WW2 American Cruisers USA, 1921-1947 – 62 cruisers From Omaha to Worcester, two decades of conventional cruiser development (1918-47) The term of ‘conventional cruiser‘ appeared in the late 1950s when the first missile cruisers were developed, notably in the US the “three T*” carrying ships, to describe a gun-armed vessel as primary armament. The USN … Read more
USA 355 submersibles (1917-45) The US Navy submarines (Submersibles*) contribution to the war are certainly greater than Battleships, and on par with the aircraft carriers and LSTs in helping turning the tide of the war in 1942. In the Pacific, they were instrumental in the defeat of Japan, using the same tactics as German U-Boats … Read more
USA (1921-1945), 150 aicraft carriers The leading country in Aircraft Carriers The US Navy started during WW2 with a small fleet of carriers, with a slow training ship, the Langley, two fast, large fleet ones, the Lexington class, the Ranger, and two of the new Yorktown class, so six in all (two more in completion, … Read more
USA (1910) Wyoming, Arkansas The Wyoming class: Last USN 12-in battleships: The Wyoming and Arkansas were a gradual improvement of the 12-in gun battleship formula, cumulating three pairs of superfiring turrets, all axial. They were completed before the Royal Navy revealed their first 13.5 in gun armed battleships, and would be the last of their … Read more
USA – 1914-1945, 28 battleships Two generations of battleships: On December 6, 1941, the US Navy was confident. Despite two coastlines to defend and a few overseas possessions, an opinion and a congress opposed to the war, the fleet’s hopes rested on no less than twenty battleships, at the time, the largest capital ships force … Read more
WW2 US destroyers USA (1917-45) 1,224 destroyers, 18 classes The US Navy Destroyers represented the formidable industrial effort consented by the United States to win the war on two oceans. They were versatile and highly standardized, to the point as producing only four wartime classes of 50+ up to 180 ships, the Bensons, Fletcher, Sumner … Read more
Brooklyn class cruisers (1936) USA (1936-37) USS Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Savannah, Nashville, Phoenix, Boise, Honolulu, St Louis, Helena. The Brooklyns: Defining a new standard in US cruisers It seems strange to consider some of the numerous cuiser classes that preceded WW2 or went through the war, some were more famous than others. The Pensacola “opened the … Read more
USS Langley (CV-1) (1920) USA (1920) – Aircraft Carrier The First American Aircraft Carrier (CV-1): Barely one year after the launch of IJN Hosho and two years after the HMS Furious, the US Navy ventured into the next capital ship of the century. Born as a fleet collier, the first turbo-electric-powered ship in the USN … Read more
USA (1917) – USS New mexico, Mississippi, Idaho The New Mexico, Idaho and Mississippi at Pearl Harbor in December 1943 Battling vets of two world wars: About nine classes of battleships went through both world wars, two from UK, Japan, France and Italy, and five from the USA. In the latter case, the two oldest … Read more
Omaha class cruisers (1920) USA (1920-24) USS Omaha, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Raleigh, Detroit, Richmond, Concord, Trenton, Marblehead, Memphis The new kids on the block The Omaha were the first American cruisers after a very long eclipse dating back to 1907 (the Chester). They were originally designed in 1919, originally to bring the squadrons of large-scale destroyers … Read more
