Alaska class large cruisers (1943) USA (1941-65) – USS Alaska, Guam, Hawaii The Alaska class were the “great white elephants” of the US Navy in WW2. Their conception went back to the start of the war, when limiting treaties became obsolete, based on a rumored IJN “cruiser killer”. The US Navy studied a new standard … Read more
Bagley class Destroyers (1936) Fleet Destroyers (1935-48): USS Bagley, Blue, Helm, Mugford, Ralph Talbot, Henley, Patterson, Jarvis DD-386-93 The Bagley-class destroyers were a group of eight destroyers built for the United States Navy during the 1930s. They were designed to serve as multipurpose warships capable of conducting a wide range of missions, including anti-submarine warfare, … Read more
Gridley class destroyers (1937-1947) USN Fleet Destroyers (1912-1935): USS Gridley, Craven, McCall, Maury (DD-380-401) The Gridley-class destroyers were four 1500-ton fleet destroyers according to the London Naval Treaty, laid down by June 1935 and March 1936, commissioned in 1937-38 and largely based on the previous Mahan-class destroyers: Same hull but single stack and reviewed powerplant, … Read more
US Navy 50 Escort Aircraft Carriers (1942-44): USS Casablanca, Liscombe Bay, Coral Sea, Corregidor, Mission Bay, Guadalcanal, Manila Bay, Natoma Bay, St. Lo, Tripoli, Wake Island, White Plains, Solomons, Kalinin Bay, Kassan Bay, Fanshaw Bay, Kitkun Bay, Tulagi, Gambier Bay, Nehenta Bay, Hoggatt Bay, Kadashan Bay, Marcus Island, Savo Island, Ommaney Bay, Petrof Bay, Rudyard … Read more
US Navy Fleet Destroyers (1934-48): USS Mahan, Cummings, Drayton, Lamson, Flusser, Reid, Case, Conyngham, Cassin, Shaw, Tucker, Downes, Cushing, Perkins, Smith, Preston, Dunlap, Fanning The Mahan-class were 18 standard fleet destroyers, 16 planned FY33 and laid down in 1934 and the last two (Dunlap and Fanning) FY34, all commissioned in 1936-1937. They were an improvement … Read more
Porter class destroyers (1935) USN Flotilla Leader Destroyers (1933-59): Porter, Selfridge, McDougal, Winslow, Phelps, Clark, Moffett, Balch The first interwar Flotilla Leaders Second step of the renewal of the US Destroyer force in the interwar, started with the Farragut class, the Porters were eight 1,850-ton large destroyers authorized by Congress on 26 April 1916 with … Read more
Farragut class Destroyers (1934) US Navy Fleet Destroyers (1933-47): USS Farragut, Dewey, Hull, MacDonough, Worden, Dale, Monaghan, Aylwin Starting anew: The Farragut class The Farragut class destroyers marked a turning point in ship design for the United States. They were the first design studied since 1917, and first destroyer type since the Washington Treaty signing … Read more
Iowa class battleships (1942) Battleships (1942-44): USS Iowa (BB-61), New Jersey (BB-62), Missouri (BB 63), Wisconsin (BB 64), Illinois (BB 65), Kentucky (BB 66) The Iowa class battleships were the last built in the US, and memorable ships at more than one title. They were the culminating point of a standard design worked out since … Read more
PT-Boats (1942) USA – Circa 500 built (1942-45) WW2 USN PT Boats: Overrated Success ? The “wooden marvels” were known by many names during WW2, but the official and generic “PT-Boat”, meaning “Patrol, Torpedo (Boat)”. They were an unknown type for the USN in WW1, as there was no need for such “naval dust” when … Read more
USA – circa 23,492 (1942-45) The Landing Darling (06/06/2022) Few crafts in WW2 were underrated but these “Higgins Boats”. The LCVP has been absolutely crucial to the Allied victory From the shores of Africa to the European Western Front. It became as instrumental as the Jeep or GMC truck on land, not a proper military … Read more
