admin7126 France 1859-1908, Broadside Ironclad The French ironclad Couronne (“Crown”) was the first iron-hulled ironclad warship built for the then French Imperial Navy in 1859–1862. She was the world’s first to be laid down, albeit HMS Warrior was completed first. She took part in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871 in a limited way combat. She eventually … Read more
Royal Canadian Navy – DDH-280-83 HMCS Iroquois, Huron, Athabaskan, Algonquin. The “Tribals” were a class of Canadian helicopter destroyers, radically larger ships than previous ASW escorts all derived from a 1949 design and saluted as possibly NATO’s best north Atlantic escorts when commissioned. They were far less ambitious still, than the previous guided missile destroyers … Read more
Oceanic Submersible (1936-43) In the wake of the Ettore Fieramosca (1928), and attempt of submarine cruiser, Pietro Micca was the prototype for a new serie of fast and long range submarines, but not cruisers. They were to be much smaller, with a conventional torpedo armament but mine laying capability, as well as enough internal space … Read more
USA (1890-94): Protected Cruiser C-12 Columbia, C-13 Minneapolis 1894-1921 The Columbia-class were two protected cruisers started in 1890 and 1891 at Cramp for the United States Navy. They were an interesting take on the concept of commerce raiders, as protected cruisers (moderate armour) lightly armed for their size which focus was on speed to overtake … Read more
Project 671 Yorsh (NATO “VICTOR I”) nuclear attack submarines 15 submarines: K-38, 69, 147, 53, 306, 323, 370, 438, 367, 314, 454, 469, 481. The Soviet Project 671 Yorsh, Project 671RT Syomga and Project 671RTM/RTMK Shchuka, are better known under their NATO reporting names Victor I, Victor II and Victor III, respectively. These represented forty … Read more
Marinha do Brasil: 6 Destroyers built 1940-51, service until 1974 In short, the Acre class were the first modern destroyers built in Brazil. Initially a modified British design with U.S. equipment to replace the six H-class destroyers (called in Brazil the Jurua class) ordered from Britain but requisitioned as WW2 broke out. The design shifted … Read more
Japanese seaplane tenders/Oilers 1919-1922: Notoro*, Shiretoko, Erimo, Sata, Tsurumi*, Shiriya, Irō 1922-45. IJN Notoro and Tusurumi were rare case of seaplane carriers, born oilers, and returned back to oilers, the first in 1942, the second in 1931. But during their service for the IJN as seaplane carriers they brought a lot of experience in this … Read more
IJN Multirole Observation seaplane 1924-1937 The Yokosuka E1Y was an Japanese observation floatplane of the twenties. It was designed and developed by the Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal for the Imperial Japanese Navy and 320 were built as the Type 14 Reconnaissance Seaplane, entering service in 1925 and remaining frontline, launched by Battleships and cruisers … Read more
Finnish Navy – Merivoimat: Coastal submarine (1932-1945). The last Finnish submarine deployed in WW2 was another product Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw den Haag which seeked to convince Finland to adopt a successor to the very small Saukko, larger and far more modern. Vesikko became esentially the prototype for the German Type II submarines. Six Type IIA … Read more
Finnish Navy – Merivoimat: Coastal submarine (1930-1945). Saukko was in 1930 the world’s smallest submarine. At first this was another covert German project designed at IVS as Pu110, for a quick mobilization defensive U-Boat but she was too small to be adopted, while the Finnish one was designed for Lake Ladoga which imposed by treaty … Read more
