admin7126 United Kingdom: 1865-1869 Masted Turret Ironclad RN oddballs, second entry, HMS Captain. She was probably one of the most infamous ironclads of her era. She was essentially a prototype of new masted turret ironclad, authorized as a semi-private venture despite objections of the admiralty. Coles, inventor of the turrets, thought to create a “prefect battleship” … Read more
Germany: SM U3, U4 (1908-1909) Development SM U-3 was the third German U-boat, at a time the head of staff of the Kaiserliches Marine still wanted nothing to do with “these experimental vessels” that he saw of little use. The German Empire previously had three more, Forelle, the private venture prototype for Russia, U1, the … Read more
Regia Marina -4 destroyers: Francesco Crispi, Quintino Sella, Bettino Ricasoli, Giovanni Nicotera. Built 1923-1927, interwar, ww2, 2 lost, 2 sold Sweden. The Sella-class destroyers were a group of four destroyers built for the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) in the 1920s. Two of these ships fought in World War II and both were sunk after … Read more
US Navy Submersibles, USS Tambor, Tautog, Thresher, Triton, Trout, Tuna. Sub-class Gar, Grampus, Grayback, Grayling, Grenadier, Gudgeon SS-198-211 (1939-48) The Tambor-class submarine was the last prewar US Navy submersible class design. Also called the “T class” based on their names (except the sub-class Gar), they were essentially the first USN truly successful fleet submarine, capable … Read more
RAN Destroyers: DD37-38 HMAS Tobruk, Anzac (1946-53) Australia Day ! We continue a new chapter here, the Australian Cold war Navy, by seeing after its aircraft carriers, Sydney and Melbourne, their escorts starting with destroyers: The Tobruk (1947), Voyager (1952) class, and the 1963 Perth class (first and only Australian Guided missile destroyers) and the … Read more
Nazi Germany (1914-45) – 679 M-Boote*, 6 classes. Introduction: The “M-Flotte” of Minensucher (minesweepers) and minelayers (most having this dual role) of the Kriegsmarine took a considerable place numerically and was granted a sizeable attention and finances. These were the most affluent units of all types in the Kriegsmarine (apart U-Boote), with a total of … Read more
IJN “special type” Destroyers built 1930-33. Type III: Akatsuki, Hibiki, Ikazuchi, Inazuma The Akatsuki-class destroyers (Akatsukigata kuchikukan) were four destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) built between 1926 and 1933. They were dubbed the Group III of the Fubuki class (24, comprising themselves) which for some authors were described as the world’s first modern … Read more
British Royal Navy (1920): Hawkins, Frobisher, Effingham, Raleigh, Cavendish/Vindictive Named the “Elisabethan Corsairs” due to their names, the Hawkins-class cruisers were designed for hunting down commerce raiders in the open ocean, combining heavy armament, high speed and long range, to the detriment of armour. They were arguably less well armoured than some earlier protected cruisers … Read more
Marine-Fliegerabteilung: 470 manufactured 1916-1918. In service until 1929 The Friedrichshafen FF.33 family was the backbone of German naval aviation during most of World War One. Of the numerous seaplanes Friedrichshafen provided to the German Navy, half were from the FF.33 model. It came after a gradual development, from the 1913 experiments to the 1914 FF … Read more
Royal Navy (1930-34) E class: Echo, Eclipse, Electra, Encounter, Escapade, Escort, Esk, Express E Flotilla Leader: HMS Exmouth F class: Fame, Fearless, Firedrake, Forester, Foresight, Fortune, Foxhound, Fury F Flotilla Leader: HMS Faulknor The E and F class destroyers were a next step in destroyer design, with modest improvements over the C/D class but near-repeats … Read more
