admin7126 Marco Polo (1892) Italian Armoured Cruiser (1888) The First Italian Armoured Cruiser The Marco Polo was the first Italian armoured cruiser. She was designed by chief engineer Carlo Vigna in 1889, and laid down in January 1890 in Castellamare di Stabia but was closely based on the Etna class cruisers. She was modified during construction … Read more
Nelson class Battleships (1925) United Kingdom (1922-1949) HMS Nelson, Rodney The Nelson class were two British Battleships completed in 1927-28. These were one of these icons of WW2, rather more diverse in terms of battleships, in terms of quality rather than quantity compared to WWI. After the rapid cost rise in capital ship the 10 … Read more
Rossiya class cruisers (1896) Russia (1896) Armoured Cruisers – Rossiya, Gromoboi The Giant Russian Cruisers Back in the 1890s the fast-growing Russian Empire and its global ambition worried the British naval staff much more than the threat posed by a then still small German Navy. The Russian Navy in 1893 ordered for the pacific squadron … Read more
United Kingdom (1920) Light Cruisers – Enterprise, Emerald The little known “E” class The two Enterprise (Enterprise and Emerald) or “E” class vessels were the last British light cruisers built during the Great War. However, the lack of manpower and shipbuilding priority given to destroyers meant that their launch only took place in 1920. They … Read more
A legendary Retreat That’s a name that will probably stays forever with a bitter-sweet taste for the British public and collective imagination, but its memory is still vivid after many documentaries and two movies (the first 1958) like Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk. The name of the last harbor this side of the channel, pocket of resistance … Read more
Germany (1930-44) circa 50 ships Foreworld: German expertise on destroyers proceeded from humble beginnings: The weak TBs from 1910-1914, barely fit for the high seas. However the influence of Royal Navy designs and an order from the Russian navy before the war gave the experience of large, well armed oceanic destroyers. In particular, the “Russian” … Read more
France (1899) – Protected Cruiser A “tin-clad cruiser” The term was used often to describe rival Italian and French cruisers of the interwar, sacrificing all for speed. But the French cruiser Jurien de la Gravière twenty years before was at the same time the last French “protected” cruiser and one of the thinnest built. The … Read more
Spanish Armada vs US Navy Cuba’s decisive naval battle The Battle of Santiago de Cuba, was seen by some as a naval “execution squad”, as US ships (with large firepower superiority) just awaited the Spanish squadron to leave and force its way out of Santiago’s bay. Some duelling occurred nevertheless, but the fate of the … Read more
Spanish Armada vs US Navy Map of Manila’s battle actions (public domain) Swapping an Empire for Another The origins The war of 1898 which emerged from the question of the independence of Cuba from Spanish so-perceived tyrannic colonial rule, was resolved rapidly through two naval battles. Strangely the first one did not occurred in the … Read more
Project 1134A (Berkut A) 10 cruisers: Kronstadt, Admiral Isakov, Admiral Nakhimov, Admiral Makarov, Admiral Voroshilov, Admiral Oktyabryskiy, Admiral Isashenko, Admiral Timoshenko, Vasily Chapayev, Admiral Yumashev The Kresta II class missile cruisers (Project 1134A, or Berkut A) were like the Kresta I anti-ship cruisers re-evaluated as ASW cruisers when the design was still ongoing. Their armament, … Read more
