admin7126 WW1 Italian Battleships Kingdom of Italy (1886-1916) 20 battleships Foreworld about ww1 Italian Battleships Italy started WWI with 16 battleships, several dreadnoughts in completion, construction, or planned. Recoignised as a major naval power in the Mediterranean, the fact it choosed eventually the side of the entente was crucially important for Britain and France to secure … Read more
Light/Heavy Cruisers Mogami, Mikuma, Suzuya, Kumano. As Japan signed the treaty of London, the Imperial Navy was capped for heavy cruisers, and with extra limitations in tonnage. This led to the creation of four six “light” cruisers equiped with fifteen 6-in guns, later to be swapped for 8-in guns in wartime: The Mogami class (最上型) … Read more
Nakajima E8N “Dave” (1934) Imperial Japanese Navy, 755 built The “Dave”, standard IJN observation seaplane The Nakajima E8N was a Japanese ship-borne and catapult-launched reconnaissance seaplane which saw service mostly during the Second Sino-Japanese War. This single-engine, two-seat biplane was given a main ventral float complemented by underwing outriggers. Not fast, but reliable and with … Read more
Bayern class battleships (1915) SMS Bayern, Baden, Sachsen, Württemberg Bayern class: The last German dreadnoughts The battleship “Bayern” does not represents the culmination of the German Dreadnought, but at least its wartime epitaph. The very last projected German dreadnoughts were indeed the “L20 alpha” class, reaching almost 50,000 fully loaded, 26 knots, and with eight … Read more
Fiji (“Crown Colony”) class Cruisers United Kingdom (1939-42) HMS Fiji, Nigeria, Mauritius, Kenya, Trinidad, Jamaica, Gambia, Bermuda, Ceylon, Uganda, Newfoundland The new generation British light cruisers The Crown Colony class cruisers (1939) were designed as smaller “Town” class according to the second London treaty of 1936, shortened, narrower and with a transom stern to gain … Read more
France 1873-1910, Central Battery Ironclad The “Le Redoutable” was the world’s first steel-built central battery ironclad and started a new breed of capital ships for France in the 1880s. She however still had wrought iron armor. She was also the largest warship afloat when launched, rebuilt in 1894, and saw service until 1910 in the … Read more
Germany (1906): SMS Nautilus, Albatros The first two specialized German minelayers The Nautilus class were two minelaying cruisers planned for the Imperial German Navy, both built by the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen with different designs, at least in appearance. They never operated together, one being kep for training or in maintenance. They laid at … Read more
USS Monitor (1862) Union Navy First of the name & defining a type: The Monitor The USS Monitor is not only an icon of the American civil war, a symbol of the industrial north, but it also defined a genre, a type that found use until recent times. The USN still deployed monitors to combat … Read more
Light Cruisers SMS Dresden, Emden (1908) Two famous ships The Dresden class followed the Königsberg class, but improved in size and speed a bit. Launched in 1907-1908, their fates were among the most interesting of the war: Both Königsberg and Dresden were part of the overseas squadrons of the Kaiserliches Marine in 1914. Dresden was … Read more
WW2 Imperial Japanese Navy Destroyers About 80 destroyers 1919-1945 Imperial Japanese Navy Destroyer’s complete overview Japanese destroyers acquired a fearsome reputation during WW2, contrary to WWI where they mostly completely forgotten, if not for their brief action in the Mediterranean, and deeds during the Port Arthur attack in 1905. This reputation is due to several … Read more
