Chinese PLAN (1969) 17 ships: Guangzhou, Xi’an, Changsha, Yinchuan, Nanning, Nanjing, Jinan, Xining, Nanchang, Chongqing, Zunyi, Guilin. Type 051DT: Kaifeng, Dalian. Type 051Z: Hefei. Type 051G: Zhanjiang, Zhuhai The backbone of the Chinese Navy in the Cold War The “Luda” class (NATO) or Type 051 destroyer (Chinese designation) were the first ocean-going warships by the … Read more
The Fuji class pre-dreadnoughts Japan (1896): Fuji, Kashima The first modern Japanese battleships The Fuji class pre-dreadnought battleships, 富士型戦艦 Fuji-gata senkan, were the first of their kind built for Japan. Notice the “For”, as like the following Shikishima class, Asahi and Mikasa (1900) they were all built in Great Britain, on British plans, and led … Read more
Amiraglio Di St Bon class Battleships (1897) Italy – Regia Marina Adm. Di St Bon, Emanuele Filiberto Battleships on a Budget: It’s rather rare that battleships are named after the minister that first proposed them. But such was the case of the Ammiraglio Di Saint Bon. She was the first of a couple of capital … Read more
Germany (1908) Armored Cruiser The first German Battlecruiser ? According to Conway’s all the world fighting ships 1906-1921 and many other sources, SMS Blücher is rated as an “armoured cruiser”. However, by the composition of her main artillery and inspiration before construction she was more like a transitional, hybrid ship, an armoured cruiser with battlecruiser … Read more
United Kingdom (1904) Classes Adventure, Forward, Pathfinder & Sentinel, 8 ships Genesis of British scout cruisers Scout cruisers were the type that spawn the entire generation of ww1 light cruisers fielded by the Royal Navy. Adventure class scout cruisers were, as the title suggests, not designed for the battleline (like armoured cruisers) nor used more … Read more
Tashkent class destroyers Soviet Navy – The “Blue Beauty” of the black sea. Probably the most famous Soviet Destroyer at the beginning of the war was the Tashkent, also rapidly nicknamed the “blue beauty”. This was one of the many collaborations of the Italians to the rebith of the Soviet Navy, through several designs and … Read more
USA (1890) Protected Cruiser. The last of mixed cruisers: The USS Newark was a mixed cruiser (steam and sail), and because of this one of the last of her kind. She was very close to the USS Chicago and the last of the “ABC” cruisers. The ‘ABC’ were the USS Atlanta, Boston, and Chicago, among … Read more
On August 6, 1914, an agreement was formalized between the Royal Navy and the French Navy concerning the command of the allied forces in the Mediterranean. The latter thanks to its colonial bases and Toulon mobilized the bulk of her fleet on site, while other ships would came from the Atlantic later. It therefore seemed … Read more
Zenta class cruisers (1897) Zenta, Aspern, Szigetvar Three cruisers for a reverence: The Zenta class were obsolete by the time WW1 erupted. They had a short career, but despite of this, one ship eclipsed all others by feats of bravery rarely equalled in the Austro-Hungarian annals: Zenta duelled with French battleships for one hour before … Read more
(1923-1939), about 90 ships Almost 20 years of development French Destroyer Frondeur of the L’Adroit-class – Official U.S. Navy photo NH 55990 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Almost 20 years of development: From the 1920s mass-produced “three-pipers” to the 40 knots, super-destroyers of the Mogador class, destroyer development in France went … Read more
