Navistory Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia Austria-Hungary (1893) The first Austro-Hungarian Armoured Cruiser The KuK Maria Theresia (abbreviated) was the first armoured cruiser of the Austro-Hungarians. Before, the only spent experience was on protected cruisers of Kaiser Franz Joseph I class. It goes without saying that the engineers were inspired largely by her. However, this cruiser … Read more
Austria-Hungary (1909-1916) Austro-Hungary has full awareness of its small size compared to its immediate neighbours and long declared enemy, Italy, and France beyond the peninsula. Submarines, just like torpedo boats were a way to recover cheaply some form of parity, although the naval staff left the impression to late to recognize the potential of submersible … Read more
Austro-Hungarian Navy 14 August 1914 A visual of the area and route taken by the Allied ships. Although this engagement was all but fair (a recent dreadnought against an old cruiser) the ultimate result was almost a year round of inactivity for the Austro-Hungarian Navy (K.u.K Kriegsmarine) in the Adriatic The Austro-Hungarians at war The … Read more
United Kingdom (1895) – HMS Powerful, HMS Terrible The Anglo-Russian naval arms race Before the better known anglo-german naval arms race of 1906, the British press were scared, as the government and ultimately the Navy that had no apparent answer, to the known construction in 1890 of a massive Russian cruiser, Rurik, specifically intended in … Read more
France (1895) – Torpedo mothership/Seaplane carrier First life: As a torpedo boat mothership The Foudre in still well remembered from, studied, and related upon as an interesting experiment and pioneering ship at the fall of the XIXth century. The Foudre “Lightning” was originally a pure product of the Jeune Ecole (“Young School”). It was a … Read more
France (1893) – Casabianca, Cassini, D’Iberville The D’Iberville class in brief The three ships of this class, Casabianca, Cassini and Iberville were put into service between 1894 and 1896. They came a few years after the two Lévrier 1891, but differed in all. Larger and nearly twice as heavy, they had a forecastle and raised … Read more
France (1897) – Dunois, La Hire A strange mix of characteristics The Torpedo Cruiser was a development of the controversial Jeune École (“Young school”) a strategic naval concept that argued that the large ironclad battleships then being built in Europe could be easily and cheaply defeated by small torpedo-armed warships. Most nations including UK would … Read more
German Navy 3-8 August 1914 Prelude to War: The Mediterranean Squadron On 2 August 1914, the declaration of war was taking aback all the German units stationed outside the metropolis. The battlecruiser Goeben and the light cruiser Breslau then formed the Mediterranean squadron, usually stationed in Port Said, controlling strategic roadways from the Red Sea … Read more
An intro to naval history Prehistoric boats, dugout, canoe rafts, reed boats, skin boats. The Polynesians pioneers From skinboats to …flying ships From prehistoric times, when probably someone falling into a torrent hang on a trunk and discover a much faster way to travel, or later go fishing on improvised rafts, man used the sea … Read more
United Kingdom vs. Germany First naval action of the war The very first action of the great war occurred on seas: The Staff of the Hochseeflotte had developed a comprehensive plan for years to come in the event of a war with Britain. It was firstly to undermine British ports and disrupt coastal shipping and … Read more
