UK 1913-1914: HMS Queen Elizabeth, Warspite, Barham, Malaya, Valiant PART I: A new breed of super dreadnoughts The Queen Elisabeth class battleships carved quite a path in the Royal Navy. When they appeared they redefined altogether the dreadnought genre, levelling up to “super-dreadnought” or “fast battleship”. By their heavy armament, oil-fired turbines and greater speed … Read more
HMS Canada (ex-Almirante Latorre) 1914 The Chilean take on the south American Naval arms race HMS Canada was a unique battleship in the Royal Navy, and just like the HMS Agincourt and Erin, one of those ordered abroad and requisitioned while on completion when the war broke out in August 1914. Explaining while she was … Read more
HMS Agincourt (ex-Rio de Janeiro, ex-Sultan Osman I) 1913 The ‘Gin Palace’ HMS Agincourt was singular ship. Not only became a worldwide sensation by its unusual configuration, but she also changed hands three times: Ordered originally by Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) to counter Argentina, she was cancelled, repurchased by Turkey, and then requisitioned in August … Read more
WW1 British Battlecruisers United Kingdom – 12 battlecruisers Foreword: Attempt to define the Battlecruiser Vittorio’s Cuniberti’s design -The first point is semantic: very name “battlecruisers” has been misleading ever since it was first coined in 1912. The idea of a nimble fast warship, the cruiser, did not rendered justice to its capital ship capabilities (less … Read more
United Kingdom (1908) – St Vincent, Collingwood, Vanguard The second dreadnought-type serie The St Vincent were built in record time, compared to the previous Bellerophon which differed in many details from HMS Dreadnought. However, they still had their share of own differences: Higher upper masts, improved engines, slightly longer and beamier hull which was also … Read more
United Kingdom – Battlecruisers The Courageous Class were three light battlecruisers intended for an Operation in the Baltic in 1917 which never materialized and instead, they were partly converted as aircraft carrier after the war and signing the Washington treaty. Both helped pioneer the interwar fleet air arm but had short careers during WW2, Courageous … Read more
United Kingdom: 80 battleships 1890-1918 Overview poster of British Capital Ships in WW1, including projects (light grey) British Battleships of WW1 comprised three types of vessels: Dreadnoughts, 21 of them which made the meaty bulk of the Royal Navy, 12 Battlecruisers, and 51 pre-dreadnoughts. They were basically a deterrence force stockpiled in the firth of … Read more
United Kingdom – Aircraft Carrier HMS Hermes was the first (or second depending on the authors) purpose-built aircraft carrier. Indeed the Imperial Japanese Navy claimed to have the first, IJN Hosho. However, the latter was started AFTER the British carrier, but launched and completed before. Engineers and yard’s team were in a rush as a … Read more
UK – 1885-90 – 4 submersibles. The earliest military torpedo submarines: In 1886, Ottoman submarine Abdülhamid (1886) was the first in history to fire a torpedo while being submerged. Why it fell on Turkey ? It was due to a Swedish Company better known than Bofors, also of the Maxims/Vickers Empire and Hotchkiss. The firm … 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
