UK 1913-1914: HMS Queen Elizabeth, Warspite, Barham, Malaya, Valiant PART I: A new breed of super dreadnoughts The Queen Elisabeth class battleships carved quite a path in the Royal Navy. When they appeared they redefined altogether the dreadnought genre, levelling up to “super-dreadnought” or “fast battleship”. By their heavy armament, oil-fired turbines and greater speed … Read more
United Kingdom (1918-1945), 57 submersibles 1939, 260 total Introduction British submarines during WW2 were never given the same focus as for surface vessels, and despite heavy losses in 1940-1941, mostly due to the use of large oceanic types in the Mediterranean, wartime production focused on smaller types pioneered before the war, like the Oceanic T … Read more
United Kingdom (1936-39) HMS Southampton, Newcastle, Sheffield, Glasgow, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Gloucester, Belfast, Edinburgh The new battle-hardened “Town class”. The “Town” class, or officially “Southampton” after the first cruiser launched, was the subject of quite lengthy preliminary studies, resulting both from the experience gained with the Washington class cruisers and future developments of the 1930 … Read more
United Kingdom – Aircraft Carrier The Courageous Class were two light battlecruisers intended for an Operation in the Baltic in 1917 pushed by Sir J. Fisher which never materialized and instead, they were converted as aircraft carriers, completely rebuilt after the treaty of Washington. With HMS Furious and Argus they pioneered the interwar fleet air … Read more
United Kingdom (1917-1945), 400+ destroyers Introduction In 1939, 184 destroyers were in service, dating back for a large part from 1917-18, in particular the large V-W classes, some destroyers leaders, and interwar vessels, from the “A” class to the “Battle” class. It would take too long to detail the career of all ships from all … Read more
United Kingdom – Aircraft Carrier HMS Hermes was the first (or second depending on the authors) purpose-built aircraft carrier. Indeed the Imperial Japanese Navy claimed to have the first, IJN Hosho. However, the latter was started AFTER the British carrier, but launched and completed before. Engineers and yard’s team were in a rush as a … Read more
United Kingdom (1941-45), about 4700 vessels Foreword: British amphibious warfare in WW2 D-Day was retrospectively the most visible amphibious operation of WW2, but in this game the British were by far the most experienced of the allies, starting operations in the Mediterranean as far as 1940. As we commemorate today Operation Overlord and the 2,700 … Read more
HMS Eagle (1918) United Kingdom – Aircraft Carrier HMS Eagle was the fourth British aircraft carrier to enter service, after the Furious, Argus and Hermes, and a compromise. Taking a massive dreadnought to carry 25 planes would seems ludicrous to us today, but there were little options at the time, but scrapping the ship entirely, … Read more
WW2 British Battleships United Kingdom (1913-1946) 3 battlecruisers & 18 battleships 1915-1945 WW2 British battleships in 1939 mirrored those in the US and Japanese Navies of the time, essentially WW1 era dreadnoughts modernized at various stages during the interwar, and newly-built fast battleships that had to wait until the end of the prolonged ban of … Read more
United Kingdom (1934-37) HMS Arethusa, Galatea, Penelope, Aurora The new generation British light cruisers The Arethusa class was the second class of light cruiser built after the end of the Great War. Built on a budget, they fitted within the confines of the Washington Treaty, deriving from Amphion group of the Leander class to save … Read more
