Navistory USA (1917-30) T-1 to T-3, AA-1 to AA-3 fleet submersibles The T-1 class submarines (previously known AA-1 class) were the first attempt by the USN to build a fleet submersible. It was planned in 1913 already to operate with the new Delaware class, the first “standard battleships”, with a surface speed of 21 knots to … Read more
Nuclear-powered attack submarines (1958-67), service 1961-1993: USS Thresher, Permit, Plunger, Barb, Pollack, Haddo, Jack, Tinosa, Dace, Guardfish, Flasher, Greenling, Gato, Haddock (SSN-593 to 621) Also known in most publications the Thresher/Permit class, the Permit class Nuclear Attack Submarine marked the true transition to a semi-prototype stage of nuclear submarines (they were preceded by the Skipjack … Read more
UK Royal Navy (1902-1921) 1908-09 program, G-class 1913: HMS Beagle, Bulldog, Grasshopper, Harpy, Renard, Foxhound, Wolverine, Mosquito, Basilisk, Scourge, Racoon, Scorpion, Savage, Rattlesnake, Pincher, Nautilus/Grampus The “Beagles” or “G class” from 1913 were sixteen destroyers designed in 1908 in reaction to the costly and fragile Tribal class. The admiralty overall wanted smaller, stronger vessels running … Read more
Germany (1913-1919) U-31 to U-41, launched/commissioned 1914-15 The U31 class were a continuation of previous diesel boats, a serie started with U19 and continued with the U23 and U27 classes, made by either Germaniawerft or Kaiserliche Werft Danzig. This was the same basic design, incrementally improved, increased in size and tonnage and becoming the standard … Read more
Built 1947-1970: Oquendo, Roger de Lauria, Marqués de la Ensenada (decom. 1981-88) The Oquendo class Destroyers are a rare case: Post-WW2 Spain years were not favourable for new naval plans or ship construction, and yet, the Spanish destroyer force was near obsolete. Apart Liniers and Álava completed to a new design in 1946-1947, the Audaz … Read more
Regia Marina – Audace, Animoso 1913-1916 Second entry into our dive in WWI Italian destroyers, the Audace class were different than the previous Indomito & Ardito designs, larger, with two funnels, and improvements in some ways, as the yard wanted to improve on the Ardito class. Unlike the “three pipe” which for the immense majority … Read more
Spanish unprotected cruisers (1881-1991): Alfonso XII, Reina Cristina, Reina Mercedes 1891-1900 The Alfonso XII class were three Spanish masted unprotected cruisers built during the 1880s all in Ferrol. They were named for a Spanish king and two Spanish queens, made in steel, but construction time was very long, and they were obsolete when completed. They … Read more
Project 670/670M Skat: 17 SSGNs Nuclear powered Missile Attack submarines (Charlie I/II). The Project 670 Skat submarine (NATO Charlie class) were nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine (SSGN) of the Soviet Navy and later Russian Navy, now all decommissioned. They were designed by the Lazurit Central Design Bureau of Gorky in order to replace the previous 1950s … Read more
German Long-Range Reconnaissance flying boat First flight 1937, service 1940 -297 produced 1938-43. The Blohm & Voss BV 138 Seedrache (Sea Dragon) was a trimotor flying boat by a famous shipyard, which became in WW2 the primary seaborne long-range maritime patrol and naval reconnaissance aircraft of the Luftwaffe during. Designed prewar by Richard Vogt, under … Read more
Light Submersibles 1932-1945: S-class Group II: HMS Sealion, Shark, Snapper, Salmon, Seawolf, Spearfish, Sunfish, Sterlet Development The S-class submarines were originally designed when the need arose to modernize the submarine in the interwar, create smaller models fit for the North Sea and Mediterranean and replace the 1915 built H-class, still numerous in inventory and now … Read more
