Iowa class battleships (1942) Battleships (1942-44): USS Iowa (BB-61), New Jersey (BB-62), Missouri (BB 63), Wisconsin (BB 64), Illinois (BB 65), Kentucky (BB 66) The Iowa class battleships were the last built in the US, and memorable ships at more than one title. They were the culminating point of a standard design worked out since … Read more
Patrol Submersible 1930-1945: HMS Swordfish, Sturgeon, Seahorse, Starfish. Birth of a great standard: The S-class (1930-1980s) HMS Seawolf (cc) The S-class submarines of the Royal Navy were were planned to patrol the restricted waters of the North Sea and Mediterranean. They were also scheduled as replacments for replacing the vintage WWI British H-class submarines. It … Read more
Birinci İnönü class submersibles (1927) Turkish Navy Introduction on Turkish Submarine 1923-1935 The development of Turkish submarines went on a long way. The very first ones, Abdülhamid and Abdülmecid, were commissonned in 1886 and 1887, at a time more Navies considered them experimental and little else. A cooperation between Sweden and British Yards, they were … Read more
R (Rainbow) class submersibles (1930) Patrol Submersibles 1929-1931: HMS Rainbow, Regulus, Regent, Rover The Rainbow-class submarine (R class) were four patrol submarines built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s. Although six were envisioned at first, only four were completed due to budgetary reason. The class comprised the HMS Rainbow, Regulus, Rover, and Regent. … Read more
Oceanic Submersibles 1931-1945: HMS Thames (N71), HMS Severn (N57), HMS Clyde (N12) Britain’s last Fleet submarines HMS Clyde underway for a resupplying at sea in the Mediterranean (RAS) The “River class”, known as “Thames” class after the lead boat, was a class of three large oceanic submersibles named after rivers at home, and quite large. … Read more
Grumman TBF/TBM Avenger (1941) US Navy torpedo-bomber (1941-1968), 9,839 built The well named “avenger”, Juggernaut of retribution The Grumman TBF Avenger is the well-remembered, massive WW2 US Navy torpedo bomber of the USN. It was also at the time the largest and heaviest single-engine aircraft of the war. It forged an enviable reputation as the … Read more
PT-Boats (1942) USA – Circa 500 built (1942-45) WW2 USN PT Boats: Overrated Success ? The “wooden marvels” were known by many names during WW2, but the official and generic “PT-Boat”, meaning “Patrol, Torpedo (Boat)”. They were an unknown type for the USN in WW1, as there was no need for such “naval dust” when … Read more
Marine Nationale, 1899-1944: Gueydon, Montcalm, Dupetit-Thouars Design development of the Gueydon class Following the success of the Jeanne d’Arc, the French admiralty tasked chief engineer Emile Bertin to create a simplified and cheaper version, to be built in series. However they still were intended to fill the same commerce-raiding strategy in line with the “Jeune … Read more
Ibuki class battlecruisers (1907) Japan (1907-1923) Ibuki, Kurama The Ibuki class (伊吹型) or Kurama class (鞍馬型) were transitional “semi-battlecruisers” classed as armoured cruisers (Sōkō jun’yōkan) of Imperial Japanese Navy, with a powerful secondary armament leaning towards monocaliber. https://bit.ly/3XjuGhD Delays had them completed only in 1909-1911, and they were obsolete. An interesting design nonetheless, they served … Read more
Italy (1922-43)- 26 cruisers Best Italian cruisers ever ? The Capitani Romani-class was a class of light cruisers acting as flotilla leaders for the Regia Marina (Italian Navy). They were built to outrun and outgun the large new French destroyers of the Le Fantasque and Mogador classes. 12 hulls were ordered by late 1939, but … Read more
