admin7126 USA (1942-45) – About 1051 ships Armour Straight to the beaches: LSTs For this first crossover article with our sister website, tanks encyclopedia, meet the ships that really allowed to carry allied armoured divisions straight to the beach of Italy, France, or many Pacific Islands. Without these, and because of devastated, fortified or absent harbours, … Read more
German Navy 26 August 1914 Mining the Gulf of Finland Odensholm (currently Osmussaar, desolate island of 4.7 kilometers belonging to Estonia – where according to legend, Odin was burned at his funeral) was located 67 km southwest of Tallinn (59°17′30″N 23°23′30″E). By its strategic location, it closed the Gulf of Finland, gateway to the Baltic … Read more
Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia Austria-Hungary (1893) The first Austro-Hungarian Armoured Cruiser The KuK Maria Theresia (abbreviated) was the first armoured cruiser of the Austro-Hungarians. Before, the only spent experience was on protected cruisers of Kaiser Franz Joseph I class. It goes without saying that the engineers were inspired largely by her. However, this cruiser … Read more
Austria-Hungary (1909-1916) Austro-Hungary has full awareness of its small size compared to its immediate neighbours and long declared enemy, Italy, and France beyond the peninsula. Submarines, just like torpedo boats were a way to recover cheaply some form of parity, although the naval staff left the impression to late to recognize the potential of submersible … Read more
Austro-Hungarian Navy 14 August 1914 A visual of the area and route taken by the Allied ships. Although this engagement was all but fair (a recent dreadnought against an old cruiser) the ultimate result was almost a year round of inactivity for the Austro-Hungarian Navy (K.u.K Kriegsmarine) in the Adriatic The Austro-Hungarians at war The … Read more
United Kingdom (1895) – HMS Powerful, HMS Terrible The Anglo-Russian naval arms race Before the better known anglo-german naval arms race of 1906, the British press were scared, as the government and ultimately the Navy that had no apparent answer, to the known construction in 1890 of a massive Russian cruiser, Rurik, specifically intended in … Read more
France (1895) – Torpedo mothership/Seaplane carrier First life: As a torpedo boat mothership The Foudre in still well remembered from, studied, and related upon as an interesting experiment and pioneering ship at the fall of the XIXth century. The Foudre “Lightning” was originally a pure product of the Jeune Ecole (“Young School”). It was a … Read more
France (1893) – Casabianca, Cassini, D’Iberville The D’Iberville class in brief The three ships of this class, Casabianca, Cassini and Iberville were put into service between 1894 and 1896. They came a few years after the two Lévrier 1891, but differed in all. Larger and nearly twice as heavy, they had a forecastle and raised … Read more
France (1897) – Dunois, La Hire A strange mix of characteristics The Torpedo Cruiser was a development of the controversial Jeune École (“Young school”) a strategic naval concept that argued that the large ironclad battleships then being built in Europe could be easily and cheaply defeated by small torpedo-armed warships. Most nations including UK would … Read more
German Navy 3-8 August 1914 Prelude to War: The Mediterranean Squadron On 2 August 1914, the declaration of war was taking aback all the German units stationed outside the metropolis. The battlecruiser Goeben and the light cruiser Breslau then formed the Mediterranean squadron, usually stationed in Port Said, controlling strategic roadways from the Red Sea … Read more
