admin7126 Vought O2U/O3U Corsair (1927) USN/USMC Observation plane (Circa 580 built 1927-33) The workhorse of interwar USN observation The name “corsair” in the USN for an aircraft has a long legacy. The cokd war LTV A-7 Corsair II produced by Vought through Ling-Temco-Vought is now retired, but modern drones are likely to retake the name, first … Read more
Armada de Chile – 1897-1902 The longest-living cruiser of South America Chacabuco was a 1890s British-designed protected cruiser by Philip Watts at Elswick in 1897, and a sister shp to the Japanese Takasago. She was modernized during WW2 and had a fairly long career until 1952. In fact she was still around in 1959, pending … Read more
Admiralen class Destroyers The Netherlands – 1926-1942 HNLMS Evertsen, Korenaer, Piet Hein, Van Ghent (1st gp) HNLMS Banckert, Van Galen, Van Nes, Witte de With (2nd Gp) The first Dutch interwar Destroyers After two naval plans rejections in 1924, the Dutch Navy still had six pre-WWI destroyers in service. However in 1925 was approved a … Read more
Curtiss SO3C Seamew (1939) US Navy Observation Floatplane (1939), 780 built 1942-44 The Curtiss SO3C was supposed to be the main reconnaissance and spotting floatplane in service on board capital ships, cruisers and aircraft carriers of the US Navy, in its convertible versions. However it was a rather mediocre seabird, for multiple causes in part … Read more
United Kingdom (1900-1904) HMS Albemarle, Cornwallis, Duncan, Exmouth, Montagu, Russel The last gasp of the “Russian scare” The “Peresvet killers” The six Duncan class were pre-dreadnought battleships ordered in response to Russian naval shipbuilding, notably the Peresvet class. They were there to hunt the hunters, as these Russian battleships were designed to go after the … Read more
Japan, 1938-45: IJN Jun’yō, Hiyō The first IJN converted liners Jun’yō (隼鷹, “Peregrine Falcon”) and Hiyō (飛鷹, “Flying Hawk”) were two Hiyō-class aircraft carriers of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). They were started before the war as the passenger liner Kashiwara Maru and Izumo Maru, respectively, but both were purchased by the IJN in 1941 … Read more
Beriev BE-2 (1936) 1937-38: 12 built. The Be-2, light observation biplane In a nutshell, the Beriev BE-2 was a two-seat dedicated biplane observation and reconnaissance catapulted floatplane in service with the Soviet Navy when WW2 broke out. Only 12 has been manufactured, retired from 1942. It was originaly designed as Beriev KOR-2 but designation was … Read more
Germany (1912-1944) – SMS Graudenz, SMS Regensburg The Graudenz class were another iteration over the now classic kight cruiser formular prioneered by the Brmen class in 1902. Tne years after a constant, complete improvement cycle (namely the Könisgberg (1905), Dresden (1907), Kolberg (1908), Magdeburg (1911) and Karlsruhe (1912), the admiralty came with a new design … Read more
South Dakota class battleships (1939) Battleships (1938-42): USS South Dakota (BB-57), Indiana (BB-58), Massachusetts (BB 59), Alabama (BB 60) The shortened fast battleships The South Dakota class was a class of four fast battleships, the lead vessel being the second named after the 40th state, taking the name of a super-dreanought class canceled under terms … Read more
Loire-Nieuport LN 40 (1938) LN 401 Aéronautique Navale; LN 411 Armée de l’Air: 152 built total The French “Stuka” France had no dive bomber for its naval aviation in the late 1930s, just as the type became popular, being explored by all aviations and starting with France’s neighbour, Germany. In 1936, a specification by the … Read more
