admin7126 Yugoslavian Navy Destroyer 1958-1980 The Yugoslav destroyer Split is a quite unique ship with a very rocky history: She was the only and only Yugoslavian destroyer flagship of the Cold War. She was originally designed in the late 1930s but started in 1939, captured incomplete by the Italians in April 1941. They resumed work on … Read more
Koninklijke Marine Frigates: Frigate 8 Built . HNLMS Karel Doorman, Willem van der Zaan, Tjerk Hiddes, Van Amstel, Abraham van der Hulst, Van Nes, Van Galen, Van Speijk (F827 to F834) The Karel Doorman-class were a new type of eight multi-purpose vessels of the Royal Netherlands Navy, they were a replacement for the 1950s Roofdier-class … Read more
Imperial Japanese Navy ship-based reconnaissance floatplane (1927-1936) 77 manufactured. The Nakajima E2N was developed in the 1920s for the Imperial Japanese Navy, which asked for a short range reconnaissance floatplane designed for catapult launch from cruisers and battleships. This wooden, twin-float sesquiplane had a crew of two and folding wings. It replaced the 1st generation … Read more
Box Battery Experimental Ironclad (1861-1864), service until 1879. HMS Research was a small ironclad converted from a wooden-hulled sloop, intended as a prototype on which new types of armament and armour could be tested to see if such conversion, rather than a frigate or ship-of-the line, was viable, notably for conversions in wartime but also … Read more
Oceanic Transport Submersibles & Blockade Runners (1942-43). 12 planned, 2 completed: Remo, Romolo (comp. July 1943). The Romolo (or R class) class were 12 planned blockade runner transport submarines, but only 2 were completed, Remo and Romolo (Remus and Romulus), both lost 1943. They were among the most radical designs produced by Italy and a … Read more
France. Barbette Ironclads: Vauban, Duguesclin. Built 1877-1886, service until 1914 The Vauban class (in some publications Duguesclin class) were two ironclad barbette ships of the Marine Nationale commissioned in 1886. Largely based on the Amiral Duperré, they had the same general arrangement but scaled down due to their role as colonial ships. They also due … Read more
Project 971 Shchuka-B (NATO “Akula”) Nuclear attack submarines: 20 planned, 15 completed 1983-1999, 4 active, 6 modernized. The Soviet Project 971 Shchuka-B (“Pike-B”, NATO reporting name Akula) were fourth generation nuclear-powered attack submarines deployed from 1986 and arguably the last of the cold war. Given the way the program evolved and was hit by the … Read more
UK Royal Navy (1913-1921) 1912 program, L-class 1913, 22 ships: The Laforey class (L class from October 1913) were 22 torpedo boat destroyers of the Royal Navy: 20 ordered under the Naval Programme of 1912–13 and 2 under the second War Emergency Programme in August 1914. They were the penultimate pre-war British destroyer design, followed … Read more
Nihhon Kaigun (1900-1941): Armoured Cruiser (Sōkō jun’yōkan) Azuma (吾妻 or Adzuma) was an Imperial Japanese Navy armored cruiser ordered from France in 1897, as Japan lacked the industrial capacity matching her naval expansion plan after the Sino-Japanese war and in preparation for future conflicts in the region, notably against a rearming Imperial Russia. She thus … Read more
Swedish Navy 1958-82 HSwMS Östergötland, Södermanland, Gästrikland, Hälsingland (J20 to J23)). The last Swedish Destroyers: The Östergötland class were a class of “light” (as sometimes designated) destroyers built for the Swedish Navy in 1956-59, smaller and less capable than the Halland class and active for most of the Cold War, until decommissioned in 1982. The … Read more
