German-British Naval Agreement granted Germany a total of five heavy cruisers and Blücher, Admiral Hipper, Prinz Eugen were planned unless special circumstances made it necessary to build two more, which was confirmed on June 8, 1936 by Erich Raeder, cruisers "K" and "L" with an initial main armament or triple turrets and 15 cm guns in four triple turrets. However Adolf Hitler soon ordered their reconversion as heavy cruisers. Their career is described below.
Hipper class specifications
Dimensions: 209 x 20.30 x 7.3 m Displacement: 16,000 t/18,000 tonnes FL Crew: 1,150 Propulsion: 4 shafts, 4 turbines, 12 boilers, 320,000 bhp Speed: 32 knots Radius 9,000 Nautical Miles Armament: 4x2 203 (8-in) mm, 6x2 105 (4-in) mm AA, 6x2 37mm AA, 8x1 20mm AA, 4x3 TT 533 mm (21-in), mines, 3-4 planes Armor: Belt: 80 mm, Deck: 30 mm, Turrets 100mm, Conning tower: 150 mm

Kriegsmarine KMS Hipper

Hipper made two raid cruises in 1939, totaling 60,000 tons of merchant vessels. She took part in the Norwegian campaign (Weserübung), and off Trondheim badly damaged the destroyer HMS Glowworm. The latter managed however to maneuver just before sinking, ramming the Hipper, which left a deep hull depression and significant internal damage. However, this did not prevented Hipper's landing party to erect the Nazi flag on Kristiansand, taking all the city's organs (Telecommunication, energy, etc.) without the inhabitants noticing. The Hipper than departed and patrolled along the Norwegian coast accompanied by the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, then returned to Kiel for repair. Two new raids in the Atlantic has been later canceled due to turbine failures. From December she returned to the Atlantic, undetected, and from Brest, made some sorties against British trade, notably against convoy WS-5A in December 1940 and SLS64 in February 1941. She then joined Kiel for minor improvements and the addition of additional oil tanks, and returned to Norway. She remained there to operate against the Arctic convoys. She was severely damaged during an attack of one of These convoys in December 1942. After returning to Wilhelmshaven for repair, she remained there, set aside by Hitler's order, completely disillusioned with surface ships. In January 1945 her partial repairs served her to evacuate civilians and troops from the ports of East Prussia, from the fury of the Russian troops (Operation Hannibal). She was broken up in Kiel in May 1945.

Kriegsmarine KMS Blücher

The Blücher had a power plant slightly different from its twin, but unchanged speed. She took part in the attack on Norway (Weserübung), as flagship of naval group 5 (including Lützow, Emden, three torpedo boats and 8 minesweepers under Oskar Kummetz), intended to land troops and men of the Gestapo destined to take organs of communication and power in Oslo. As she advanced by night in the fjord, her weapons remained perfectly aligned in a gesture of disdain against Norwegian fortifications, but she was nevertheless surprised by the patrol boat Pol III just before midnight. The latter raised the alarm, and Oscarborg battery's gunners, although inexperienced and having only old 280 mm Krupp guns dating back from 1890, fired at 1600-1800 meters, seriously damaging the cruiser, who then could not reply. As a result, this first blood was followed by practically firing pieces of the coast, even minor ones. Blücher was rapidly in flames, and sunk later at point-blank range by the Dröbak fjord batteries, 280 mm from Oscarborg and 150 mm from the Kopas battery, completed by torpedoes from Kaholm fort (old Austro-Hungarian Whitehead models from 1895). Nevertheless, and despite the icy waters, there were few victims, the banks being close. During the same event, the pocket battleship Lützow (former Deutschland) was also severely damaged and had to retreat. Oslo was saved, allowing the Royal family to leave the country. The Blücher still lies at 90 meters in the middle of the fjord, an attraction for divers. In 1994 an operation was carried out to extract the oil escaping from its rusting tanks. That gave an opportunity to retrieve an anchor, now exposed to Aker Brygge, and an Arado seaplane, now exposed in Stavanger Museum.

Kriegsmarine KMS Prinz Eugen

KMS Prinz Eugen launch at Kiel, 22 August 1938 KMS Prinz Eugen, named after Prince Eugene of Savoy (in honor of the Austrian part of the new third Reich) was nicknamed the "lucky". Launched in 1938, her construction costed at the tome some 104 million Reichsmarks. She was to participate in the operations in Norway but was not yet ready for service. On 2 July 1940 she was attacked and damaged by the RAF. On 23 April 1941 after substantial repairs, she was again put out of action by a magnetic mine. On 24 May, 1941 she was ready for Operation Rheinübung in the company of Bismarck. This was her most famous action. Opening fire against the Hood, at maximum angle, it is very possible that her shells set fire to the rear boats deck (spreading into more vital parts of the ship, that blew her up). Then she was ordered to concentrate fire on the HMS Prince of Wales (which the Germans had taken for HMS King George V), scoring four hits. When the Bismarck was defeated, PE had to divert to France, to continue her mission against British trade. On her first sortie she was to find the tanker Spichern, but turned back on 29 May because of turbine failures. Anchored in Brest, she was the target of constant attacks by the RAF. On the night of July, 1st, she was severely damaged by a bomb hitting the rear artillery control center, killing 60. On 11-12 February after repair, she escorted the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau through the channel, to the Baltic (operation Cerberus) with success. In February she went back to Trondheim Fjord. In another raid she was torpedoed by HMS Trident, lost her stern and remained almost a year in repair at Kiel, only back into service in January 1943. Because of her troublesome turbines however she could not join Norway and spent the remainder of her service time in the Baltic, as an escort vessel and training ship. From October 1944 she assisted troops in East Prussia with her artillery, and later helped to evacuate troops and civilians during the siege of Danzig in 1945. On October 15, by foggy weather, she collided with the KMS Leipzig, and was sent to Gdynia (Gotenhafen) for repairs. After a final evacuation, she went to Copenhagen on 20 April. KMS Prinz Eugen remained in Denmark due to lack of fuel. She was captured by the British on May 8, and after the war was attributed to the US Navy, renamed USS Prinz Eugen/IX300, and thoroughly examined by engineers. Her sonar was recovered and tested on a submersible, her magnetic amplifiers were reverse-engineered. She was eventually sent into the Pacific, through the Panama Canal. Stationed in the Bikini atoll for Operation Crossroads, she was badly irradiated by two nuclear explosions (tests Abel and Baker). In September 1946, he was towed and sunk in the Kwajalein atoll where she remains. Her bell is currently exposed in the Washington DC Museum, and her propeller was repatriated in 1978, and is currently exposed in Laboe, Germany.

Kriegsmarine KMS Seydlitz

KMS Seydlitz being launched KMS Seydlitz being launched Both heavy cruisers were sister-ships of the Prinz Eugen, larger than the first Hipper. They were built at the Deutsche Schiff und Maschinenbau of Bremen, laid down in 29 December 1936 and 2 August 1937, launched in January and August 1939. Seydlitz's construction was approximately 95 percent complete when halted. In March 1942 it was decided to convert her into an aircraft carrier. She was renamed Weser, and conversion work began in May 1942: All superstructures were erased (about 2400 tons), and a hangar was started, which could have housed ten Bf 109 fighters and ten Ju 87 dive-bombers. AA artillery was to comprise 10x 10.5 cm SK C/33 guns in dual mounts, 10x 3.7 cm SK C/30 guns also in dual mounts, plus 24x 2 cm Flak 38 guns in quad-mounts. Work was halted again in June 1943, she was towed to Königsberg and stayed there unfinished, only to be scuttled in January 1945. Briefly seized by the advancing Soviet Army she was later sold for scrap.

Kriegsmarine KMS Lützow

Unfinished Lützow being transferred to USSR, 1940 The Lützow was the object of intense negotiations between the 3rd Reich and the USSR from October 1939 to February 1940, that thought to acquire her. Concluded, the transfer took place in April, but then she lacked half her battery and most of ther superstructure was missing. renamed Petropavlovsk she was to be completed by a German-advised Soviet shipyard in Leningrad. After Operation Barbarossa began of course all was halted, and the ship took part in the defense of Leningrad, before being silenced by German heavy artillery. Sunk, then raised again in September 1942 she was repaired as Tallinn, and took part in the operations for taking back the city in 1944. After the war she served as floating barracks until broken up from 1953.

Z-Plan cruiser projects

Kriegsmarine M class (1939)

The early M class was just a slightly larger Leipzig class, so still armed with three triple 6-in guns turrets, light armour, good speed but limited range. Tailored for commerce raiding in the Atlantic, their designs suffered from a number of problems, leading to the 5th and 6th being substantially redesigned: The first four M-class ships (M, N, O, P) measured 183 m (600 ft 5 in) long overall, whereas the Q and R reached 196 m (643 ft 1 in) overall while being larger for 9500 tonnes standard. They had two catapults for more reconnaissance range. The armament The name of the class is taken from the letter designating the first projected unit. As long as the ships were not named, they were referred to by letters assigned in the chronological order of their planned construction. The first planned unit would have been the thirteenth German cruiser and was therefore listed as cruiser M in the navy's documents. Had any of the ships been built, the class would have been named after the first completed unit. Due to still extant plans, the M class is probably the best known of these unbuilt projects and likely our first project in 2024.
M class specifications (*Q,R)
Dimensions: 183 m/196 m* (600 ft/643 ft*) x 17/18* m x 5.42/5.40* m Displacement: 8,500 t (M-P) to 9,300 t (Q, R*) standard Crew: 28 officers +892 ratings Propulsion: 2 steam turbines, 4 diesels, 4 water-tube boilers Speed: 35.5/36 knots* (67 km/h; 41 mph) Range: 8,000 nmi/12,000 nmi* (22,000 km) at 19 knots Armament: 4x2 15 cm (5.9 in), 4× 8.8 cm AA, 8× 3.7 cm AA, 4× 2 cm AA, 2x4 53 cm TTs, 60 mines Air Park: 1 axial catapult, 2 Arado 196 seaplanes Armor: Belt: 2 in (51 mm), Deck: 1 in (25 mm), Turrets: 1 in (25 mm)

Kriegsmarine D class heavy cruisers

"Ersatz Hessen", laid down on 14 February 1934 as "D". Although classed in western literrature as heavy cruisers (or "large cruisers" akin the US Alaska class of 1943), in German documentation they were called "panzerschiffe", which is deceiptive since they were not armoured as capital ships but rather like cruisers, but they sported 28 cm guns (or 21 cm in previous projects). A projected successor of the Deustchland class In 1933, the Reichsmarine was authorized to look for much improved successors of the Deutschland-class cruisers, to counter a new French naval construction program. Displacement went straight out of Versailles limits at 20,000 long tons (20,321 t), and Hitler personally forbade a better battery and only improvements in range and protection. Only one of two planned were laid down, "D" on 14 February 1934 but Work was halted on 5 July 1934, as she canceled less than 5 months after, and she was broken up to clear the slipway. In between it was estimated that the arrival of the new French Dunkerque-class ships, necessitated a third triple turret and the project evolved in the Scharnhorst-class battleships. They were provisionally planned as "D" and "E".
Specifications
Displacement: 20,000 long tons (20,000 t) standard Dimensions: 230 m (754 ft 7 in) overall x 25.5 m (83 ft 8 in) x 8.5 m (27 ft 11 in) Propulsion: 2 steam turbines, likely 4 diesels, 125,000 PS (123,000 shp) for 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph) Armament: 2x3 28 cm/52 SK C/28, 4x2 15 cm/55 SK C/28, 4x2 10.5 cm/65 SK C/33 AA guns. Armor: Belt 220 mm (8.7 in), upper deck 35 mm (1.4 in), deck 70 to 80 mm (2.8 to 3.1 in), turrets:200 to 360 mm (7.9 to 14.2 in), CT 300 mm (12 in), Citadel: 50 mm (2 in)

Kriegsmarine P class heavy cruisers

The P class were larger Panzerschiffe intended notably to deal with the French Dunkerque class and commerce raiding after the cancelled D-class. It was to have comprised twelve ships authorized in 1937. Design work went on until 1939 after 9 designs considered. The one retained had six 28 cm (11 in) QF guns in two triple turrets like for the D-class and Deutschland class. Named P1–P12, they were heavier and faster and went back to full diesel propulsion for greater range, including in Plan Z as submitted by the Navy, and a key feature in Grand Admiral Erich Raeder's plans for a large scale commerce warfare against the British Empire. The plan was revised down to 8 ships, until cancellation on 27 July 1939 before any work started and instead three O-class battlecruisers ordered. The O-class were never built either.
Specifications
Displacement: 22,145 t standard, 25,689 t (25,283 long tons) FL Dimensions: 230 m (754 ft 7 in) oa x 26 m (85 ft 4 in) x 7.20 m (23 ft 7 in) Propulsion: 12 Diesel engines, 165,000 PS (163,000 shp), 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph) Range: 25,000 nmi (46,000 km; 29,000 mi) at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) Armament: 3x3 28 cm (11 in), 4× 15 cm, 4× 10.5 cm, 4× 3.7 cm AA guns 2x3 53.3 cm TTs Armor: Barbettes: 80-100, Belt 40-120, Deck 70, Torpedo bulkhead 30 mm Aviation: 2 steam catapults, 2× Arado 196 seaplanes

Kriegsmarine Krupp 1939 heavy cruisers

At first, the pre-hipper class project was that of two lighter cruisers tailored for commerce raiding, to be named seydlitz and Lutzow, each with three, and later four triple 6-in guns and two catapults. It was then plan to convert them as heavy cruisers from 1936, with 8-in guns. The Krupp Consortium also developed the three-gun turret SK L/56 for the same guns SK C/34 used on Admiral Hipper-class ships, for an upgraded class escorting the new P-class battleships. They would have sported twelve guns.

