United Kingdom (1913) Battlecruiser The HMS Tiger: Feline beauty and hard shell Described by historian John Keegan as “certainly the most beautiful warship in the world then, and perhaps ever”, the Tiger was also better protected, yet cheaper than the older Lion class, the “big cats” disliked by the admiralty. Despite of her merits, no … Read more
Royal Navy (1890-91) – 21 cruisers The ‘Mythologic’ 2nd class protected cruisers The Apollo class were in WW1 already in reserve for many, at disposal for possible missions. They mostly saw service in the Boer war and the Latona, Apollo, Intrepid, Iphigenia, Andromache, Naiad and Thetis were converted into minelayers in 1907 and therefore found … Read more
WW1 British Destroyers Royal Navy (1895-1919) – About 536 ships Introduction It is strange to think of the fact, that the largest active fleet on earth was rightly dismissive of “naval dust”. And yet had a great importance in the development of the torpedo (Via Whitehead), and its carrier, the torpedo-boat, through the first turbine … Read more
United Kingdom (1914-22) 7 sub-classes, 28 cruisers The veteran light cruisers The ‘C’ class were called artificially that way by most authors for simplification; This comprised the Caroline class on one hand, and the Calliope, Cambrian, Centaur, Caledon, Ceres, and Carlisle, relatively similar in design, concept, and specifications. They were a wartime “mass-production” class to … Read more
HMS Furious (1917) United Kingdom – Aircraft Carrier History’s first aircraft carrier The HMS Furious is like a warship with several lives. She started as a battlecruiser, evolved into an hybrid plane carrier, an experimental aircraft carrier during WW1, and a modern aircraft carrier during WW2. But above all, she was the first to carry … Read more
United Kingdom (1914) – Seaplane Carrier History’s first purpose-built seaplane carrier HMS Ark Royal is a famous name, as it went back to Elizabethan times (1587) but was used only with this ship and became even more famous in the interwar as the most modern, purpose-built British aircraft carrier. But back in WW1, she was … Read more
United Kingdom (1898) Formidable, Irresistible, Implacable, London, Bulwark, Venerable, Queen, Prince of Wales. The improved Canopus This “superclass” of eight pre-dreadnought battleships was a same time very close to the Majestic and Canopus, yet they had true turrets and were enlarged Canopus essentially. Design changes were made during construction, so that two-subclasses appeared, the London … Read more
United Kingdom (1911) King George V, Centurion, Ajax, Audacious If the King George V class battleships are generally assumed to be the one which soldiered in WW2, there was another one which did the same in the previous war, in 1914-18. These were “super-dreadnoughts” (faster with a heavier artillery) presenting a new aspect of the … Read more
United Kingdom (1899-1906), 10 armoured cruisers: Monmouth, Bedford, Essex, Kent, Berwick, Cornwall, Cumberland, Donegal, Lancaster, Suffolk. The other County Class These armoured cruisers bearing County names answered to the concern of well-armed and well-protected but cheaper ships, especially compared to previous Drake. The concern was to produce a series of armoured cruisers for half the … Read more
Town class cruisers (WWI) United Kingdom (1917) Sub-classes Bristol, Weymouth, Chatham, Birmingham, Birkenhead: 21 protected cruisers The battle-hardened WW1 Town class Cruisers Some of these made it through WW2 as well, and they are less well-known than the 1936 namesake class designed to answer to the Mogami, but they were perhaps the most involved British … Read more
