admin7126 Type XIV “Milchkühe” U-Boats, Hitler’s Milk Cows Germany (1941-42): 10 U-boats Maintaining Wolf Packs at sea One aspect of the Battle of the Atlantic was to maintain operating U-Boats at sea as long as possible. It mostly concerned the standard Type VII, which had a limited autonomy. In the massive expanses of the Atlantic, locating … Read more
United Kingdom (1908-1920): HMS Nelson, Agamemnon Last of their kinds and advanced semi-dreadnoughts The Nelson class was infortunate as the last pre-dreadnoughts Battleships built by Great Britain. They were launched in June and September 1906, while HMS Dreadnought was completed (she was commissioned in December 1906), but started in May 1905 (October 1905), and still, … Read more
About 140 vessels, 9 classes (1880-1918) The saga of Italian Torpedo Boats Italy was not long to take advantage of the Whitehead torpedo, developed by its adversary on the other side of Adriatic, invented 1866 by Robert Whitehead from a rough design conceived by Giovanni Luppis of the Austro-Hungarian Navy in Fiume. The Regia Marina’s … Read more
France (1894-1900) Charlemagne, Saint Louis, Gaulois The Charlemagne class Battleships were three French “pre-dreadnoughts” ordered in 1894 over a new design, in an attempt to rationalize and standardize capital ships in France. Charlemagne, Saint Louis, Gaulois were originally intended for the Atlantic but were soon in service in the Mediterranean, taking part notably during WWI … Read more
German light Cruisers (1911-1914)SMS Karlsruhe, SMS Rostock The last German “four stackers” With the previous Magdeburg class, the Karlsruhe were near-sister ships with the same armament, armor protection, but faster and larger. Launched in 1912 they were commissioned as the war broke out and saw plenty of action, with short but very intense career as … Read more
Kashima class Battleships (1905) Japanese Imperial Navy (1904-1924): Kashima, Katori The first post-tsushima Japanese Battleships Ordered just as tensions were high with Russia, before the war started, the Kashima class were the last foreign built Japanese capital ships. They were “semi-dreadnoughts” loosely based on the King Edward VII class battleships we saw recently. The only … Read more
Sangamon class Escort Aircraft Carriers US Navy 4 ships (Converted, Commissionned Aug. – Sept. 1942): USS Sangamon, Suwanee, Chenango, Santee From civilian oilers to aircraft carriers The former Cimarron-class oilers launched in 1939 for civilian use, were requisitioned for the supply needs of the fleet, recommissioned by the U.S. Navy in 1940–1941 as AO28, 29, … Read more
Brewster SB2A Buccaneer (1941) 3-seats scout bomber (1941-43), 771 produced Worst aircraft of WW2 ? The fighter F2A Buffalo already a much maligned model, still had redeeming qualities and did extremely well in Finnish hands, whereas the Buccaneer had none, and over time all Historians, usually prone to argue over any subject, are unanimous as … Read more
President class Frigates (1962) South African Navy (1959-64) President Kruger, President Pretorius, President Steyn President Class: President Kruger (Courtesy of P.Dubois) Under the 1955 Simon’s Town Agreement, the South African Navy had to purchase modern anti-submarine frigates, coastal minesweepers and defence boats from Britain as part of the agreement to defend the sea routs around … Read more
T2 Tankers US Maritime Commission 1940-45: 533 Built The T2 Tankers: Bedrock of oil supply in WW2 Assembly and Construction of T2 Navy Tankers: Mission Santa nez, Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, Benicia Solano County, CA Was the allied effort ever in jeopardy because of oil tanker losses in the Atlantic ? Absolutely. Apart old merchant … Read more