Kriegsmarine Schichau light cruisers (1928)

Light cruiser "Berlin", with five twin 5.9" C28 gun turrets, allegedly a 1928 naval plan proposal by Schichau yards.

Kriegsmarine Spähkreuzer

Development history: At the beginning of 1937, the Naval Construction Office proposed a project of large destroyer which was rejected. This triggered a development that resulted in a ship for Atlantic use. This was supposed to be superior in armament to fleet destroyers and be able to outrun enemy cruisers. Tasks were to scout and screen heavier units operating individually or in formation as part of oceanic naval warfare, support heavy units in tactical cruiser warfare, and convoy security or Independent use for commerce warfare. The first clearly defined design was called Scout Cruiser 38. This was a design with two funnels displacing 6,000 tons. In addition to three twin turrets with standard 15 cm forward as for the K class (1 forward, 2 aft) and two quintuple TT banks, they had an hybrid powerplant with steam turbine and diesels for 77,500 WHP + 14,500 HP and 35 knots. Protection was limited to the essential, deck 15 mm, longit. bulkhead 18 mm and 12 mm for other critical areas. Changes led to scout cruiser 39, which had increased dimensions at 7,550 tons standard, the extra lenght used to add better anti-aircraft complement and armour protection, an on-board aircraft, but at the price of a speed loss of three knots. They would have a 50 mm thick belt, 25 mm for deck armor, 12 mm for the inner longitudinal bulkhead. They had two funnels, redesigned superstructures, and a catapult instead of torpedo tubes between funnels. The final design, Scout Cruiser 40, was even larger as the admiralty wanted a larger powerplant to regain top speed, and the turrets were shifted around, two forward and one aft. The torpedo tubes return, and the catapult was deleted. It had a greater speed and even a 50% larger radius of action, better AA now close to a standard light cruiser. In February 1939, with Z-Plan, the Naval War Command emphasised the role of scout cruisers for their intended warfare, but arbitrations were needed as it came at odds with the rest of the shipbuilding program. Nevertheless, on February 17, 1941, a construction order for three (Spähkreuzer 40) were placed to Germania shipyard, Kiel, named provisionally 671, 672 and 673 and to be commissioned as Z40, E41 and Z42 or SP 1 to SP 3. The contract for the main propulsion system for the next three ships, SP 4 to SP 6 was awarded already in December 1941, but construction work was stopped by April 1942, and cancelled as Dönitz redirected shipyard capacity and material to U-Boat construction. They would remain an interesting "whatif", to compare not with the British Cossak or French Mogador but rather to the British Dido, Italian Capitani Romani, Japanese Agano and Dutch Tromp.

Kriegsmarine Minenleger Kreuzer

The German Kriegsmarine had no dedicated minelayer cruiser when WW2 broke out, and minelaying operations were done at first by light cruisers, and and then by destroyers and torpedo boats, with dedicated minenleger U-Boat or "U-minen" were built in short numbers. The Kriegsmarine thus has many captured civilian ships modified for mine laying. After the invasion of Norway, the captured Norwegian minelayer Olav Trayggvason (renamed Albatros, later Brummer) became the one and only dedicated minelayer in service. In 1937 however four cruisers minelayers was planned, ordered in July 1938, May 1939 in two batches, with completion projected by the summer of summer 1941. But yard space was lacking and construction was not even started before being cancelled in October 1939. These looked like taller destroyers, about 130m in lenght with a long forecastle, low superstructures, one funnel, two masts or unequal size, and armed only by four superfiring 10.5 SKL guns. Mines were stored internally with chutes aft of the deck. Basically an entire deck was freed to make space for mines on four tracks in "U". This large space was enabled for troop transport as well. This allowed setup of the mines in enclosed space, spared water spray. Mines could also be loaded via two doors port and starboard.

Read More/Src

Books

Hans Zenker’s warship designs in the Tambach archives: ‘The Zenker documents, Reichmarine naval constructions 1919 -1933’ Bidlingmaier, Gerhard (1971). "KM Admiral Graf Spee". Warship Profile 4. Windsor: Profile Publications. Budzbon, Przemyslaw (1992). "Soviet Union". In Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946 Gröner, Erich (1990). German Warships: 1815–1945. Vol. I: Major Surface Vessels. NIP Haar, Geir H. (2009). The German invasion of Norway – April 1940. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-032-1. Hümmelchen, Gerhard (1976). Die Deutschen Seeflieger 1935–1945 (in German). Munich: Lehmann. Philbin, Tobias R. (1994). The Lure of Neptune: German-Soviet Naval Collaboration and Ambitions, 1919–1941. Williamson, Gordon (2003). German Heavy Cruisers 1939–1945. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. Williamson, Gordon (2003). German Pocket Battleships 1939–1945. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.

Links

navypedia.org german cruisers navypedia.org niobe Gazelle-class_cruiser http://wargamingmiscellany.blogspot.com/2017/06/german-flakschiff-arcona-and-medusa.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_heavy_cruisers_of_Germany https://www.berliner-dampfer.de/html/1902_kreuzer.html https://www.german-navy.de/hochseeflotte/ships/smallcruiser/berlin/index.html https://www.german-navy.de/hochseeflotte/ships/smallcruiser/kreuzer1916/index.html https://www.german-navy.de/kriegsmarine/ships/index.html https://www.german-navy.de/kriegsmarine/ships/heavycruiser/lutzow/index.html https://www.german-navy.de/kriegsmarine/ships/minelayer/minelayer/index.html https://www.german-navy.de/kriegsmarine/ships/destroyer/spahkreuzer/index.html https://uboatarchive.net/BDU/BDUKTBNARA.htm http://www.avalanchepress.com/WeimarFleet.php?mode=print https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/warships1discussionboards/admiral-zenker-s-warship-design-s-t21297.html https://forum.worldofwarships.eu/index.php?/topic/4789- https://medium.com/@wows_historians/paper-ships-cruiser-hindenburg-a98d3914c759 https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2016/08/31/the-german-naval-archives-tambach/ https://www.history.navy.mil/research/archives/Collections/transferred-collections/nara-transfer/german-naval-archives.html

Videos

https://youtu.be/dNl2dBRLU78 German interwar cruiser procurement By Dr. Alex Clarke

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❢ Abbreviations & acronyms
    AAAnti-Aircraft
    AAW// warfare
    AASAmphibious Assault Ship
    AdmAdmiral
    AEWAirbone early warning
    AGAir Group
    AFVArmored Fighting Vehicle
    AMGBarmoured motor gunboat
    APArmor Piercing
    APCArmored Personal Carrier
    ASAntisubmarine
    ASMAir-to-surface Missile
    ASMDAnti Ship Missile Defence
    ASROCASW Rockets
    ASWAnti Submarine Warfare
    ASWRLASW Rocket Launcher
    ATWahead thrown weapon
    avgasAviation Gasoline
    awAbove Waterline
    AWACSAirborne warning & control system
    BBBattleship
    bhpbrake horsepower
    BLBreach-loader (gun)
    BLRBreach-loading, Rifled (gun)
    BUBroken Up
    ccirca
    CAArmoured/Heavy cruiser
    Capt.Captain
    CalCaliber or ".php"
    CGMissile Cruiser
    CICCombat Information Center
    C-in-CCommander in Chief
    CIWSClose-in weapon system
    CECompound Expansion (engine)
    ChChantiers ("Yard", FR)
    CLCruiser, Light
    cmcentimeter(s)
    CMBCoastal Motor Boat
    CMSCoastal Minesweeper
    CNOChief of Naval Operations
    CpCompound (armor)
    CoCompany
    COBCompound Overhad Beam
    CODAGCombined Diesel & Gas
    CODOGCombined Diesel/Gas
    COGAGCombined Gas and Gas
    COGOGCombined Gas/Gas
    commcommissioned
    compcompleted
    convconverted
    convlconventional
    COSAGCombined Steam & Gas
    CRCompound Reciprocating
    CRCRSame, connecting rod
    CruDivCruiser Division
    CPControlled Pitch
    CTConning Tower
    CTLconstructive total loss
    CTOLConv. Take off & landing
    CTpCompound Trunk
    cucubic
    CylCylinder(s)
    CVAircraft Carrier
    CVA// Attack
    CVE// Escort
    CVL// Light
    CVS// ASW support
    cwtHundredweight
    DADirect Action
    DASHDrone ASW Helicopter
    DCDepht Charge
    DCT// Track
    DCR// Rack
    DCT// Thrower
    DDDestroyer/drydock
    DEDouble Expansion
    DEDestroyer Escort
    DDE// Converted
    DesRonDestroyer Squadron
    DFDouble Flux
    D/FDirection(finding)
    DPDual Purpose
    DUKWAmphibious truck
    DyDDockyard
    EOCElswick Ordnance Co.
    ECMElectronic Warfare
    ESMElectronic support measure
    FFarenheit
    FCSFire Control System
    FFFrigate
    fpsFeet Per Second
    ftFeets
    FYFiscal Year
    galgallons
    GMMetacentric Height
    GPMGGeneral Purpose Machine-gun
    GRPFiberglass
    GRTGross Tonnage
    GUPPYGreater Underwater Prop.Pow.
    HAHigh Angle
    HCHorizontal Compound
    HCR// Reciprocating
    HCDA// Direct Acting
    HCDCR// connecting rod
    HDA// direct acting
    HDAC// acting compound
    HDAG// acting geared
    HDAR// acting reciprocating
    HDMLHarbor def. Motor Launch
    H/FHigh Frequency
    HF/DF// Directional Finding
    HMSHer Majesty Ship
    HNHarvey Nickel
    HNCHorizontal non-condensing hp
    HPHigh Pressure
    hphorizontal
    HQHeadquarter
    HRHorizontal reciprocating
    HRCR// connecting rod
    HSHarbor Service
    HS(E)Horizontal single (expansion)
    HSET// trunk
    HTHorizontal trunk
    HTE// expansion
    ICInverted Compound
    IDAInverted direct acting
    IFFIdentification Friend or Foe
    ihpindicated horsepower
    IMFInshore Minesweeper
    inInche(s)
    ircironclad
    KCKrupp, cemented
    kgKilogram
    KNC// non cemented
    kmKilometer
    kt(s)Knot(s)
    kwkilowatt
    ibpound(s)
    LALow Angle
    LCLanding Craft
    LCA// Assault
    LCAC// Air Cushion
    LFC// Flak (AA)
    LCG// Gunboat
    LCG(L)/// Large
    LCG(M)/// Medium
    LCG(S)/// Small
    LCI// Infantry
    LCM// Mechanized
    LCP// Personel
    LCP(R)/// Rocket
    LCS// Support
    LCT// Tanks
    LCV// Vehicles
    LCVP/// Personal
    LCU// Utility
    locolocomotive (boiler)
    LSCLanding ship, support
    LSD// Dock
    LSF// Fighter (direction)
    LSM// Medium
    LSS// Stern chute
    LST// Tank
    LSV// Vehicle
    LPlow pressure
    lwllenght waterline
    mmetre(s)
    MModel
    MA/SBmotor AS boat
    maxmaximum
    MGMachine Gun
    MGBMotor Gunboat
    MLSMinelayer/Sweeper
    MLMotor Launch
    MMSMotor Minesweper
    MTMilitary Transport
    MTBMotor Torpedo Boat
    HMGHeavy Machine Gun
    MCM(V)Mine countermeasure Vessel
    minminute(s)
    MkMark
    MLMuzzle loading
    MLR// rifled
    MSOOcean Minesweeper
    mmmillimetre
    NCnon condensing
    nhpnominal horsepower
    nmNautical miles
    Number
    NBC/ABCNuc. Bact. Nuclear
    NSNickel steel
    NTDSNav.Tactical Def.System
    NyDNaval Yard
    oaOverall
    OPVOffshore Patrol Vessel
    PCPatrol Craft
    PDMSPoint Defence Missile System
    pdrpounder
    ppperpendicular
    psipounds per square inch
    PVDSPropelled variable-depth sonar
    QFQuick Fire
    QFC// converted
    RAdmRear Admiral
    RCRadio-control/led
    RCRreturn connecting rod
    recRectangular
    revRevolver
    RFRapid Fire
    RPCRemote Control
    rpgRound per gun
    SAMSurface to air Missile
    SARSearch Air Rescue
    sbSmoothbore
    SBShip Builder
    SCSub-chaser (hunter)
    SSBNBallistic Missile sub.Nuclear
    SESimple Expansion
    SET// trunk
    SGSteeple-geared
    shpShaft horsepower
    SHsimple horizontal
    SOSUSSound Surv. System
    SPRsimple pressure horiz.
    sqsquare
    SSSubmarine (Conv.)
    SSMSurface-surface Missile
    subsubmerged
    sfsteam frigate
    SLBMSub.Launched Ballistic Missile
    spfsteam paddle frigate
    STOVLShort Take off/landing
    SUBROCSub.Fired ASW Rocket
    tton, long (short in bracket)
    TACANTactical Air Nav.
    TBTorpedo Boat
    TBD// destroyer
    TCTorpedo carriage
    TETriple expansion
    TER// reciprocating
    TFTask Force
    TGBTorpedo gunboat
    TGTask Group
    TLTorpedo launcher
    TLC// carriage
    TNTTrinitroluene
    TSTraining Ship
    TTTorpedo Tube
    UDTUnderwater Demolition Team
    UHFUltra High Frequency
    VadmVice Admiral
    VCVertical compound
    VCE// expansion
    VDE/ double expansion
    VDSVariable Depth Sonar
    VIC/ inverted compound
    VLFVery Low Frequency
    VQL/ quadruple expansion
    VSTOLVertical/short take off/landing
    VTE/ triple expansion
    VTOLVertical take off/landing
    VSE/ Simple Expansion
    wksWorks
    wlwaterline
    WTWireless Telegraphy
    xnumber of
    YdYard
    Organizations
    GIUKGreenland-Iceland-UK
    BuShipsBureau of Ships
    DBMGerman Navy League
    GBGreat Britain
    DNCDirectorate of Naval Construction
    EEZExclusive Economic Zone
    FAAFleet Air Arm
    FNFLFree French Navy
    JMSDFJap.Mar.Self-Def.Force
    MDAPMutual Def.Assistance Prog.
    MSAMaritime Safety Agency
    NATO
    RAFRoyal Air Force
    RANRoyal Australian Navy
    RCNRoyal Canadian Navy
    R&DResearch & Development
    RNRoyal Navy
    RNZNRoyal New Zealand Navy
    ussrUnion of Socialist Republics
    UE/EECEuropean Union/Comunity
    UNUnited Nations Org.
    USNUnited States Navy
    WaPacWarsaw Pact

