admin7126 Ekaterina II, Chesma, Sinop, Georgiy Pobedonosets 1889/93-1919 The Ekaterina II class were four battleships of the Imperial Russian Navy, built in the 1880s for the Black Sea Fleet. Their design showed unique, never repated pattern of three main guns barbettes placed in a triangle, two forward ad one aft. Compared to average pre-dreanoughts which just … Read more
Spanish Broadside Ironclad (1868-1896) Zaragoza was a Royal Spanish Navy (Armada Real) wooden-hulled armored frigate ordered in 1860, built at the Royal Arsenal of Cartagena and completed in 1868. She had a relatively uneventful career after the 3rd Carlist War, being modernized in 1889. In 1892, she became a torpedo training ship, and was stricken … Read more
USA (1916-46) S-1 to S-68, oceanic submersibles After the R class of alast month and O class back in November last year, were are hitting the last of three wartime classes of US Navy submersibles, and by far the largest in numbers and most important for its history: These were Navy’s first true ocean-going attack … Read more
Coast Defence Ship built 1881-84, decomm. 1906 Development Denmark saw a decline of naval rank after the devastating Battle of Copenhagen and by the 1880s was essentually a minor coastal defense force, focusing of deterrence against its neighbor, starting with Imperial Germany, fuelled by its conflicting past with Prussia. In the decade after 1860, Denmark … Read more
United Kingdom (1958) – HMS Porpoise, Rorqual, Narwhal, Grampus, Finwhale, Cachalot, Sealion, Walrus 1957-91. After exploring the A class (Amphion), last WW2 British design and first streamlined for a longer career in the cold war, here is the first generation cold war conventional submarine, designed and built from the ground up for the Royal navy: … Read more
Aéronautique Navale: 129 built total The best French floatplane ? A Laté 298 dropping its payload during exercises A navy specification was issued in 1933 to replace the Latécoère 290 torpedo seaplane in service from 1934 in the French naval aviation (“Aéronavale”). This request concerned a new torpedo bomber and Latécoère proposed a derivative of … Read more
Nazi Germany: Z17-Z22 (1938-1945) The Type 1936 destroyers (Z17 class) were six destroyers of the Kriegsmarine, ordered in 1936, built from 1937 all at Deschmimag in Bremen, and completely before the war started (apart two). As previous ones they were all named after distinguished German seamen killed in World War I. They strongly derived from … Read more
Project 68bis, 14 cruisers (1951): Sverdlov, Zhdanov, Admiral Ushakov, Aleksandr Suvorov, Admiral Senyavin, Dmitry Pozharsky, Kronstadt*, Tallinn*, Varyag*, Ordzhonikidze (KRI Irian 1963), Aleksandr Nevsky, Admiral Lazarev, Shcherbakov*, Dzerzhinsky, Admiral Nakhimov*, Mikhail Kutuzov, Admiral Kornilov*, Oktyabrskaya Revolyutsia, Murmansk*, Arkhangelsk*, Vladivostok* *cancelled, BU on slip This massive class wanted by Stalin was to answer the armada of … Read more
USN (1927-30)- USS Narwhal, Nautilus (V-5, 6, later SS-167 and 168) 1930-1945 The Narwhal class was known as V5 class when authorized in 1926, wuth USS Narwhal and Nautilus built 1928-1931 as smaller but improved non-minelaying versions of the very large USS Argonaut. The trio was the only one attempt of the US to produce … Read more
Built 1968-71, in service until 2006: Audace, Ardito DD 551-550 The Audace-class destroyers were two guided missile destroyers built for the Italian Navy during the Cold War. An improvement of the Impavido class, these ships were designed for area air defence and ASW close protection with an heavy gun armament. They had with their Tartar … Read more
