Pamiat Azova (1886) Russia (1886) The old sailing cruiser of the Tsar: Several ships in WW1 had far past their prime but were still active, due to the tremendous losses of 1905. The Pamiat Azova (‘Memory of Azov’) was one of them, kept in service by default of new replacements. She was one of these … Read more
Germany (1940-44) – About 500 Amphibious ships German amphibious warfare in WW2: Prahme, converted riverine barges converted as landing ships in Wilhelmshaven, as part of the prevision for Operation Sealion, summer 1940. Whereas the focus on WW2 allied landings is very clear, the axis made a number of amphibious operations of smaller scale, first because … Read more
Heavy Cruisers built 1922-26: IJN Furutaka, Kako The First Japanese “washington” cruisers: The two heavy cruisers of the Furutaka class were the first cruisers built at home for the Imperial Japanese Navy after the Washington Treaty. They were characterized by of a continuous deck with recesses in order to simplify construction, save weight and favour … 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
Potemkine (1903) Russia (1903): Kniaz Potemkin Travichesky (Panteleimon) The Potemkine: Movie famous: The very name of Potemkine evoke the Russian 1905 Revolution, and one of, if not perhaps the most famous propaganda movie of all times. This is also perhaps the most famous mutiny since the Bounty and the Batavia, and probably the best known … Read more
Royal Navy (1890-91) – 21 cruisers The ‘Mythologic’ 2nd class protected cruisers The Apollo class were in WW1 already in reserve for many, at disposal for possible missions. They mostly saw service in the Boer war and the Latona, Apollo, Intrepid, Iphigenia, Andromache, Naiad and Thetis were converted into minelayers in 1907 and therefore found … Read more
Pao Min (1885) Chinese Nanyang Fleet One of the forgotten gunboat-size Chinese cruisers – In 1880 the concept of cruiser was rather new. Not long ago, mixed Frigates were still the norm. This was a time for transition in which Vickers-Armstrong ruled the trade and wrote the book, providing cheap ‘cruisers’ to the world. Countries … Read more
4 ships (1930) Giussano, Barbiano, Colleoni, Bande Nere. The famous “Condotierri” cruiser class was an invention from postwar authors, trying to group a serie of light cruisers named after ancient Italian warlords but built for various purposes. The first of these were also the first post-WWI Italian cruisers to see service. Five classes followed one … Read more
Germany (1933), About 700 subs A Massive Improvement of U-Boat designs: If German tanks, aircraft and small arms from the German manufacturing complex had won a considerable and fearsome reputation in WW2, German submarines truly reached the world stage as the epitome of the genre, with just the perfect balance of engineering, simplicity, and ease … Read more
USA – 46 battleships The development of WW1 era American battleship really started with the USS Texas in 1890. Despite these humble beginnings, American policy to leave the traditional isolationism, combined to the ideas of Mahan and Sims, the (strong) will of President T. Roosevelt made for a rapid rise, from the obscurity to the … Read more
