admin7126 RN (1875-79, service until 1905-19): Iris, Mercury The Iris class Cruiser were an important milestone in the development of the type in the Royal Navy. Unlike contemporary masted vessels called as “armoured cruisers” such as the HMS Shannon and Nelson class, close to ironclads than true cruisers, the Iris class were the first all-steel warships … Read more
Guided Missile Destroyer (2011-2027): DDG-1000 Zumwalt, DDG-1001 Michael Monsoor, DDG-1002 Lyndon B. Johnson For this 4th of July here is a presentation of the most impressive surface ship, outside aircraft carriers, in the USN inventory today. But also one of the most protracted and controversial naval procurement of the last 20 years. Some naval historians … Read more
Germany: SM U23, 24, 25, 25 (1912) The U23 class submarine were of the so-called double-hulled type, designed as oceanic models in official design documentation. They were also called the “mittel-U”, second class equipped with Diesels, and a copy of the U19 by Germaniawerft, from the large imperial shipyard of Kiel. The latter recovered the … Read more
Royal Navy (built 1940-47) Iroquois, Athabaskan, Huron, Haida, Micmac, Nootka, Cayuga, Athabaskan (II) Canada Day ! The Canadian Navy had its largest extension in its history during the second world war. When it ended, the RCAN was the world’s fourth largest in tonnage and number of ships. This Navy operated cruisers, destroyers and plenty of … Read more
✠ K.u.K. Seefliegerkorps: c40 manufactured 1913-1914. In service until 1916 The Lohner E was an Austro-Hungarian reconnaissance flying boat of World War I. It was the first engaged in 1914, with “E” standing for Igo Etrich, one of Lohner’s engineers in charge of the project. This conventional design featured slight sweepback, pusher engine in the … Read more
Royal Navy, Type 41 or Leopard-class frigates: 7 ships in Service 1957-2013* RN: HMS Leopard, Lynx, Puma, Jaguar RIN: INS Brahmaputra (ex-HMS Panther), Beas, Betwa The Type 41 or Leopard class were a new type of British Royal Navy anti-aircraft defence frigates. It consisted only of four ships, whereas three more were delivered to the … Read more
Marine Nationale (1887-80), Protected cruiser, 1890-1910 Davout (After Napoleon’s Marshall) was a protected cruiser of completely new and modern type built between 1887 and 1890. It was ordered at the height of the “Jeune Ecole” influence over the Marine Nationale, under Admiral Théophile Aube as Minister of Marine. The latter preferred cruisers to battleships and … Read more
Kriegsmarine (1934), U-26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 With the Type VIIA we start a new cycle “in depth” about the Type VII the most produced submarine in history, most famous U-Boat of WW2. In these series of articles, we will dive deeper into the nitty-gritty details of the successive … Read more
Regia Marina: 8 Built 1929-33: Folgore, Lampo, Fulmine, Baleno The Folgore class, sometimes mixed with the Dardo class, was composed of four ships, all modern and fast Italian destroyers largely based on the Freccia class (or Dardo class). It was built with a structure similar to that of the previous “Dardo”, but with some improvements. … Read more
Germany, Aviso-Cruiser, 1895-1914 SMS Hela was a cruiser of the Imperial German Navy, initially classed as an “aviso” (despatch vessel). She was commissioned by the Weser Shipyards in Bremen (AG Weser) and launched in Kiel on March 28, 1895. She was named after the Hel Peninsula near Danzig and commissioned on May 3, 1896. As … Read more
