admin7126 WW1 Japanese Destroyers Japan (1898-1919) – About 180 ships A newcomer in destroyer design WW2 Japanese destroyers were certainly among the world’s most powerful since the Fubuki in 1926. Just like Russia showed the way in 1910 with the Novik, Japan was at the forefront in destroyer design, with speed, firepower, and aggressive tactics matching … Read more
Classic ships Model Kits (injected) In all the recent ships posts (from 2021 onwards) you will find systematically a “modeller’s corner” after the books/links section. I’m currently using scalemates, which huge database is quite handy to find old brands and unusual scales. It’s the archive.org or model kits. For each ship, i’ll try to pick … Read more
Germany (1898) SMS Gazelle, Niobe, Nymphe, Thetis, Ariadne, Amazone, Medusa, Frauenlob, Arcona, Undine The first modern light cruisers: The Gazelle class has been often dubbed as the “first modern light cruisers”. They had indeed all the trademark of the type and formed the basis for Germany of a long lineage which will go straight through … Read more
WW1 French Battlecruisers (Projects) Paper projects (1913) French what-if battlecruisers A bit provocative in its title, this article is dedicated to French prewar battlecruisers paper projects, proposed by officers Durant-Viel and P.Gille. These were part of the ambitious 1912 naval plan that gets rid of the noxious Jeune Ecole school of thought, to concentrate on … Read more
Reichsmarine vs Royal Navy Probably the strangest naval battle of ww1 Lake Tanganyika was one of the largest watery surface in Africa, as much as deep and of dynamic hydrography. Fed by several rivers this largest African Great Lake could only be compared to the American great lakes. It was a production of the Albertine … Read more
Austro-Hungarian Torpedo Boats Austria-Hungary (1875-1916) Austro-Hungarian Torpedo Boats: The torpedo invention: Austro-Hungary almost invented the torpedo: An unknown Austro-Hungarian Officer designed in the middle of the XIXth century a small boat carrying a large charge of explosives. It was remotely steered by cable and propelled by a powerful steam or an air engine in order … Read more
Regia Marina (1911) Battleships Guilio Cesare, Conte di Cavour, Leonardo Da Vinci The new Italian Battleships The first Italian dreadnought (the irony was the concept was Italian-born, Cuniberti thinking of a glorified, fast armoured cruiser rather than a new class of battleship, but picked up and realized by Admiral Fisher) was the Dante Alighieri (launched … Read more
Germany (1939) Aircraft Carrier, 90% completed. Germany’s aircraft carrier Contrary to most European powers, Germany never ventured into the Aircraft carrier genre, bar perhaps a few ad hoc conversions as seaplane tenders. The appearance and raid of HMS Furious on a Zeppelin base in 1918 was duly noted by the German admiralty, but it occurred … Read more
The Bulk Carriers Definition Bulk carriers, also called “bulkers” in their “modern” definition could be quite ancient, applied to all ships and boats that carried unpackaged cargo. This is still the definition today, and bulk carriers makes 15% to 20% of the modern carrier fleets. The modern definition is related to their particular cargo, generally … Read more
Turkish Navy vs Royal Navy Foreword It was Churchill personal quest to attack the “soft underbelly” of the entente powers, reminds something ? Fortunately for the allies, this bloody campaign was halted in early 1916 instead of the campaign of Italy that lasted two solid years on a far bigger scale. Indeed at that time … Read more