⛶ Pre-Industrial Eras

☀ Introduction
☀ Neolithic to bronze age
⚚ Antique
⚜ Medieval
⚜ Renaissance
⚜ Enlightenment

⚔ Naval Battles

⚔ Pre-Industrial Battles ☍ See the page
  • Salamis
  • Cape Ecnomus
  • Actium
  • Red Cliffs
  • Battle of the Masts
  • Yamen
  • Lake Poyang
  • Lepanto
  • Vyborg Bay
  • Svensksund
  • Trafalgar
  • Sinope
⚔ Industrial Era Battles ☍ See the page
⚔ WW1 Naval Battles ☍ See the Page
⚔ WW2 Naval Battles ☍ See the Page

⚔ Crimean War

Austrian Navy ☍ See the page
French Navy ☍ See the page
    Screw Ships of the Line
  • Navarin class (1854)
  • Duquesne class (1853)
  • Fleurus class (1853)
  • Montebello (1852)
  • Austerlitz (1852)
  • Jean Bart (1852)
  • Charlemagne (1851)
  • Napoleon (1850)
  • Sailing Ships of the Line
  • Valmy (1847)
  • Ocean class (1805)
  • Hercules class (1836)
  • Iéna class (1814)
  • Jupiter (1831)
  • Duperré (1840)
  • Screw Frigates
  • Pomone (1845)
  • Isly (1849)
  • Bellone (1853)
  • D’Assas class (1854)
  • Screw Corvettes
  • Primauguet class (1852)
  • Roland (1850)
Royal Navy ☍ See the page
  • Duke of Wellington
  • Conqueror (1855)
  • Marlborough (1855)
  • Royal Albert (1854)
  • St Jean D’Acre (1853)
  • Waterloo (1833
  • Sailing ships of the Line
  • Sailing Frigates
  • Sailing Corvettes
  • Screw two deckers
  • Screw frigates
  • Screw Corvettes
  • Screw guard ships
  • Paddle frigates
  • Paddle corvettes
  • Screw sloops
  • Paddle sloops
  • Screw gunboats
  • Brigs

⚑ 1870 Fleets

Spanish Navy 1870 Armada Espanola ☍ See the Page
  • Numancia (1863)
  • Tetuan (1863)
  • Vitoria (1865)
  • Arapiles (1864)
  • Zaragosa (1867)
  • Sagunto (1869)
  • Mendez Nunez (1869)
  • Spanish wooden s. frigates (1861-65)
  • Frigate Tornado (1865)
  • Frigate Maria de Molina (1868)
  • Spanish sail gunboats (1861-65)
Austro-Hungarian Navy 1870 K.u.K. Kriegsmarine
Danish Navy 1870 Dansk Marine
  • Dannebrog (1863)
  • Peder Skram (1864)
  • Danmark (1864)
  • Rolf Krake (1864)
  • Lindormen (1868)

  • Jylland CR (1860)
  • Tordenskjold CR (1862)
  • Dagmar SP (1861)
  • Absalon class GB (1862)
  • Fylla class GB (1863)
Hellenic Navy 1870 Nautiko Hellenon
  • Basileos Giorgios (1867)
  • Basilisa Olga (1869)
  • Sloop Hellas (1861)
Koninklije Marine 1870 Koninklije Marine 1870
  • Dutch Screw Frigates & corvettes
  • De Ruyter Bd Ironclad (1863)
  • Prins H. der Neth. Turret ship (1866)
  • Buffel class turret rams (1868)
  • Skorpioen class turret rams (1868)
  • Heiligerlee class Monitors (1868)
  • Bloedhond class Monitors (1869)
  • Adder class Monitors (1870)
  • A.H.Van Nassau Frigate (1861)
  • A.Paulowna Frigate (1867)
  • Djambi class corvettes (1860)
  • Amstel class Gunboats (1860)
Marine Française 1870 Marine Nationale ☍ See the Page
  • Screw 3-deckers (1850-58)
  • Screw 2-deckers (1852-59)
  • Screw Frigates (1849-59)
  • Conv. sailing frigates
  • Screw Corvettes (1846-59)
  • Screw Fl. Batteries (1855)
  • Paddle Frigates
  • Paddle Corvettes
  • screw sloops
  • screw gunboats
  • Sailing ships of the line
  • Sailing frigates
  • Sailing corvettes
  • Sailing bricks


  • Gloire class Bd. Ironclads (1859)
  • Couronne Bd. Ironclad (1861)
  • Magenta class Bd. Ironclads (1861)
  • Palestro class Flt. Batteries (1862)
  • Arrogante class Flt. Batteries (1864)
  • Provence class Bd. Ironclads (1864)
  • Embuscade class Flt. Batteries (1865)
  • Taureau arm. ram (1865)
  • Belliqueuse Bd. Ironclad (1865)
  • Alma Cent. Bat. Ironclads (1867)
  • Ocean class CT Battery ship (1868)


  • Cosmao class cruisers (1861)
  • Talisman cruisers (1862)
  • Resolue cruisers (1863)
  • Venus class cruisers (1864)
  • Decres cruiser (1866)
  • Desaix cruiser (1866)
  • Limier class cruisers (1867)
  • Linois cruiser (1867)
  • Chateaurenault cruiser (1868)
  • Infernet class Cruisers (1869)
  • Bourayne class Cruisers (1869)
  • Cruiser Hirondelle (1869)

  • Curieux class sloops (1860)
  • Adonis class sloops (1863)
  • Guichen class sloops (1865)
  • Sloop Renard (1866)
  • Bruix class sloops (1867)
  • Pique class gunboats (1862)
  • Hache class gunboats (1862)
  • Arbalete class gunboats (1866)
  • Etendard class gunboats (1868)
  • Revolver class gunboats (1869)
Marinha do Brasil 1870 Marinha do Brasil
  • Barrozo class (1864)
  • Brasil (1864)
  • Tamandare (1865)
  • Lima Barros (1865)
  • Rio de Janeiro (1865)
  • Silvado (1866)
  • Mariz E Barros class (1866)
  • Carbal class (1866)
Turkish Ottoman navy 1870 Osmanlı Donanması
  • Osmanieh class Bd.Ironclads (1864)
  • Assari Tewfik (1868)
  • Assari Shevket class Ct. Ironclads (1868)
  • Lufti Djelil class CDS (1868)
  • Avni Illah class cas.ironclads (1869)
  • Fethi Bulend class cas.ironclads (1870)
  • Barbette ironclad Idjalleh (1870)
  • Messudieh class Ct.Bat.ships (1874)
  • Hamidieh Ct.Bat.Ironclads (1885)
  • Abdul Kadir Battleships (project)

  • Frigate Ertrogul (1863)
  • Selimieh (1865)
  • Rehberi Tewkik (1875)
  • Mehmet Selim (1876)
  • Sloops & despatch vessels
Turkish Ottoman navy 1870 Marina Do Peru
  • Monitor Atahualpa (1865)
  • CT. Bat Independencia (1865)
  • Turret ship Huascar (1865)
  • Frigate Apurimac (1855)
  • Corvette America (1865)
  • Corvette Union (1865)
Portuguese Navy 1870 Marinha do Portugal
  • Bartolomeu Dias class (28-guns) steam frigates
  • Sagris (14 guns) steam corvette
  • Vasco Da Gama (74 guns) Ship of the Line
  • Dom Fernando I e Gloria (50) Sailing Frigate
  • Dom Joao I class (14 guns) Sailing corvettes
  • Portuguese Side-wheel steamers
Regia Marina 1870 Regia Marina 1870
Imperial Japanese navy 1870 Nihhon Kaigun 1870
  • Ironclad Ruyjo (1868)
  • Ironclad Kotetsu (1868)
  • Frigate Fujiyama (1864)
  • Frigate Kasuga (1863)
  • Corvette Asama (1869)
  • Gunboat Raiden (1856)
  • Gunboat Chiyodogata (1863)
  • Teibo class GB (1866)
  • Gunboat Mushun (1865)
  • Gunboat Hosho (1868)
Prussian Navy 1870 Preußische Marine 1870
  • Prinz Adalbert (1864)
  • Arminius (1864)
  • Friedrich Carl (1867)
  • Kronprinz (1867)
  • K.Whilhelm (1868)
  • Arcona class Frigates (1858)
  • Nymphe class Frigates (1863)
  • Augusta class Frigates (1864)
  • Jäger class gunboats (1860)
  • Chamaleon class gunboats (1860)
Russian mperial Navy 1870 Russkiy Flot 1870
  • Ironclad Sevastopol (1864)
  • Ironclad Petropavlovsk (1864)
  • Ironclad Smerch (1864)
  • Pervenetz class (1863)
  • Charodeika class (1867)
  • Admiral Lazarev class (1867)
  • Ironclad Kniaz Pojarski (1867)
  • Bronenosetz class monitors (1867)
  • Admiral Chichagov class (1868)
  • S3D Imperator Nicolai I (1860)
  • S3D Sinop (1860)
  • S3D Tsessarevich (1860)
  • Russian screw two-deckers (1856-59)
  • Russian screw frigates (1854-61)
  • Russian screw corvettes (1856-60)
  • Russian screw sloops (1856-60)
  • Varyag class Corvettes (1862)
  • Almaz class Sloops (1861)
  • Opyt TGBT (1861)
  • Sobol class TGBT (1863)
  • Pishtchal class TGBT (1866)
Swedish Navy 1870 Svenska marinen
  • Ericsson class monitors (1865)
  • Frigate Karl XIV (1854)
  • Frigate Stockholm (1856)
  • Corvette Gefle (1848)
  • Corvette Orädd (1853)
Norwegian Navy 1870 Søværnet
  • Skorpionen class (1866)
  • Frigate Stolaf (1856)
  • Frigate Kong Sverre (1860)
  • Frigate Nordstjerna (1862)
  • Frigate Vanadis (1862)
  • Glommen class gunboats (1863)
Union Union Navy ☍ See the Page
Confederate Confederate Navy ☍ See the Page
Union 'Old Navy'(1865-1885) ☍ See the Page
  • Dunderberg Bd Ironclad (1865)
  • Wampanoag class frigates (1864)
  • Frigate Chattanooga & Idaho (1864)
  • Frigate Idaho (1864)
  • Java class frigates (1865)
  • Contookook class frigates (1865)
  • Frigate Trenton (1876)
  • Swatara class sloops (1865)
  • Alaska class sloops (1868)
  • Galena class sloops (1873)
  • Enterprise class sloops (1874)
  • Alert class sloops (1873)
  • Alarm torpedo ram (1873)
  • Intrepid torpedo ram (1874)

