Germany (1925), Light Cruiser First postwar cruiser in Germany, the Emden (from the city, also to honour the famous 1914 corsair cruiser was authorized in 1921 in an unfavourable economic environment and suspicious allies. Emden was directly modelled after the last german cruisers built in WWI, the “Königsberg II” and the projected 1916 Flottenkreuzer (FK1) … Read more
Dansk marine – Ironclad (1868-1907) HDMS Lindormen was a Danish ironclad and monitor built for the Royal Danish Navy in the 1860s, scrapped in 1907. She was perfectly adapted to her role, succeeding to the 1863 Rolfe Krake built in UK, Napier. She was by the way not the very first Danish armoured ship, but … Read more
France (1893-1927) – Armored Cruiser The French Armoured cruiser Pothuau was built in the 1890s as a one-off derivative of the Dupuy de Lôme. Laid down on 25 May 1893 at FCM in Granville, she was completed 9 July 1897, commissioned a month earlier. Like the previous armoured cruiser, she had a prominent plough bow, … Read more
Royal New Zealand Navy Flagship 1955-1990 Waitangi Day ! Probably the best remembered large warship of the cold war RNZN: Royalist (C89). She was a modified Dido class cruiser tailored for the needs of the RNZN but also Scotts yard envisioned to procure other customers such reconstruction and modernization, like Pakistan. Royalist was modernised at … Read more
United Kingdom (1890-1920) c190 cruisers in service by 1914 The Royal Navy started the Great War with the largest contingent of cruisers of any nation on earth, nearly 200. However between new constructions and the need of manpower, many of the late 1880s and early 1890s generation started to be placed in reserve. The typology … Read more
Escort Aircraft Carriers: IJN Taiyō, Chūyō, Un’yō, commissioned 1941-42 The first IJN escort carriers The paradox of the history of these three first escort carriers, is that they were not designed as such in the first place. The idea was to add more fleet carriers by converting civilian ships, the most capable and conform to … Read more
Austro-Hungarian Navy (1911-1937): Tátra, Balaton, Csepel, Lika, Triglav, Orjen. Ersatz: Triglav(ii), Lika(ii), Dukla, Uszok Tátra class destroyers: SMS Tátra, Balaton, Csepel, Lika, Triglav and Orjen were large, new generation Hungarian-built destroyers designed for the Adriatic. They were built in the general context of experimenting with larger destroyers-scouts leaning on light cruisers instead of torpedo-boat derived … Read more
Nihhon Kaigun (1901-1922): Armoured Cruisers IJN Kasuga, Nisshin Italian-Built for an upcoming war Kasuga class armoured cruisers. These Cruisers were part of a rapid explansion plan of the Imperial Japanese Navy prior to the 1904 war with Russia. In a short span, Japan, still lacking the industrial output to built many cruisers and capital ships … Read more
250 Corvettes: Poti, Nanuchka, Tarantul, Pauk Introduction Corvettes are, yesterday like now, small warships designed for coastal defense or escort roles. They typically have a smaller displacement than frigates and destroyers. The Soviet Navy mass-built them while searching what role to give them, and the new Russian Navy has developed and deployed various corvettes over … Read more
Nuclear Attack Submarines: USS Skate, Swordfish, Sargo, Seadragon SSN-578, 579, 583, 584. 1957-1995. The first USN SSN class The Skate class was the first coherent class of nuclear-powered attack submarines after two prototypes, USS Nautilus and USS Seawolf. The second tested a new type of sodium-cooled reactor that was not chosen for this class, following … Read more
