USN Fleet Destroyers (1913-1936): USS O’Brien, Nicholson, Winslow, Mc Dougal, Cushing, Ericsson (DD-51-56) The third “1000 tonners”, heavy on torpedoes The O’Brien class comprised just six ships, third of five classes of “thousand tonners” based on their average 1,016 t displacement. The design was a continuation of previous Cassin/Aylwin, coming from discussions between the General … Read more
Cassin class destroyers (1913) USN Fleet Destroyers (1912-1935): USS Cassin, Cummings, Downes, Duncan, Aylwin, Parker, Benham, Balch (DD-43-50) The first USN “1000 tonners” Destroyers After the very early Bainbrige and the 800-tonners (late called “flivvers” – Paulding & Smith) the USN seeked a new incremental step based on the same desig, just upscaled the previous … Read more
German Heavy Cruisers (1937): Hipper, Blücher, Prinz Eugen, Seydlitz, Lützow KMS Hipper and her sister ships were the first and only heavy cruiser class ever built by Germany. They were enabled by the 1935 Anglo-German naval agreement and were intended still as commerce raiders and to screen for battleships, but cheating on tonnage. Wartime showed … Read more
Caracciolo class battleships (1917) Italy – Regia Marina: RN Francesco Caracciolo, Marcantonio Colonna, Cristoforo Colombo, Francesco Morosini (1914-1921) The first Italian Fast Battleships The last class of Italian dreadnoughts conceived before the war was the Caracciolo class, started in 1914-15. They were radically new battleships, much faster and heavily armed: They presented the new generation … Read more
Oceanic Submersibles 1924-1945: HMS Oberon (prototype), HMS Oxley & Otway (Australian order), HMS Odin, Olympus, Orpheus, Osiris, Oswald, Otus HMS Oberon HMS Oberon was the Odin-class prototype, more than the Oxley class, a derivative planned for the Royal Austrlian Navy. Originally called “O1” she received a full name, HMS Oberon, after a Shakespearian nickname meaning … Read more
Cold War USN Submarines 90 submarines 1950-1990: SA, SSN, SSBNs, SQLs The story of USN Submarines is an epic journey from WW2 submersibles to the perfect silent hunters. From diesel-powered to nuclear-powered and a galaxy of technological advances in between over 50 years. It was for the USN a quest on one side for the … Read more
Heavy Cruisers Katori, Kashima, Kashii. The IJN school cruisers The three Katori class light cruisers, Katori, Kashima and Kashii had been designed as training cruisers in peacetime, that could take on in wartime the role of destroyers and submarine leaders. Design-wise they were short but beamy, slow, under-armed, and regarded in general of low military … Read more
Savoia-Marchetti SM.55 (1924) Regia Aeronautica (1924-33), 250+ built The interwar record-setter The Savoia-Marchetti SM.55 was an Italian twin-hulled, twin-engine (tandem) interwar flying boat. It set many records in 1926 and the following years, and was soon known for its long distance flights, including many Atlantic crossings. Symbolic of the Regia Aeronautica as a squadron commanded … Read more
A Long lineage and new standard: Novik (1911) Russian Empire/Soviet Navy 1910-1941 In destroyer history, there are a few landmarks most authors agrees upon. Let’s cite for example the Spanish Destructor in 1886, recoignized generally as the earliest torpedo boat destroyer, the British Daring class in 1893, the US Bainbridge class inaugurated their own lineages, … Read more
Italian Colonial Cruiser (1892-1924) Calabria was a small protected cruiser of the Italian Regia Marina which was to serve across the growing Italian empire. Construction took six years, and she was armed with four 6-in main guns, four 4.7 in guns with the size and displacement of a typical large gunboat. She saw a lot … Read more