⚑ 1890 Fleets

Argentinian Navy 1898 Armada de Argentina
  • Parana class (1873)
  • La Plata class (1875)
  • Pilcomayo class (1875)
  • Ferre class (1880)
Austro-Hungarian Navy 1898 K.u.K. Kriegsmarine
  • Custoza (1872)
  • Erzherzog Albrecht (1872)
  • Kaiser (1871)
  • Kaiser Max class (1875)
  • Tegetthoff (1878)

  • Radetzky(ii) class (1872)
  • SMS Donau(ii) (1874)
  • SMS Donau(iii) (1893)

  • Erzherzog Friedrich class (1878)
  • Saida (1878)
  • Fasana (1870)
  • Aurora class (1873)
Chinese Imperial Navy 1898 Imperial Chinese Navy
  • Hai An class frigates (1872)
Danish Navy 1898 Dansk Marine
  • Tordenskjold (1880)
  • Iver Hvitfeldt (1886)
  • Skjold (1896)
  • Cruiser Fyen (1882)
  • Cruiser Valkyrien (1888)
Hellenic Navy 1898 Nautiko Hellenon
  • Spetsai class (1889)
  • Nauarchos Miaoulis (1889)
  • Greek Torpedo Boats (1881-85)
  • Greek Gunboats (1861-84)
Haitian Navy 1914Marine Haitienne
  • Gunboat St Michael (1970)
  • Gunboat "1804" (1875)
  • Gunboat Dessalines (1883)
  • Gunboat Toussaint Louverture (1886)
Koninklije Marine 1898 Koninklije Marine
  • Konigin der Netherland (1874)
  • Draak, monitor (1877)
  • Matador, monitor (1878)
  • R. Claeszen, monitor (1891)
  • Evertsen class CDS (1894)
  • Atjeh class cruisers (1876)
  • Cruiser Sumatra (1890)
  • Cruiser K.W. Der. Neth (1892)
  • Banda class Gunboats (1872)
  • Pontania class Gunboats (1873)
  • Gunboat Aruba (1873)
  • Hydra Gunboat class (1873)
  • Batavia class Gunboats (1877)
  • Wodan Gunboat class (1877)
  • Ceram class Gunboats (1887)
  • Combok class Gunboats (1891)
  • Borneo Gunboat (1892)
  • Nias class Gunboats (1895)
  • Koetei class Gunboats (1898)
  • Dutch sloops (1864-85)
Marine Française 1898 Marine Nationale ☍ See the Page
  • Friedland CT Battery ship (1873)
  • Richelieu CT Battery ship (1873)
  • Colbert class CT Battery ships (1875)
  • Redoutable CT Battery ship (1876)
  • Courbet class CT Battery ships (1879)
  • Amiral Duperre barbette ship (1879)
  • Terrible class barbette ships (1883)
  • Amiral Baudin class barbette ships (1883)
  • Barbette ship Hoche (1886)
  • Marceau class barbette ships (1888)

  • Cerbere class Arm.Ram (1870)
  • Tonnerre class Br.Monitors (1875)
  • Tempete class Br.Monitors (1876)
  • Tonnant ironclad (1880)
  • Furieux ironclad (1883)
  • Fusee class Arm.Gunboats (1885)
  • Acheron class Arm.Gunboats (1885)
  • Jemmapes class (1892)
  • Bouvines class (1892)

  • La Galissonière Cent. Bat. Ironclads (1872)
  • Bayard class barbette ships (1879)
  • Vauban class barbette ships (1882)
  • Prot. Cruiser Sfax (1884)
  • Prot. Cruiser Tage (1886)
  • Prot. Cruiser Amiral Cécille (1888)
  • Prot. Cruiser Davout (1889)
  • Forbin class Cruisers (1888)
  • Troude class Cruisers (1888)
  • Alger class Cruisers (1891)
  • Friant class Cruisers (1893)
  • Prot. Cruiser Suchet (1893)
  • Descartes class Cruisers (1893)
  • Linois class Cruisers (1896)
  • D'Assas class Cruisers (1896)
  • Catinat class Cruisers (1896)

  • R. de Genouilly class Cruisers (1876)
  • Cruiser Duquesne (1876)
  • Cruiser Tourville (1876)
  • Cruiser Duguay-Trouin (1877)
  • Laperouse class Cruisers (1877)
  • Villars class Cruisers (1879)
  • Cruiser Iphigenie (1881)
  • Cruiser Naiade (1881)
  • Cruiser Arethuse (1882)
  • Cruiser Dubourdieu (1884)
  • Cruiser Milan (1884)

  • Parseval class sloops (1876)
  • Bisson class sloops (1874)
  • Epee class gunboats (1873)
  • Crocodile class gunboats (1874)
  • Tromblon class gunboats (1875)
  • Condor class Torpedo Cruisers (1885)
  • G. Charmes class gunboats (1886)
  • Inconstant class sloops (1887)
  • Bombe class Torpedo Cruisers (1887)
  • Wattignies class Torpedo Cruisers (1891)
  • Levrier class Torpedo Cruisers (1891)
Marinha do Brasil 1898 Marinha do Brasil
Marinha do Portugal 1898 Marinha do Portugal
Marina de Mexico 1898 Mexico
  • GB Indipendencia (1874)
  • GB Democrata (1875)
Turkish Ottoman navy 1898 Osmanlı Donanması
  • Cruiser Heibtnuma (1890)
  • Cruiser Lufti Humayun (1892)
  • Cruiser Hadevendighar (1892)
  • Shadieh class cruisers (1893)
  • Turkish TBs (1885-94)
Regia Marina 1898 Regia Marina
  • Pr. Amadeo class (1871)
  • Caio Duilio class (1879)
  • Italia class (1885)
  • Ruggero di Lauria class (1884)
  • Carracciolo (1869)
  • Vettor Pisani (1869)
  • Cristoforo Colombo (1875)
  • Flavio Goia (1881)
  • Amerigo Vespucci (1882)
  • C. Colombo (ii) (1892)
  • Pietro Micca (1876)
  • Tripoli (1886)
  • Goito class (1887)
  • Folgore class (1887)
  • Partenope class (1889)
  • Giovanni Bausan (1883)
  • Etna class (1885)
  • Dogali (1885)
  • Piemonte (1888)
  • Staffeta (1876)
  • Rapido (1876)
  • Barbarigo class (1879)
  • Messagero (1885)
  • Archimede class (1887)
  • Guardiano class GB (1874)
  • Scilla class GB (1874)
  • Provana class GB (1884)
  • Curtatone class GB (1887)
  • Castore class GB (1888)
Imperial Japanese navy 1898 Nihhon Kaigun
  • Ironclad Fuso (1877)
  • Kongo class Ironclads (1877)

  • Cruiser Tsukushi (1880)
  • Cruiser Takao (1888)
  • Cruiser Yaeyama (1889)
  • Cruiser Chishima (1890)
  • Cruiser Tatsuta (1894)
  • Cruiser Miyako (1898)

  • Frigate Nisshin (1869)
  • Frigate Tsukuba (acq.1870)
  • Kaimon class CVT (1882)
  • Katsuragi class SCVT (1885)
  • Sloop Seiki (1875)
  • Sloop Amagi (1877)
  • Corvette Jingei (1876)
  • Gunboat Banjo (1878)
  • Maya class GB (1886)
  • Gunboat Oshima (1891)
German Navy 1898 Kaiserliche Marine
  • Ironclad Hansa (1872)
  • G.Kurfürst class (1873)
  • Kaiser class (1874)
  • Sachsen class (1877)
  • Ironclad Oldenburg (1884)

  • Ariadne class CVT (1871)
  • Leipzig class CVT (1875)
  • Bismarck class CVT (1877)
  • Carola class CVT (1880)
  • Corvette Nixe (1885)
  • Corvette Charlotte (1885)
  • Schwalbe class Cruisers (1887)
  • Bussard class (1890)

  • Aviso Zieten (1876)
  • Blitz class Avisos (1882)
  • Aviso Greif (1886)
  • Wacht class Avisos (1887)
  • Meteor class Avisos (1890)
  • Albatross class GBT (1871)
  • Cyclop GBT (1874)
  • Otter GBT (1877)
  • Wolf class GBT (1878)
  • Habitch class GBT (1879)
  • Hay GBT (1881)
  • Eber GBT (1881)
  • Rhein class Monitors (1872)
  • Wespe class Monitors (1876)
  • Brummer class Arm.Steamers (1884)
Russian Imperial Navy 1898 Russkiy Flot
Marina do Peru Marina Do Peru
  • Lima class Cruisers (1880)
  • Chilean TBs (1879)
Swedish Navy 1898 Svenska Marinen
Norwegian Navy 1898 Søværnet
  • Lindormen (1868)
  • Gorm (1870)
  • Odin (1872)
  • Helgoland (1878)
  • Tordenskjold (1880)
  • Iver Hvitfeldt (1886)
Royal Navy 1898 Royal Navy 1898
  • Hotspur (1870)
  • Glatton (1871)
  • Devastation class (1871)
  • Cyclops class (1871)
  • Rupert (1874)
  • Neptune class (1874)
  • Dreadnought (1875)
  • Inflexible (1876)
  • Agamemnon class (1879)
  • Conqueror class (1881)
  • Colossus class (1882)
  • Admiral class (1882)
  • Trafalgar class (1887)
  • Victoria class (1890)
  • Royal Sovereign class (1891)
  • Centurion class (1892)
  • Renown (1895)

  • HMS Shannon (1875)
  • Nelson class (1876)
  • Iris class (1877)
  • Leander class (1882)
  • Imperieuse class (1883)
  • Mersey class (1885)
  • Surprise class (1885)
  • Scout class (1885)
  • Archer class (1885)
  • Orlando class (1886)
  • Medea class (1888)
  • Barracouta class (1889)
  • Barham class (1889)
  • Pearl class (1889)
  • 1870-90 Torpedo Boats
  • Spanish Navy 1898 Armada 1898
    • Ironclad Pelayo (1887)

    • Aragon class (1879)
    • Velasco class (1881)
    • Isla de Luzon (1886)
    • Alfonso XII class (1887)
    • Reina Regentes class (1887)
    • Infanta Maria Teresa class (1890)
    • Emperador Carlos V (1895)
    • Cristobal Colon (1896)
    • Princesa de Asturias class (1896)

    • Destructor class (1886)
    • Temerario class (1891)
    • TGunboat Filipinas (1892)
    • De Molina class (1896)
    • Furor class (1896)
    • Audaz class (1897)
    • Spanish TBs (1878-87)
    • Fernando class gunboats (1875)
    • Concha class gunboats (1883)
    US Navy 1898 1898 US Navy US Navy 1898☍ See the Page
    • USS Maine (1889)
    • USS Texas (1892)
    • Indiana class (1893)
    • USS Iowa (1896)

    • Amphitrite class (1876)
    • USS Puritan (1882)
    • USS Monterey (1891)

    • Atlanta class (1884)
    • USS Chicago (1885)
    • USS Charleston (1888)
    • USS Baltimore (1888)
    • USS Philadelphia (1889)
    • USS San Francisco (1889)
    • USS Newark (1890)
    • USS New York (1891)
    • USS Olympia (1892)
    • Cincinatti class (1892)
    • Montgomery class (1893)
    • Columbia class (1893)
    • USS Brooklyn (1895)

