United Kingdom (1942-44) HMS Bellona, Black Prince, Royalist, Spartan, Diadem The British AA cruisers, reloaded These ships were derived from the previous “Dido” but with revised AA artillery, superstructures and lower funnels to clear their firing range. They shared the same hull, facilities, and same turrets, albeit the “C” one (uppermost) was removed for a … Read more
United Kingdom – 19 Hybrid Merchant Escort Aircraft Carrier (1942-45): MV Empire MacAlpine, MacAndrew, MacCallum, MacDermott, MacKendrick, MacRae; MacCabe, MacColl, MacKay, MacMahon; MV Acavus, Adula, Alexia, Amastra, Ancylus, Gadila, Macoma, Miralda, Rapana. Although not the best-known aircraft carriers, MAC-ships (Merchant Aircraft Carriers, to not mix with the Merchant Armed Cruisers) illustrated the most extreme form … Read more
United Kingdom – Escort Aircraft Carriers: HMS Vindex, Nairana, Campania The Nairana-class escort carrier were three converted fast diesel cargo ships built in England, Ireland and Scotland, on a stnadard basic design launched in mid-1943 and requisitioned by the RN to be converted. They however could only accommodate a composite squadron of 15–20 aircraft over … Read more
United Kingdom – Escort Aircraft Carrier HMS Activity is one of the many one-off converted British escort carrier converted from the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She was a merchant vessel requisitioned on slip and converted (pennant D94), recommissioned in late 1942 and only carrying ten aircraft, mostly Swordfish and Martlets of the … Read more
United Kingdom (1939-1960) Genesis of the Vanguard design It should be tempting to reduce HMS Vanguard to a solution for “reusing old turrets”. A monitor could have done the job just as well for a fraction of the price. The truth is that the design went by leaps and bounds with a real theater in … Read more
United Kingdom (1942-45) HMS Swiftsure, Minotaur, Superb, Hawke, Bellerophon, Blake, Defence, Mars The last “classic” British cruiser of WW2 were the Minotaur class (later swiftsure as Minotaur became HCMS Ontario). On paper, light cruisers due to their armament of nine 6-in DP guns, “C” turret being sacrifice to make room for more AA. Essentially an … Read more
Oceanic Submersibles 1926-1946: The Parthian-class submarine or P class was a class of six submarines built for the Royal Navy in the late 1920s. Also called P-class submarines, they were a group of diesel-electric submarines operated by the Royal Navy in the late 1920s and 1930s. The class consisted of six boats – HMS Pandora, … Read more
United Kingdom – D94, Training Aircraft Carrier HMS Pretoria Castle (F61) was a freshly completed Harland & Wolff, Belfast-built Union-Castle ocean liner (the makers of the Titanic) requisitioned and converted into a Royal Navy armed merchant cruiser (MAC), and then in July 1942 as an escort carrier (Commissioned as escort carrier on 29 July 1943). … Read more
Cruiser Submersible 1921-1937: Nearly bankrupted by the war and in peace mood, Britain was not willing to engage in military innovation in 1920. Nevertheless, the Royal Navy on a limited budget could still experiment and based on the German project U-173, and the war prize U-141. This was designed HMS X.1 in utter secrecy. Massive … Read more
Aircraft Carrier Support Ship Royal Navy – 1939-59 Don’t call me an aircraft carrier: HMS Unicorn was an oddity as aircraft carrier in WW2, as she was envisioned in the 1920s already and with the Second London Naval Treaty, the british delegation secured a condition for auxiliary vessels at large, that opened the gate for … Read more
