USN – c80 ships (1914-45). The subject of WW2 gunboats is rarely seen as a whole, because it was basically a mess. The list of ships and classes operated were more the result of inheritance of very disparate vessels for different missions, acquisition and reclassifications until 1945. That unglamorous category was considered obsolete in comparison … Read more
USA – Escort Destroyer (1942-45): 116 planned, 72 completed, 44 cancelled The WGT (better known as the John C. Butler class from its lead vessel (DE-339) were destroyer escorts of World War II, named after the lead ship USS John C. Butler commissioned on 31 March 1944. The associated “WGT type” came from their Westinghouse … Read more
USA: 96 Patrol Frigates. Built 1942-44 to US, UK, USSR service. The Tacoma class were 96 frigates designed and built for the United States Navy in World War II, also used by the British (Colony class) and Soviet Navy under lend-lease, the storozhevoi korabl (“escort ships”). They also saw action in and the Korean War … Read more
US Navy Landing Craft (1938-45): 500 LCM(1), 8,631 LCM(3), 2,513 LCM(6). Operated 1943-1945 D-Day Special ! The Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM) was the third major Allied Landing Craft type, mixing troops, tanks and vehicles or payloads depending on the need. The type was developed by the British, and became the basis for modern Landing Crafts … Read more
USA (1790-45) -1st Part Introduction The Coast Guard is now a widely accepted concept in most navies, when it exists, alongside, complementary, but not substitute to a regular Navy. Its role was defined early on to take charge on local policing missions inside a large range of duties, which non intercepted the battle fleet role … Read more
USN Fleet Submarines (1941-43): About 77 subs The Gato class were emergency wartime fleet submarines, built for the USN as a near-repeat of the Tambor class launched in 1941–1943. These mass-production U.S. submarine and the closely related Balao and Tench classes accounted by far for most of the US submarine effort in wartime, and destroyed … Read more
US Navy Submersibles, USS Tambor, Tautog, Thresher, Triton, Trout, Tuna. Sub-class Gar, Grampus, Grayback, Grayling, Grenadier, Gudgeon SS-198-211 (1939-48) The Tambor-class submarine was the last prewar US Navy submersible class design. Also called the “T class” based on their names (except the sub-class Gar), they were essentially the first USN truly successful fleet submarine, capable … Read more
US Navy Submersibles, 3 sub-classes (1933-45): USS Porpoise, Pike | Shark, Tarpon | Perch, Pickerel, Permit, Plunger, Pollack, Pompano The porpoise class are the first of a serie of ten submarines built on the same basic specifications, the Porpoise, Shark and Perch groups, separated by most authors and seen here in one go for practical … Read more
US Navy Submersible (1932-45) The Cachalot-class were two medium-sized oceanic submarines built for the United States Navy built, last V-Boats, but first under the tonnage limits of the London Naval Treaty of 1930. Laid down as V-8 and V-9, they were loosely related to the others and under an extensive study to determine the optimum … Read more
US Navy Submersible (1932-45) USS Dolphin (SS-169) was a single experimental submersible of the interwar, V-7 and later SF-10/SC-3, earning 2 battle stars in WW2. She was indeed the penultimate V-Boat, a serie of experimental submarines that were instrumental to reinvent the type in US service and made a solid basis for future developments: The … Read more
