WW1 Russian Submarines About 8 classes, approx. 60 boats 1903-1916 A long gestation, started in 1853: The story of submarines with Russia started quite early, right at the time of the Crimean in 1853, by that time “submarine warfare” Podvodnaia Voina was already an idea, but the term and the start of a doctrine was … Read more
France (1891-95) Brennus, Charles Martel, Jauréguiberry, Carnot, Masséna, Bouvet “A navy of prototypes” Prior to 1890, France, still Britain’s main naval rival at that point, paused its battleship construction because of the influence of the Jeune Ecole doctrine. The latter blindly and radically favoured torpedo boats and torpedo-carrying ships in general, at the expense of … Read more
Chinese PLAN (1955) – Chengdu, Guiyang, Gulin, Kunming The Green Tea “Riga” The 1956′ Chengdu class can be summup as the Chinese “Riga” class. The latter were the standards mass-built Soviet ASW frigates of the Soviet Navy. Although they were delivered at the same time than the four Gnevny (future Type 07 Anshan class destroyers), … Read more
Forcing the Barrage The famous Barrage of Otranto (Authors’ map) The strait of Otranto, between Corfu and Brindisi, which is the passage from the Adriatic to the Mediterranean, was about 100 km wide and “closed” during the war by the famous “Otranto dam”. In reality the latter, designed by the British Navy with reduced resources, … 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
Kaiser Franz Joseph I class protected cruisers (1889) Kaiser Franz Joseph I, Kaiserin Elisabeth (1889) SMS Kaiserin Elisabeth sea trials The first Austrian-built cruisers The only modern cruisers previously built for the Austro-Hungarian navy were the two Panthers of 1885 from the English Armstrong-Elswick shipyards and typical of this kind of economic export unit. They … Read more
Napoléon, 1st steamship of the line (1848-1873) Marine Francaise 1850-60 (Crimean War) The Napoleon was a ship of the line of the French Navy built from 1848. Equipped with 90 guns, it was the first warship in the world to have propeller propulsion1. Steam became the primary element of propulsion while the sails would become … Read more
Italy (1886-1920) A quite powerful Italian protected cruiser Piemonte was designed at the request of the Italian government, which wanted to strengthen the Regia Marina in the event of a new war against Austria. The order was placed at the world-renowned Armstrong-Elswick shipyard. Chief Engineer Philip Watts took the opportunity to propose the Italian commission … Read more
Japan, 1918. Tenryu, Tatsuta First light cruisers of the IJN: The 天龍型軽巡洋艦 Tenryū-gata keijun’yōkan or Tenryū class has been the IJN first light cruisers. If the ‘three and four pipers’ cruisers of the Kuma, Nagara and Sendai classes are better known, they constituted an evolution of two precursors, built during the great war. Indeed, the … Read more
SMS Bussard, Falke, Seeadler, Condor, Cormoran, Geier The last German sailing Cruisers In 1914, among the oldest vessels of the Reichsmarine were the remainder of late 1880s colonial “cruisers” of the Bussard class. All named after marine birds, these fourth class cruisers, were more gunboats-size as per WWI standards. They had a barquentine rig, ram … Read more
