admin7126 Royal Navy Broadside Ironclads: HMS Warrior, HMS Black Prince 1859–1862, service until 1902 The start of the ironclad age, before the name “battleship” and “capital ship” took over, started in 1860 and lasted until steam-only steel ships became the norm. For more than a decade, the flourishing of ideas and technologies was unprecedented, at a … Read more
Target Tug Floatplane (1935), 4 built The Letov Š-328V was a variant of the Letov Š-28 2-seat general purpose reconnaissance biplane of the Czechoslovak Air Force in 1938. Designed and manufactured by Letov Kbely in Prague, it first flew in 1929, and started service in 1934, with 470 in all variants, Š-328V floatplane being the … Read more
Russian Battleships; Imperator Aleksandr II, Imperator Nikolai I (1885-91) The Imperator Alexandr II class were two pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Russian Navy in 1885-91 to counter other armored ships of Baltic powers such as Sweden and Germany. Construction was very slow, making them obsolescent when completed as “turret ships”optimized for ramming, tactics that … Read more
Destroyers built 1919-23, Minekaze, Okikaze, Shimakaze, Nadakaze, Tachikaze, Hokaze, Nokaze, Namikaze, Numakaze, Sawakaze, Yakaze, Hakaze, Shiokaze, Akikaze, Yukaze. The Minekaze class (Minekazegata kuchikukan) were fifteen 1st-class destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy built for the 8-4 Fleet Program FY1917–1920 as a complement to the 2nd class Momi we just saw. Laid down in 1918 they … Read more
Royal Navy (1928-31) A class: HMS Acasta, Achates, Active, Antelope, Anthony, Ardent, Arrow, Acheron Canadian A class: HMCS Saguenay, Skeena A class Leader: HMS Codrington B-class: HMS Basilisk, Beagle, Blanche, Boadicea, Boreas, Brazen, Brilliant, Bulldog B-class leader: HMS Keith The first interwar British Royal Navy destroyers were the A and B classes, identical and built … Read more
Oceanic Submersible (1927-41) Ettore Fieramosca was designed by Bernardis as a cruiser submarine capable initially to carry a seaplane in a waterproof hangar armed armed with a single 203 mm (8 in) gun, partly inspired by the French Surcouf under construction. The completed submarine was much smaller, and the prototype seaplanes tested were not impressive, … Read more
Nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (built 1963-64), service 1964-1994: James Madison, Tecumseh, Daniel Boone, John C. Calhoun, Ulysses S. Grant, Von Steuben, Casimir Pulaski, Stonewall Jackson, Sam Rayburn, Nathanael Greene (SSBN-627 -636). The James Madison class SSBN were a near-repeat of the Lafayette class which themselves evolved from the Ethan Allen class. The Lafayette, James Madison, … Read more
Royal Canadian Navy – Mackenzie, Saskatchewan, Yukon, Qu’Appelle DDE-261 – DDE-264 The Mackenzie-class destroyer was four Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Forces destroyers escort built in 1958-63 and in service until the end of the cold war in 1992-94. Six were planned initially but the last two were eventually to completed as DDH conversion St. … Read more
Aircraft Carrier (Built from 1978, service 1988-2013) The Príncipe de Asturias, originally named Almirante Carrero Blanco, was a light aircraft carrier and former flagship of the Spanish Navy built in Bazán’s Shipyards and commissioned on 30 May 1988. This was the first Spanish Carrier since many years, but the country more or less operated one … Read more
Prussian Navy – Ironclad 1866-1899 SMS Friedrich Carl was a broadside ironclad of mixed construction built for the Prussian Navy in France at the Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée shipyard (FCM) in Toulon, laid in 1866, launched in January 1867, commissioned by October that year, the third ironclad ordered by the Prussian … Read more
