admin7126 160 Destroyers (45 in 1990) Foreworld: A destroyer force dwarved by NATO The Soviet Navy was the “poor parent” compared to the land and air forces during the cold war. At any moment for 43 years, the Soviet ground forces could unleash more than 20,000 tanks on the German plains and forest, and strike with … 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
USS Wichita (1937) USA – Heavy Cruiser (1935-39) The Wichita directly inspired the wartime Baltimore class design Design History Secretary of the Navy, Curtis D. Wilbur wanted a new construction program for light and heavy cruisers and obtained the Cruiser Act of 1929, authorizing five new heavy cruisers (Under the Washington Treaties definition of a … Read more
France – Dunkerque, Strasbourg Genesis: The Dunkerque (Dunkirk) class (Dunkerque and Strasbourg) were the first French battleships launched since the Great War. Following the 1922 Treaty of Washington, and the Treaty of London (1930), France took advantage of the tonnage allocated to her in terms of battleships and cruisers, making a compromise to allow more … Read more
Tromp Class Cruisers (1937) The Netherlands – Tromp, Jacob van Heemskerck The first modern Dutch cruisers The Tromp class of the Royal Netherlands Navy (design Argonaut 600) were “flotilla leaders”, conceived as backbones of a squadron of modern destroyers built alongside. Ordered in 1935 they were launched in 1937 and 1939, completed just as the … Read more
“Battle” of the Atlantic (1940-44) We will see why, and how the battle turned to be almost a winning factor for the axis, the main concern for the allies, more than the war on land, which was carried out by the Soviet Union by then in 1942, when this battle reached its zenith. The next … Read more
USA – USS St Louis, Milwaukee, Charleston The American semi-armored cruisers The St. Louis-class cruisers were a bit of exceptions in the USN cruiser lineage. They began as a replacement for the old USS Olympia, but went through several redesigns over time, before development was rushed up as part of the naval buildup touched off … Read more
Russian cruiser Novik (1898) Russian Empire – Protected Cruiser A German built cruiser with two lives: The Imperial Russian navy Novik was ordered part of a program intended to boost the newly formed Pacific Fleet. The admiralty wanted a 3000-ton class scout cruiser. Since no yard had experience yet in this field, foreign shipbuilders were … Read more
Hai Yung class protected cruisers (1897) Chinese Beiyang Fleet – Hai Yung, Hai Chou, Hai Chen The Chinese German-built cruisers – After the crippling losses of the Sino-Japanese war, and ten years after the losses of the Sino-French war, the Chinese Navy needed to be bolstered again. Due to conflicting intererests with the British and … Read more
Kaiser class Battleships (1911) Germany – Kaiser, Friedrich der Grosse, Kaiserin, König Albert, Prinzregent Luitpold Kaiser class: A brave leap forward The second “Kaiser class” (the first dated back from 1899) was designed as an attempt to use turbine engines and superfiring turrets. However, they stuck with the 12-in caliber of the last class, already … Read more