    • USS Vesuvius (1888)
    • USS Katahdin (1893)
    • USN Torpedo Boats (1886-1901)
    • GB USS Dolphin (1884)
    • Yorktown class GB (1888)
    • GB USS Petrel (1888)
    • GB USS Bancroft (1892)
    • Machias class GB (1891)
    • GB USS Nashville (1895)
    • Wilmington class GB (1895)
    • Annapolis class GB (1896)
    • Wheeling class GB (1897)
    • Small gunboats (1886-95)
    • St Louis class AMC (1894)
    • Harvard class AMC (1888)
    • USN Armoured Merchant Cruisers
    • USN Armed Yachts

    WW1

    ☉ Entente Fleets

    US ww1 US Navy ☍ See the Page
    British ww1 Royal Navy ☍ See the Page
    French ww1 Marine Nationale ☍ See the Page
    Japan ww1 Nihhon Kaigun ☍ See the Page
    Russia ww1 Russkiy Flot ☍ See the Page
    Italy ww1 Regia Marina

    ✠ Central Empires

    German Navy 1914 Kaiserliche Marine
    austria-hungary ww1 KuK Kriesgmarine
    turkey ww1 Osmanli Donmanasi
    • Barbarossa class battleships (1892)
    • Yavuz (1914)
    • Cruiser Mecidieh (1903)
    • Cruiser Hamidieh (1903)
    • Cruiser Midilli (1914)
    • Namet Torpedo cruisers (1890)
    • Sahahani Deria Torpedo cruisers (1892)
    • Destroyers class Berk-Efshan (1894)
    • Destroyers class Yarishar (1907)
    • Destroyers class Muavenet (1909)
    • Berk i Savket class Torpedo gunboats (1906)
    • Marmaris gunboat (1903)
    • Sedd ul Bahr class gunboats (1907)
    • Isa Reis class gunboats (1911)
    • Preveze class gunboats (1912)
    • Turkish WW1 Torpedo Boats
    • Turkish Armed Yachts (1861-1903)
    • Turkish WW1 Minelayers

    ⚑ Neutral Countries

    Americas
    Argentinian navy Argentina
    Brazilian Navy Brazil
    Chilean Navy 1914 Chile
    Cuban Navy 1914 Cuba
    • Gunboat Baire (1906)
    • Gunboat Patria (1911)
    • Diez de octubre class GB (1911)
    • Sloop Cuba (1911)
    Haitian Navy 1914 Haiti
    • Gunboat Dessalines (1883)
    • GB Toussaint Louverture (1886)
    • GB Capois la Mort (1893)
    • GB Crete a Pierot (1895)
    Mexican Navy Mexico
    • Cruiser Zatagosa (1891)
    • GB Plan de Guadalupe (1892)
    • Tampico class GB (1902)
    • N. Bravo class GB (1903)
    Peruvian Navy 1914 Peru
    • Almirante Grau class (1906)
    • Ferre class subs. (1912)
    Europe
    Bulgarian Navy Bulgaria
    • Cruiser Nadezhda (1898)
    • Drski class TBs (1906)
    Danish Navy 1914 Denmark
    • Skjold class (1896)
    • Herluf Trolle class (1899)
    • Herluf Trolle (1908)
    • Niels Iuel (1918)
    • Hekla class cruisers (1890)
    • Valkyrien class cruisers (1888)
    • Fyen class crusiers (1882)
    • Danish TBs (1879-1918)
    • Danish Submarines (1909-1920)
    • Danish Minelayer/sweepers
    Greek Royal Navy Greece
    Dutch Empire Navy 1914 Netherlands
    • Eversten class (1894)
    • Konigin Regentes class (1900)
    • De Zeven Provincien (1909)
    • Dutch dreadnought (project)
    • Holland class cruisers (1896)
    • Fret class destroyers
    • Dutch Torpedo boats
    • Dutch gunboats
    • Dutch submarines
    • Dutch minelayers
    Norwegian Navy 1914 Norway
    • Haarfarge class (1897)
    • Norge class (1900)
    • Norwegian Monitors
    • Cr. Frithjof (1895)
    • Cr. Viking (1891)
    • DD Draug (1908)
    • Norwegian ww1 TBs
    • Norwegian ww1 Gunboats
    • Sub. Kobben (1909)
    • Ml. Fröya (1916)
    • Ml. Glommen (1917)
    Portuguese navy 1914 Portugal
    • Coastal Battleship Vasco da Gama (1875)
    • Cruiser Adamastor (1896)
    • Sao Gabriel class (1898)
    • Cruiser Dom Carlos I (1898)
    • Cruiser Rainha Dona Amelia (1899)
    • Portuguese ww1 Destroyers
    • Portuguese ww1 Submersibles
    • Portuguese ww1 Gunboats
    Romanian Navy 1914 Romania
    Spanish Armada Spain
    Swedish Navy 1914 Sweden
    Asia
    Chinese navy 1914 China
    Thai Empire Navy 1914 Thailand
    • Maha Chakri (1892)
    • Thoon Kramon (1866)
    • Makrut Rajakumarn (1883)

    ⚏ WW1 3rd/4th rank navies

    ✈ WW1 Naval Aviation

    US naval aviation USN
    • Boeing model 2/3/5 (1916)
    • Aeromarine 39 (1917)
    • Curtiss H (1917)
    • Curtiss F5L (1918)
    • Curtiss VE-7 (1918)
    • Curtiss NC (1918)
    • Curtiss NC4 (1918)
    RNAS RNAS
    • Short 184 (1915)
    • Fairey Campania (1917)
    • Felixtowe F2 (1916)
    • Felixtowe F3 (1917)
    • Felixtowe F5 (1918)
    • Sopwith Baby (1917)
    • Fairey Hamble Baby (1917)
    • Fairey III (1918)
    • Short S38 (1912)
    • Short Admiralty Type 166 (1914)
    • Short Admiralty Type 184 (1915)

    • Blackburn Kangaroo
    • Sopwith 1-1/2 Strutter
    • Sopwith Pup
    • Sopwith Cuckoo 1918
    • Royal Aircraft Factory Airships
    German Imperial naval aviation Marineflieger
    • Albatros W.4 (1916)
    • Albatros W.8 (1918)
    • Friedrichshafen Models
    • Gotha WD.1-27 (1918)
    • Hansa-Brandenburg series
    • L.F.G V.19 Stralsund (1918)
    • L.F.G W (1916)
    • L.F.G WD (1917)
    • Lübeck-Travemünde (1914)
    • Oertz W series (1914)
    • Rumpler 4B (1914)
    • Sablatnig SF (1916)
    • Zeppelin-Lindau Rs series
    • Kaiserlichesmarine Zeppelins
    French naval aviation French Naval Aviation
    • Borel Type Bo.11 (1911)
    • Nieuport VI.H (1912)
    • Nieuport X.H (1913)
    • Donnet-Leveque (1913)
    • FBA-Leveque (1913)
    • FBA (1913)
    • Donnet-Denhaut (1915)
    • Borel-Odier Type Bo-T(1916)
    • Levy G.L.40 (1917)
    • Blériot-SPAD S.XIV (1917)
    • Hanriot HD.2 (1918)
    • Zodiac Airships
    Italian naval aviation Italian Naval Aviation
    • Ansaldo SVA Idro (1916)
    • Ansaldo Baby Idro (1915)
    • Macchi M3 (1916)
    • Macchi M5 (1918)
    • SIAI S.12 (1918)
    Russian naval aviation Russian Naval Aviation
    • Grigorovich M-5 (1915)
    • Grigorovich M-9 (1916)
    • Grigorovich M-11 (1916)
    • Grigorovich M-15 (1916)
    • Grigorovich M-16 (1916)
    • Grigorovich M-16 (1916)
    ✠ K.u.K. SeeFliegkorps
    • Lohner E (1914)
    • Lohner L (1915)
    • Oeffag G (1916)
    IJN Aviation IJN Air Service
    • IJN Farman 1914
    • Yokosho Rogou Kougata (1917)
    • Yokosuka Igo-Ko (1920)

    WW2

    ✪ Allied ww2 Fleets

    US ww2 US Navy
    British ww2 Royal Navy ☍ See the Page
    French ww2 Marine Nationale ☍ See the Page
    Soviet ww2 Sovietskiy Flot ☍ See the Page
    Royal Canadian Navy Royal Canadian Navy ☍ See the Page
    Royal Australian Navy Royal Australian Navy ☍ See the Page
    Koninklije Marine, Dutch Navy ww2 Dutch Navy ☍ See the Page
    Chinese Navy Chinese Navy 1937 ☍ See the Page

    ✙ Axis ww2 Fleets

    Japan ww2 Imperial Japanese Navy ☍ See the Page
    italy ww2 Regia Marina ☍ See the Page
    German ww2 Kriegsmarine ☍ See the Page

    ⚑ Neutral Navies

    Armada de Argentina Argentinian Navy ☍ See the Page
    Marinha do Brasil Brazilian Navy ☍ See the Page
    Armada de Chile Chilean Navy ☍ See the Page
    Søværnet Danish Navy ☍ See the Page
    • Niels Iuel (1918)
    • Danish ww2 Torpedo-Boats
    • Danish ww2 submarines
    • Danish ww2 minelayer/sweepers
    Merivoimat Finnish Navy ☍ See the Page
    Hellenic Navy Hellenic Navy ☍ See the Page
    • Greek ww2 Destroyers
    • Greek ww2 submarines
    • Greek ww2 minelayers
    Marynarka Vojenna Polish Navy ☍ See the Page
    • Cruiser ORP Dragon
    • Cruiser ORP Conrad
    • Brislawicka class Destroyers
    • Witcher ww2 Destroyers
    • Minelayer Gryf
    • Wilk class sub.
    • Orzel class sub.
    • Jakolska class minesweepers
    • Polish Monitors
    Portuguese navy ww2 Portuguese Navy ☍ See the Page
    • Douro class DDs
    • Delfim class sub
    • Velho class gb
    • Albuquerque class gb
    • Nunes class sloops
    Romanian Navy Romanian Navy ☍ See the Page
    • Romanian ww2 Destroyers
    • Romanian ww2 Submarines
    Royal Norwegian Navy Sjøforsvaret ☍ See the Page
    • Norwegian ww2 Torpedo-Boats
    Spanish Armada Spanish Armada ☍ See the Page
    Svenska Marinen Svenska Marinen ☍ See the Page
    • Sverige class CBBs (1915)
    • Gustav V class CBBs (1918)
    • Interwar Swedish CBB projects

    • Tre Kronor class (1943)
    • Gotland (1933)
    • Fylgia (1905)

    • Ehrernskjold class DDs (1926)
    • Psilander class DDs (1926)
    • Klas Horn class DDs (1931)
    • Romulus class DDs (1934)
    • Göteborg class DDs (1935)
    • Mode class DDs (1942)
    • Visby class DDs (1942)
    • Öland class DDs (1945)

    • Swedish ww2 TBs
    • Swedish ww2 Submarines
    • Swedish ww2 Minelayers
    • Swedish ww2 MTBs
    • Swedish ww2 Patrol Vessels
    • Swedish ww2 Minesweepers
    Türk Donanmasi Turkish Navy ☍ See the Page
    • Kocatepe class Destroyers
    • Tinaztepe class Destroyers
    • İnönü class submarines
    • Submarine Dumplumpynar
    • Submarine Sakarya
    • Submarine Gur
    • Submarine Batiray
    • Atilay class submarines
    Royal Yugoslav Navy Royal Yugoslav Navy ☍ See the Page
    • Cruiser Dalmacija
    • Dubrovnik class DDs
    • Beograd class DDs
    • Osvetnik class subs
    • Hrabi class subs
    • Gunboat Beli Orao
    Royal Thai Navy Royal Thai Navy ☍ See the Page
    • Taksin class
    • Ratanakosindra class
    • Sri Ayuthia class
    • Puket class
    • Tachin class
    • Sinsamudar class sub
    minor navies Minor Navies ☍ See the Page

    ✈ Naval Aviation

    Latest entries | WW1 | Cold War
    US naval aviation USN aviation ☍ See the Page
    Fleet Air Arm ☍ See the Page
    IJN aviation ☍ See the Page
    • Mitsubishi 1MF (1923)
    • Nakajima A1N (1930)
    • Nakajima A2N (1932)
    • Mitsubishi A5M "Claude" (1935)
    • Nakajima A4N (1935)
    • Mitsubishi A6M "zeke" (1940)
    • Nakajima J1N Gekko "Irving" (1941)
    • Mitsubishi J2M Raiden "Jack" (1942)
    • Kawanishi N1K-J Shiden "George" (1942)
    • Nakajima J5N Tenrai (1944)

