Wittelsbach class battleships (1900) Germany (1900-1901) Wittlesbach, Wettin, Zähringen, Schwaben, Mecklenburg Tirpitz pet’s battleships: The Wittlesbach class were the first battleships ordered under Admiral Von Tirpitz 1898 naval law. They should mark some improvement over the previous Kaisers, but only the belt was reinforced. They were mostly an incremental step and saw little action during … Read more
United Kingdom – HMS Exeter, HMS York The last British heavy cruisers Development of the “Class B” – York design The County class is generally known as Washington cruiser design “Class A” cruiser, reaching the top of what could be done within the 10,000-ton range. However already when they were designed in the 1920s it … Read more
French Heavy Cruiser (1929-1942) The best “washington” cruiser? Algérie was the last French heavy cruiser. She was also -as many authors agrees- certainly one of the very best, if not the best “Washington cruiser”. Meaning, built within the Washington treaty limitations (1922). She proceeded from two earlier heavy cruisers designs but took a radically new … 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
Imperial Japanese Navy IJN Ise, Hyūga 1915-1945. From super-dreadnoughts to hybrid battleships: Ise and Hyūga were two fast dreadnoughts built by capitalizing from the experience gained with the two Fuso, the first battleships built and designed in Japan, although still with under strong influence of British engineering. They were launched in 1916 and 1917 and … Read more
About 113 submersibles The Regia Marina in 1939 had far more submarines than Germany, 116 (107 for other sources) versus 72 (and still more than the IJN, about 70 in 1941), so topping the Axis. This fact must be recalled before going further. Like other navies, the Regia Marina divided these in two classes, oceanic … Read more
Greek Navy vs Turkish Ottoman Navy The Battles of the Aegean sea, a prelude to the great war at sea Eight years after Tsushima, and just before the Great war, Mediterranean naval powers clashed upon territorial and sovereignty questions. The Balkans separated from the Turkish Ottoman Empire, already in the XIXth century considered the “sick … Read more
Chinese PLAN (1974-96) – 18 ships The Type 053 was the staple of Chinese PLAN late cold war frigates. The extensive denomination type covers 8 different ship types which spanned almost 20 years, from the Type 053K Jiangdong class which were basically heavily modified soviet Riga class frigates. They were designed as air-defense frigates, armed … Read more
Tri Sviatitelia (1894) Russian Battleship (1894) The “Three Holy Hierarchs” was an early 1890s pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy, the best protected in her class with thick Harvey armour, and first fitted with a radio. She served with the Black Sea Fleet and opposed the mutiny of the Potemkin in June 1905, duelled … Read more
WW2 British Aircraft Carriers Circa 52 aircraft carriers, built and started WW2 The leading nation in aircraft carriers: If the United States are remembered today for a considerable fleet of aircraft carriers, the type was first thought after and developed in Great Britain. Along with UK, Japan was also quite enthusiastic about naval air warfare, … Read more
