Navistory Marine Nationale (1924-1962): Duquesne, Tourville These first French heavy cruisers according to the 1922′ Washington treaty’s new definition, sacrificed protection for speed and were enlarged Duguay-Trouin class. They served in the Atlantic, then Force X in the Mediterranean, disarmed at Alexandria and rearmed and modernized in New York, soldiering with the FNFL until V-Day and … Read more
WW1 British Seaplane Carriers United Kingdom (1914-21) 17 ships Pioneer in naval air warfare You would be surprised that on paper, in 1918, the Royal Navy had more “aircraft carriers” than in 1939. Of course, this is playing with words, as most were in reality mixed airplanes/seaplane carriers and not pure aircraft carriers. They had … Read more
Armada de Chile – 1895-1930 The largest Chilean cruiser of WW1: Esmeralda – The previous Cruiser Esmeralda, a 1884 British-built ship was soled to Japan on 5 february 1895 to Japan, and became the Izumi, participating to the Battle of Tushima. Before that, in 1891, the Chilean admiralty was embroiled into a vivid naval rivalry … Read more
Kynda class cruisers (1961-63) Groznyy, Admiral Fokin, Admiral Golovko, Varyag Kynda The four ships of the Kynda class were the first Soviet missile cruisers. They were from the outset (1956) designed to destroy American aircraft carriers by other and more modern means than Stalin’s traditional attachment to conventional artillery. This position was very mush argued … Read more
USA 355 submersibles (1917-45) The US Navy submarines (Submersibles*) contribution to the war are certainly greater than Battleships, and on par with the aircraft carriers and LSTs in helping turning the tide of the war in 1942. In the Pacific, they were instrumental in the defeat of Japan, using the same tactics as German U-Boats … Read more
Luigi Cadorna, Armando Diaz. The first six ships of the “Condotierri” large group, among which the Luigi Cadorna class, were also the first postwar Italian cruisers to see service. Both classes were different in some points but also shared many similarities, like a 5000+ tons displacement, whereas the following D’Aosta group would almost double that, … Read more
USA (1921-1945), 150 aicraft carriers The leading country in Aircraft Carriers The US Navy started during WW2 with a small fleet of carriers, with a slow training ship, the Langley, two fast, large fleet ones, the Lexington class, the Ranger, and two of the new Yorktown class, so six in all (two more in completion, … Read more
Germany (1936-45) 194 produced (290 ordered) Type IX, the long-range U-Boat: During world war two, two main types of u-boats roamed the sea: The Type VII, basically a mid-range oceanic type, able to take position in the middle of the Atlantic without refuelling, and the Type IX, the cruiser type, able to reach the American … Read more
Japan (1911) Chikuma, Yahagi, Hirado The Japanese turbine Cruisers: The three cruisers described here are in the straight line of the early prewar turbine cruisers, very fast and often recoignised to their numerous funnels. They are to be compared to the Admiral Spaun, Nino Bixio, Magdeburg, Chester, C-class and “Town” classes. Chikuma participated in various … Read more
Versuchsgleitboot 1 prototype (1916) The Austro-Hungarian secret weapon The Versuchsgleitboot (“Above, gliding boat”) was a prototype of a fast, small wing-in-ground torpedo boat build in 1916 by Dagobert Müller von Thomamuehl. It was out of this world at that time, by using a particular hover effect to lift it just above the surface, reaching a … Read more