    • Aichi S1A Denko* (1944)
    • Mitsubishi A7M reppu* (1944)
    • Mitsubishi J8M1 Shusui* (1945)
    • Mitsubishi J8M2 Shusui-kai* (1945)
    • Kyushu J7W Shinden* (1945)
    • Nakajima J9Y Kikka* (1945)

    • Mitsubishi 1MT (1922)
    • Mitsubishi B1M (1923)
    • Mitsubishi B2M (1932)
    • Kugisho B3Y (1932)
    • Aichi D1A "Susie" (1934)
    • Yokosuka B4Y "Jean" (1935)
    • Mitsubishi B5M "Mabel" (1937)
    • Nakajima B5N "Kate" (1937)
    • Aichi D3A "Val" (1940)
    • Nakajima B6N "Jill" (1941)
    • Aichi B7A "Grace" (1942)
    • Nakajima C6N Saiun "Myrt" (1942)
    • Yokosuka D4Y "Judy" (1942)
    • Yokosuka MXY-7 "Baka" (1944)

    • Mitsubishi G3M "Nell" (1935)
    • Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" (1941)
    • Kawanishi P1Y Ginga "Frances" (1943)
    • Kyushu Q1W Tokai "Lorna" (1943)
    • Tachikawa Ki-74 "Patsy" (1944)
    • Nakajima G8N Renzan "Rita" (1944)

    • Mitsubishi K3M "Pine" (1930)
    • Nakajima C2N1 (1931)
    • Yokosuka K5Y1 "Willow" (1933)
    • Nakajima L1N1 (1937)
    • Kawanishi H6K2/4-L (1938)
    • Kyushu K10W1 "Oak" (1941)
    • Kyushu K11W1 Shiragiku (1942)
    • Mitsubishi L4M1 (1942)
    • Nakajima G5N Shinzan "Liz" (1942)
    • Yokosuka L3Y "Tina" (1942)
    • Kyushu Q1W1-K "Lorna"(1943)
    • Aichi M6A1-K Nanzan (1943)
    • Yokosuka MXY-7K-1 "Kai" (1944)
    • Yokosuka MXY-8 Akigusa (1945)

    • Hiro H1H (1926)
    • Yokosuka E1Y (1926)
    • Nakajima E2N (1927)
    • Aichi E3A (1929)
    • Yokosuka K4Y (1930)
    • Nakajima E4N (1931)
    • Nakajima E8N "Dave" (1935)
    • Kawanishi E7K "Alf" (1935)
    • Kawanishi E11K1 (1937)
    • Aichi E11A "Laura" (1938)
    • Watanabe E9W (1938)
    • Watanabe K8W* (1938)
    • Mitsubishi F1M "pete" (1941)
    • Nakajima E14Y "Glen" (1941)
    • Aichi E13A "Jake" (1941)
    • Aichi H9A (1942)
    • Nakajima A6M2-N (1942)
    • Kawanishi E15K Shiun (1942)
    • Kawanishi N1K1 "Rex" (1943)
    • Aichi E16A "Zuiun" (1944)
    • Aichi M6A1 Seiran (1945)

    • Kawanishi E11K* (1937)
    • Kawanishi H6K "Mavis" (1938)
    • Kawanishi K6K* (1938)
    • Kawanishi H6K3 (1939)
    • Kawanishi K8K (1940)
    • Kawanishi H8K "Emily" (1942)
    • Yokosuka H5Y "Cherry" (1936)

    • Mitsubishi 2MR (1923)
    • Yokosho K1Y (1924)
    • Yokosuka K2Y (1928)
    • Mitsubishi K3M "Pine" (1930)
    • Hitachi LXG1 (1934)
    • Kyushu K10W "Oak" (1943)
    Italian Aviation ☍ See the Page
    French Aeronavale ☍ See the Page
    • Levasseur PL5/9 (1924)
    • Wibault 74 (1926)
    • CAMS 37 (1926)
    • Gourdou-Leseurre GL.300 series (1926-39)
    • Levasseur PL7 (1928)
    • Levasseur PL10 (1929)
    • Latécoere 290 (1931)
    • Breguet 521/22/23 (1931)
    • Leo H257 bis (1932)
    • Latécoere 300 series (1932)
    • Morane 226 (1934)
    • Dewoitine 376 (1934)
    • Latécoere 321 (1935)
    • Potez 452 (1935)
    • Latécoere 38.1 (1936)
    • Loire 210 (1936)
    • Leo H43 (1936)
    • Levasseur PL107 (1937)
    • Loire 130 (1937)
    • Dewoitine HD.730 (1938)
    • Latecoere 298 (1938)
    • LN 401 (1938)
    Soviet Naval Aviation
    Luftwaffe (Naval) ☍ See the Page
    • Arado 197 (1937)
    • Fieseler Fi-167 (1938)
    • Junkers Ju-87C (1938)
    • Messerschmitt Me 109T (1941)
    • Messerschmitt 155 (1944)

    • Heinkel HE 1 (1921)
    • Caspar U1 (1922)
    • Dornier Do J Wal (1922)
    • Dornier Do 16 ‘Wal’ (1923)
    • Heinkel HE 2 (1923)
    • Junkers A 20/Ju 20 (1923)
    • Rohrbach Ro II (1923)
    • Rohrbach Ro III (1924)
    • Dornier Do D (1924)
    • Dornier Do E (1924)
    • Junkers G 24 (1924)
    • Rohrbach Ro IV (1925)
    • Heinkel HD 14 (1925)
    • Heinkel HE 25 (1925)
    • Heinkel HE 26 (1925)
    • Heinkel HE 24 (1926)
    • Heinkel HE 4 (1926)
    • Junkers W 33/34 (1926)
    • Heinkel HE 5 (1926)
    • Rohrbach Ro VII Robbe (1926)
    • Rohrbach Ro V Rocco (1927)
    • Heinkel HE 31 (1927)
    • Heinkel HE 8 (1927)
    • Arado W II (1928)
    • Heinkel HD 9 (1928)
    • Heinkel HD 16 (1928)
    • Heinkel He 55 (1929)
    • Heinkel He 56 (1929)
    • Arado SSD I (1930)
    • Junkers Ju 52w (1930)
    • Heinkel HE 42 (1931)
    • Heinkel He 50 (1931)
    • Heinkel He 59 (1931)
    • Arado Ar 66 (1932)
    • Heinkel He 58 (1932)
    • Junkers Ju 46 (1932)
    • Klemm Kl 35bW (1932)
    • Heinkel He 62 (1932)
    • Heinkel He 60 (1933)
    • Heinkel He 51w (1933)
    • Arado Ar 95 (1937)
    • Arado Ar 196 (1937)
    • Arado Ar 199 (1939)
    • Blohm & Voss Ha 139 (1936)
    • Blohm & Voss BV 138 (1937)
    • Blohm & Voss Ha 140 (1937)
    • Blohm & Voss BV 222 (1938)
    • Blohm & Voss BV 238 (1942)
    • Dornier Do 24/318 (1937)
    • Dornier Do 18 (1935)
    • Dornier Do 26 (1938)
    • Dornier Do 22 (1938)
    • DFS Seeadler (1936)
    • Focke-Wulf Fw 58W (1935)
    • Focke-Wulf Fw 62 (1937)
    • Heinkel He 114 (1936)
    • Heinkel He 115 (1936)
    • Heinkel He 119 (1936)
    Dutch Naval Aviation
    • Fokker W.3 (1915)
    • Fokker T.II (1921)
    • Fokker B.I/III (1922)
    • Fokker B.II (1923)
    • Fokker T.III (1924)
    • Fokker T.IV (1927)
    • Fokker B.IV (1928)
    • Fokker C.VII W (1928)
    • Fokker C.VIII W (1929)
    • Fokker C.XI W (1934)
    • Fokker C.XIV-W (1937)
    • Fokker T.VIII-W (1939)

    ☢ The Cold War

    ☭ WARSAW PACT

    Sovietskaya Flota Sovietskiy flot ☍ See the Page
    Warsaw Pact cold war navy Warsaw Pact Navies ☍ See the Detail
    • Albania
    • Bulgaria
    • Czechoslovakia
    • Hungary
    • Volksmarine East Germany
    • Parchim class corvettes (1985)
    • Hai class sub-chasers (1958)
    • Volksmarine's minesweepers
    • Volksmarine's FAC
    • Volksmarine's Landing ships
    • ORP Warzsawa (1970)
    • ORP Kaszub (1986)
    • Polish Landing ships
    • Polish FACs
    • Polish Patrol ships
    • Polish Minesweepers
    • Missile Destroyer Muntenia (1982)
    • Tetal class Frigates (1981)
    • Romanian river patrol crafts

    ✦ NATO

    bundesmarine Bundesmarine ☍ See the Page
    Dutch Navy Danish Navy ☍ See the Page
    • Hvidbjornen class Frigates (1962)
    • Frigate Beskytteren (1976)
    • Peder Skram class Frigates (1965)
    • Thetis class frigates (1989)
    • Bellona class corvettes (1955)
    • Niels Juel class corvettes (1979)

    • Delfinen class submarines (1958)
    • Narhvalen class submarines (1970)

    • Bille class Torpedo Boats (1946)
    • Flyvefisken class Torpedo Boats (1954)
    • Falken class Torpedo Boats (1960)
    • Soloven class Torpedo Boats (1962)
    • Willemoes class FAC (1976)
    • Flyvefisken class FAC (1989)
    • Daphne class Patrol Boats (1960)
    • Danish Minelayers
    • Danish Minesweepers
    Dutch Navy Dutch Navy ☍ See the Page
    • CV Karel Doorman (1948)
    • De Zeven Provinciën class cruisers (1945)
    • Holland class DDs (1953)
    • Friesland class DDs (1953)
    • Roodfier class Frigates (1953)
    • Frigate Lynx (1954)
    • Van Speijk class Frigates (1965)
    • Tromp class Frigates (1973)
    • Kortenaer class frigates (1976)
    • Van H. class Frigates (1983)
    • K. Doorman class Frigates (1988)
    • Dolfijn clas sub. (1959)
    • Zwaardvis class subs. (1970)
    • Walrus class subs. (1985)
    • ATD Rotterdam (1990s)
    • Dokkum class minesweepers (1954)
    • Alkmaar class minesweepers (1982)
    Hellenic Navy Hellenic Navy ☍ See the Page
    • Hydra class FFs (1990)
    • Greek cold war Subs
    • Greek Amphibious ships
    • Greek MTBs/FACs
    • Greek Patrol Vessels
    Eire Irish Navy ☍ See the Page
    • Eithne class PBs (1983)
    • Cliona class PBs
    • Deidre/Emer class PBs
    • Orla class fast PBs
    Marina Militare Marina Militare ☍ See the Page
      Aircraft Carriers
    • Giuseppe Garibaldi (1983)
    • Conte di Cavour (2004)*
    • Trieste (2022)*
    • Cruisers
    • Missile cruiser Garibaldi (1960)
    • Doria class H. cruisers (1962)
    • Vittorio Veneto (1969)
    • Destroyers

    • Impetuoso class (1956)
    • Impavido class (1957)
    • Audace class (1971)
    • De La Penne class (1989)
    • Orizzonte class (2007)*
    • Frigates
    • Grecale class (1949)
    • Canopo class (1955)
    • Bergamini class (1960)
    • Alpino class (1967)
    • Lupo class (1976)
    • Maestrale class (1981)
    • Bergamini class (2013)*
    • Thaon di Revel class (2020)*
    • Corvettes (OPV)
    • Albatros class (1954)
    • De Cristofaro class (1965)
    • Minerva class (1987)
    • Cassiopeia class (1989)
    • Esploratore class (1997)*
    • Sirio class (2003)*
    • Commandanti class (2004)*
    • Submarines
    • Toti class (1967)
    • Sauro class (1976)
    • Pelosi class (1986)
    • Sauro class (1992)*
    • Todaro class (2006)*
    • Attack/Amphibious ships
    • San Giorgio LSD (1987)
    • Gorgona class CTS (1987)
    • Italian Landing Crafts (1947-2020)
    • Misc. ships
    • Folgore PB (1952)
    • Lampo class PBs (1960)
    • Freccia class PBs (1965)
    • Sparviero class GMHF (1973)
    • Stromboli class AOR (1975)
    • Anteo SRS (1980)
    • Etna class LSS (1988)
    • Vulcano AOR (1998)*
    • Elettra EWSS (2003)*
    • Etna AOR (2021)*
    • Mine warfare ships
    • Lerici class (1982)
    • Gaeta class (1992)*
    Marine Française Marine Nationale ☍ See the Page
      Battleships
    • Jean Bart (1949)
    • Aircraft/Helicopter carriers
    • Dixmude (1946)
    • Arromanches (1946)
    • Lafayette class light carriers (1954)
    • PA 28 class project (1947)
    • Clemenceau class (1957)
    • Jeanne d'Arc (1961)
    • PA 58 (1958)
    • PH 75/79 (1975)
    • Charles de Gaulle (1994)

    • Cruisers
    • De Grasse (1946)
    • Chateaurenault class (1950)
    • Colbert (1956)

    • Destroyers
    • Surcouf class (1953)
    • Duperre class (1956)
    • La Galissonniere class (1960)
    • Suffren class (1965)
    • Aconit (1970)
    • Tourville class (1972)
    • G. Leygues class (1976)
    • Cassard class (1985)

    • Frigates
    • Le Corse class (1952)
    • Le Normand class (1954)
    • Cdt Riviere class (1958)
    • Estiennes D'Orves class (1973)
    • Lafayette class (1990)

    • Corvettes
    • Estiennes D'Orves class (1973)
    • Floreal class (1990)

    • Submarines
    • La Creole class (1940)
    • Narval class (1954)
    • Arethuse class (1957)
    • Daphne class (1959)
    • Gymnote test SSBN (1964)
    • Le Redoutable SSBN (1967)
    • Agosta SSN (1974)
    • Rubis SSN (1979)
    • Amethyste SSN (1988)
    • Le Triomphant SSBN (started 1989)

    • Amphibian Ships
    • Issole (1958)
    • EDIC class (1958)
    • Trieux class (1958)
    • Ouragan lass (1963)
    • Champlain lass (1973)
    • Bougainville (1986)
    • Foudre class (1988)
    • CDIC lass (1989)

    • Misc. ships
    • Le Fougueux class (1958)
    • La Combattante class (1964)
    • Trident class (1976)
    • L'Audacieuse class (1984)
    • Grebe class (1989)
    • Sirius class (1952)
    • Circe class (1972)
    • Eridan class (1979)
    • Vulcain class (1986)
    RCAN RCAN ☍ See the Page
    • HCMS Bonaventure (1957)
    • St Laurent class DDE (1951)
    • Algonquin class DDE (1952)
    • Restigouche class DDs (1954)
    • Mackenzie class DDs (1961)
    • Annapolis class DDH (1963)
    • Iroquois class DDH (1970)

    • River (mod) 1955
    • Tribal class FFs (Pjct)
    • City class DDH (1988)

    • Ojibwa class sub. (1964)
    • Kingston class MCFV (1995)
    Royal Navy Royal Navy ☍ See the Page
    • Cold War Aircraft Carriers
    • Centaur class (1947)
    • HMS Victorious (1957)
    • HMS Eagle (1946)
    • HMS Ark Royal (1950)
    • HMS Hermes (1953)
    • CVA-01 class (1966 project)
    • Invincible class (1977)

    • Cold War Cruisers
    • Tiger class (1945)

    • Destroyers
    • Daring class (1949)
    • 1953 design (project)
    • Cavendish class (1944)
    • Weapon class (1945)
    • Battle class (1945)
    • FADEP program (1946)
    • County class GMD (1959)
    • Bristol class GMD (1969)
    • Sheffield class GMD (1971)
    • Manchester class GMD (1980)
    • Type 43 GMD (1974)

    • British cold-war Frigates
    • Rapid class (1942)
    • Tenacious class (1941)
    • Whitby class (1954)
    • Blackwood class (1953)
    • Leopard class (1954)
    • Salisbury class (1953)
    • Tribal class (1959)
    • Rothesay class (1957)
    • Leander class (1961)
    • BB Leander class (1967)
    • HMS Mermaid (1966)
    • Amazon class (1971)
    • Broadsword class (1976)
    • Boxer class (1981)
    • Cornwall class (1985)
    • Duke class (1987)

    • British cold war Submarines
    • T (conv.) class (1944)
    • T (Stream) class (1945)
    • A (Mod.) class (1944)
    • Explorer class (1954)
    • Strickleback class (1954)
    • Porpoise class (1956)
    • Oberon class (1959)
    • HMS Dreanought SSN (1960)
    • Valiant class SSN (1963)
    • Resolution class SSBN (1966)
    • Swiftsure class SSN (1971)
    • Trafalgar class SSN (1981)
    • Upholder class (1986)
    • Vanguard class SSBN (started)

    • Assault ships
    • Fearless class (1963)
    • HMS Ocean (started)
    • Sir Lancelot LLS (1963)
    • Sir Galahad (1986)
    • Ardennes/Avon class (1976)
    • Brit. LCVPs (1963)
    • Brit. LCM(9) (1980)

    • Minesweepers/layers
    • Ton class (1952)
    • Ham class (1947)
    • Ley class (1952)
    • HMS Abdiel (1967)
    • HMS Wilton (1972)
    • Hunt class (1978)
    • Venturer class (1979)
    • River class (1983)
    • Sandown class (1988)

    • Misc. ships
    • HMS Argus ATS (1988)
    • Ford class SDF (1951)
    • Cormorant class (1985)
    • Kingfisger class (1974)
    • HMS Jura OPV (1975)
    • Island class OPVs (1976)
    • HMS Speedy PHDF (1979)
    • Castle class OPVs (1980)
    • Peacock class OPVs (1982)
    • MBT 538 class (1948)
    • Gay class FACs (1952)
    • Dark class FACs (1954)
    • Bold class FACs (1955)
    • Brave class FACs (1957)
    • Tenacity class PCs (1967)
    • Brave class FPCs (1969)
    Armada de espanola - Spanish cold war navy Spanish Armada ☍ See the Page
    • Dédalo aircraft carrier (1967)
    • Principe de Asturias (1982)

    • Alava class DDs (1946)
    • Audaz class DDs (1955)
    • Oquendo class DDs (1956)
    • Roger de Lauria class (1967)

    • Baleares class FFs (1971)
    • Descubierta class FFs (1978)
    • Numancia class FFs (1987)

    • Pizarro class gunboats (1944)
    • Artevida class Cvs (1952)
    • Serviola class Cvs (1990)
    • Spanish cold-war submarines
    • Spanish FACs
    • Spanish Minesweepers
    Svenska Marinen Svenska Marinen ☍ See the Page
    • Tre Kronor class (1946)
    • Öland class DDs (1945)
    • Halland class DDs (1952) (1945)
    • Ostergotland class DDs (1956)
    • Spica III class Corvettes (1984)
    • Goteborg class Corvettes (1989)

    • U1 class subs (mod.1963)
    • Hajen class subs (1954)
    • Sjoormen class subs (1967)
    • Nacken class subs (1978)
    • Vastergotland class subs (1986)
    • Gotland class subs (1995)

    • T32 class MTBs (1951)
    • T42 class MTBs (1955)
    • Plejad class FACs (1951)
    • Spica I class FACs (1966)
    • Spica II class FACs (1972)
    • Hugin class FACs (1973)
    • Swedish Patrol Boats
    • Swedish minesweepers
    • Swedish Icebreakers
    Taiwanese Navy Taiwanese Navy ☍ See the Page
    • Kwang Hua class FFs (1991)
    • Kwang Hua II class FFs (1993)
    • Hai Lung class sub. (1986)
    • LCU 1466 class LCU (1955)
    • Fuh Chow class FAC
    • Lung Chiang class FAC
    • Hai Ou class FAC(M)
    • MWW 50 class minehunters
    Turkish Navy Turkish Navy ☍ See the Page
    • Berk class FFs (1971)
    • Atilay class sub. (1974)
    • Cakabey class LST
    • Osman Gazi class LST
    • Turkish Fast Attack Crafts
    • Turkish Patrol Boats
    US Navy USN (cold war) ☍ See the Page

    ☯ ASIA

    Chinese Navy ☍ See the Page
    Indian Navy Indian Navy ☍ See the Page
    • Vikrant class CVs (1961)
    • Viraat class CVs (1986)

    • Cruiser Delhi (1948)
    • Cruiser Mysore (1957)
    • Raja class DDs (1949)
    • Rajput class DDs (1980)
    • Delhi class DDs (1990)

    • Khukri class FFs (1956)
    • Talwar class FFs (1958)
    • Brahmaputra class FFs (1957)
    • Nilgiri class FFs (1968)
    • Godavari class FFs (1980)

    • Kusura class subs (1970)
    • Shishumar class subs (1984)
    • Sindhugosh class subs (1986)

    • Indian Amphibious ships
    • Indian corvettes (1969-90)
    • Khukri class corvettes (1989)
    • SDB Mk.2 class PBs (1977)
    • Vikram class OPVs (1979)
    • Sukanya class OPVs (1989)
    Indonesia Indonesian Navy ☍ See the Page
    • Fatahilla class Frigates (1977)
    • Pattimura class corvettes (1956)
    • Indonesian Marines
    • Indonesian Mine Vessels
    • Indonesian FAC/OPVs
    JMSDF JMSDF ☍ See the Page
      JMSDF Destroyers
    • Harukaze class DD (1955)
    • Ayanami class DD (1957)
    • Murasame class DD (1958)
    • Akizuki class DD (1959)
    • Amatukaze missile DD (1963)
    • Yamagumo class DDE (1965)
    • Takatsuki class DD (1966)
    • Minegumo class DDE (1967)
    • Haruna class DDH (1971)
    • Tachikaze class DD (1974)
    • Shirane class DDH (1978)
    • Hatsuyuki class DDs (1980)
    • Hatakaze class DDs (1984)
    • Asigiri class DDs (1986)
    • Kongo class DDs (started 1990)

    • JMSDF Frigates
    • Akebono class FFs (1955)
    • Isuzu class FFs (1961)
    • Chikugo class FFs (1970)
    • Ishikari class FFs (1980)
    • Yubari class FFs (1982)
    • Abukuma class FFs (1988)

    • JMSDF submarines
    • Oyashio class Sub. (1959)
    • Hayashio class Sub. (1961)
    • Natsushio class Sub. (1963)
    • Oshio class Sub. (1964)
    • Uzushio class Sub. (1970)
    • Yushio class Sub. (1979)
    • Harushio class Sub. (1989)

    • JMSDF Misc. ships
    • Japanese Landing Ships
    • Japanese Large Patrol Ships
    • Japanese Patrol Crafts
    • Japanese Minesweepers
    • Japanese Sub-chasers
    North Korean Navy North Korean Navy ☍ See the Page
    • Najin class Frigates
    • Experimental Frigate Soho
    • Sariwan class Corvettes

    • Sinpo class subs.
    • Sang-O class subs.
    • Yono class subs.
    • Yugo class subs.

    • Hungnam class LCM
    • Hante class LST
    • Songjong class HVC
    • Sin Hung/Ku Song FACs
    • Anju class FACs
    • Iwon class FACs
    • Chaho class FACs
    • Hong Jin class FAC-G
    • Sohung class MTBs
    • Sinpo class MTBs
    • Nampo class FALC
    Philippines Navy Philippines Navy ☍ See the Page
    • Datu Kalantian class Frigates (1976)
    • Bacolod City class LS(L)
    • Philippino Patrol Crafts
    Rep. of Korea Navy ROKN ☍ See the Page
    • Ulsan class frigates (1980)
    • Pohang class corvettes (1984)
    • Dong Hae class corvettes (1982)
    • Han Kang class patrol corvettes (1985)
    • Chamsuri (PKM 268) PBs (1978)
    • ROKS coast guard vessels
    • Paek Ku class FAC (1975)
    • Kang Keong class minehunters (1986)
    Taiwanese Navy Taiwanese Navy ☍ See the Page
    • Kwang Hua class FFs (1991)
    • Kwang Hua II class FFs (1993)
    • Hai Lung class sub. (1986)
    • LCU 1466 class LCU (1955)
    • Fuh Chow class FAC
    • Lung Chiang class FAC
    • Hai Ou class FAC(M)
    • MWW 50 class minehunters

    ☪ MIDDLE EAST

    Israeli Navy IDF Navy ☍ See the Page
    • Eilat class Corvettes (1993)
    • SAAR 5 Project
    • SAAR 1 FAC
    • SAAR 4 FAC
    • SAAR 4.5 FAC
    • Dvora class FAC
    • Shimrit class MHFs
    • IDF FACs/PBs
    • Etzion Geber LST
    • Ash class LCT
    Iranian Navy Iranian Navy ☍ See the Page
    • Destroyer Artemiz (1965)
    • Bayandor class FFs (1963)
    • Alvand class FFs (1969)
    • Khalije Fars class DDs (2016)*

    ♅ OCEANIA

    Australian Navy RAN ☍ See the Page
    • HMAS Sydney (1948*)
    • HMAS Melbourne (1955*)
    • Tobruk class DDs (1947)
    • Voyager class DDs (1952)
    • Perth class MDD (1963)
    • Quadrant class FFs (1953)
    • Yarra class FFs (1958)
    • Swan class FFs (1967)
    • Adelaide class MFFs (1978)
    • Anzac class MFFs (1990s)
    • Oxley class subs (1965)
    • Collins class subs (1990s)
    • Australian Amphibious ships
    • Fremantle class PBs
    RNZN Royal New Zealand Navy ☍ See the Page
    • HMNZS Royalist (1956)
    • Pukaki class patrol Crafts (1974)
    • Moa class patrol crafts (1983)
    • HMNZS Aotearoa (2019)*

    ☩ South America

    Armada de argentina Argentina ☍ See the Page
    • ARA Independencia (1958)
    • ARA Veinticinco de Mayo (1968)
    • Belgrano class cruisers (1951)
    • Almirante Brown class Frigates (1981)
    • Mantilla class corvettes (1981)
    • Espora class corvettes (1982)
    • Salta class submarines (1972)
    • Santa Cruz class submarines (1982)
    Brazilian Navy Brazilian Navy ☍ See the Page
    • Minas Gerais aircraft carrier (1956)
    • Cruiser Barroso (1951)
    • Cruiser Tamandare (1951)
    • Acre class destroyers (1945)
    • Niteroi class Frigates (1974)
    • Ihnauma class Frigate (1986)
    • Tupi class submarines (1987)
    • Brazilian patrol ships
    Chilean Navy Chilean Navy ☍ See the Page
    • O'Higgins class cruisers
    • Lattore Cruiser (1971)
    • Almirante class destroyers (1960)
    • Prat class M. Destroyers (1982)
    • Almirante Lynch class Frigates (1972)
    • Thomson class subs (1982)
    • Small surface combatants
    Peruvian Navy Peruvian Navy ☍ See the Page
    • Almirante Grau(ii) class
    • Almirante Grau(iii) class
    • Abtao class sub.
    • PR-72P class corvettes
    • Velarde class OPVs

    ℣ AFRICA

    Egyptian Navy Egyptian Navy ☍ See the Page
    • October class FAC/M (1975)
    • Ramadan class FAC/M (1979)
    SADF South African Navy ☍ See the Page
    ☫ Minor cold war/modern Navies Algerian NavyAzerbaijani NavyBangladesh NavyBarheini NavyBolivian NavyCambodian NavyComoros NavyCosta Rica NavyCroatian NavyCuban NavyDjibouti NavyDominican Republic NavyEquadorian NavyEstonian NavyEthiopian NavyFinnish NavyGeorgian NavyHaitian NavyHonduras NavyIcelandic NavyIraqi NavyJordanian NavyKuwaiti NavyLatvian NavyLebanese NavyLiberian NavyLibyan NavyLithuanian NavyMauritanian NavyMexican NavyMorrocan NavyNicaraguan NavyNorwegian NavyOmani NavyPakistani NavyParaguaian NavyQatari NavySan Salvador NavySaudi NavySerbian NavySingaporean NavySlovenian NavySomalian NavySudanese NavySyrian NavyThai NavyTunisian NavyUAE NavyUruguayan NavyVenezuelan NavyVietnamese NavyYemeni NavyZanzibar Navy

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    ⚔ Cold War Naval Events
    • ⚔ Indochina War naval ops
    • ⚔ Korean War naval ops
    • ⚔ 1956 intervention in Suez
    • ⚔ 1960 Cuban crisis
    • ⚔ 1960 US/Soviet compared strenghts
    • ⚔ 1963-69 Algerian war naval ops
    • ⚔ Naval warfare in Vietnam
    • ⚔ Middle East naval fights
    • ⚔ 1980 Falkland wars
    • ⚔ 1990 Gulf War
    ⚔ Modern Navies
    ✈ Cold War Naval Aviation See the full section
    Seaplanes
    • Grumman Mallard 1946
    • Edo OSE-1 1946
    • Short Solent 1946

    • de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver 1947
    • Grumman Albatross 1947
    • Hughes H-4 Hercules (completed & first flight, prototype)
    • Saunders-Roe SR.A/1 1947 (jet fighter seaplane prototype)
    • Short Sealand 1947

    • Martin P5M Marlin 1948
    • Supermarine Seagull ASR-1 1948 (prototype successor to the Walrus)
    • Nord 1400 Noroit 1949
    • Norsk Flyindustri Finnmark 5A (interesting Norwegian prototype)
    • SNCASE SE-1210 French prototype flying boat 1949

    • Convair R3Y Tradewind USN patrol flying boat 1950
    • Goodyear Drake (proto seaboat) 1950
    • de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter 1951 (RCAN)
    • Saunders-Roe Princess 1952 (RN requisition possible)

    • Convair F2Y Sea Dart Prototype delta jet fighter seaplane 1953
    • Martin P6M SeaMaster strategic bomber flying boat 1955

    • Ikarus Kurir H 1957

    • Shin Meiwa UF-XS prototype 1962
    • Shin Meiwa PS-1 patrol flying boat 1967
    • Canadair CL-215 1967 water bomber, some operated by the RCAN
    • GAF Nomad patrol australian land/floatplane 1971
    • Harbin SH-5 Main PLAN patrol flying boat 1976
    • Cessna 208 Caravan transport flotplane (some navies) 1982
    • Dornier Seastar prototype 1984

    • Patrol Planes
    • ATR 42 MP Surveyor (Italy, 1984)
    • ATR 72 MP (Italy 1988)

    • ATR 72 ASW (France, 1988)
    • Breguet Atlantic (France 1965)
    • Nord 1402 Noroit (France 1949)

    • Avro Shackleton (UK 1949)
    • BAE Nimrod MRA4 (UK 2004)
    • Britten-Norman Defender/Islander (UK 1970)
    • Fairey Gannet (UK 1949)
    • Hawker-Siddeley Nimrod (UK 1967)

    • Beechcraft King Air (USA 1963)
    • Basler BT-67 (USA 1990)
    • Boeing 737 Surveiller (USA 1967)
    • Boeing P-8 Poseidon (USA 2009)
    • Lockheed P-2 Neptune (USA, 1945)
    • Lockheed P-3 Orion (USA 1959)
    • Martin P4M Mercator (USA 1946)
    • Convair P5Y (USA 1950)
    • Douglas/BSAS Turbo Dakota (USA 1991)

    • Bombardier DHC-8 MPA/MSA (Can 2007)
    • Canadair CP-107 Argus (Can 1957)

    • CASA C-212 MPA (Spain 1971)
    • CASA/IPTN CN-235 MPA/HC-144 Ocean Sentry (Spain 1983)
    • CASA C-295 MPA (Spain 1997)

    • Diamond DA42 Guardian (Austria 2002)

    • Dornier 228 (Germany 1981)

    • Embraer EMB 111 Bandeirante (Brazil 1968)
    • Embraer R-99 (Brazil 2001)
    • Embraer P-99 (Brazil 2003)

    • Fokker F27 200-MAR (NL 1955)
    • Fokker F27 Maritime Enforcer (NL 1955)

    • IAI 1124N Sea Scan (Israel 1977)

    • Kawasaki P-1 (Japan 2007)
    • Kawasaki P-2J (Japan 1966)

    • Saab Swordfish (Sweden 2016)
    • Shaanxi Y-8F,Q,X (China 1984)
    • Short Seavan (UK 1976)

    • Beriev Be-8 1947
    • Beriev Be-6 1949
    • Beriev R-1 turbojet prototype seaplane 1952
    • Beriev Be-10 1956
    • Beriev Be-12 Chaika 1960
    • Beriev Be-40/A-40 Albatross prototypes 1986
    • Chetverikov TA-1 1947
    • Ilyushin Il-38 'May' (USSR 1967)
    • Myasishchev 3M/3MD (USSR 1956)
    • Tupolev Tu-16T/PL/R/RM/SP (USSR 1952)
    • Tupolev Tu-95MR (USSR 1961)
    • Tupolev Tu-142 (USSR 1968)

    • Carrier Planes
      USN
    • Douglas A-3 Skywarrior
    • Douglas A-4 Skyhawk
    • Douglas A2D Skyshark
    • Douglas AD Skyraider
    • Douglas F3D Skynight
    • Douglas F4D Skyray
    • Grumman A-6 Intruder
    • Grumman AF Guardian
    • Grumman C-1 Trader
    • Grumman C-2 Greyhound
    • Grumman E-1 Tracer
    • Grumman E-2 Hawkeye
    • Grumman EA-6B Prowler
    • Grumman F-9 Cougar
    • Grumman F9F Panther
    • Grumman F-11 Tiger
    • Grumman F-14 Tomcat ➚
    • Grumman S-2 Tracker
    • Lockheed Martin F-35B
    • Lockheed S-3 Viking ➚
    • McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II
    • McDonnell Douglas T-45 Goshawk
    • McDonnell FH Phantom
    • McDonnell F2H Banshee
    • McDonnell F3H Demon
    • McDonnell-Douglas AV-8B Harrier II
    • McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18 Hornet
    • North American A-5 Vigilante
    • North American AJ Savage
    • North American FJ Fury
    • North American T-2 Buckeye
    • North American T-28 Trojan
    • Vought A-7 Corsair
    • Vought F-8 Crusader
    • Vought F6U Pirate
    • Vought F7U Cutlass
    • Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet
    • Boeing EA-18G Growler
    • RN
    • Blackburn Buccaneer
    • Boulton Paul Sea Balliol
    • BAe Sea Harrier
    • de Havilland Sea Vampire
    • de Havilland Sea Venom
    • de Havilland Sea Vixen
    • Fairey Gannet
    • Hawker Sea Hawk
    • Short Seamew
    • Westland Wyvern
    • Marine Nationale
    • Breguet Alizé
    • Dassault Étendard IV
    • Dassault Super Étendard
    • Dassault Rafale M
    • Fouga CM.175 Zéphyr M
    • SNCASE Aquilon
    • Soviet Navy
    • Sukhoi Su-25UTG/UBP
    • Sukhoi Su-33
    • Yakovlev Yak-38

    Navy Helicopters
      Chinese PLAN:
    • Harbin Z-5 (1958)
    • Harbin Z-9 Haitun (1981)
    • Changhe Z-8 (1985)
    • Harbin Z-20 (in development)
    • Italy:
    • Agusta Bell AB-205 (1961)
    • Agusta Bell AB-212 (1971)
    • Agusta AS-61 (1968)
    • India:
    • Hal Dhruv (Indian Navy)
    • France:
    • Alouette II (1955)
    • Alouette III (1959)
    • Super Frelon (1965)

    • Cougar ()
    • Panther ()
    • Super Cougar H225M ()
    • Fennec ()
    • MH-65 Dolphin ()
    • UH-72 Lakota ()
    • Germany:
    • MBB Bo 105 (1967)
    • NHIndustries NH90
    • Japan:
    • Mitsubishi H-60 (1987)
    • Poland:
    • PZL W-3 Sokół (1979)
    • Romania:
    • IAR 330M (1975)
    • United Kingdom:
    • Westland Lynx (1971)
    • Westland Scout (1960) RAN
    • Westland Sea King (1969)
    • Westland Wasp (1962)
    • Westland Wessex (1958)
    • Westland Whirlwind (1953)
    • Westland WS-51 Dragonfly (1948)
    • USA:
    • Gyrodyne QH-50 DASH
    • Hiller ROE Rotorcycle (1956)
    • Piasecki HRP Rescuer (1945)
    • Bell UH-1N Twin Huey (1969)
    • SH-2 Seasprite (1959)
    • SH-2G Super Seasprite (1982)
    • CH-53 Sea Stallion (1966)
    • SH-60 Seahawk (1979)
    • Sikorsky S-61R (1959)
    • MH-53E Sea Dragon (1974)
    • ussr:
    • Kamov Ka 20 (1958)
    • Ka-25 "Hormone" (1960)
    • Ka-27 "Helix" (1973)
    • Ka-31 (1987)
    • Ka-35 (2015)
    • Ka-40 (1990)
    • Mil-Mi 2 (1949)
    • Mil Mi-4 (1952)
    Civilian ♆ WW1 US Shipping Board
    MORE !