USA – pre-dreadnought 1895-1911 USS Texas 1890 – The very first USN battleship. After the American Civil war ended in 1865, what was later called the “old navy” started to decrease and over the years, few new ships were built, so much so that in 1883, the Congress was asked two authorize the first modern … Read more
Tjerk Hiddes class Destroyers (1939) The Netherlands – 1936-40: Tjerk Hiddes, Isaac Swers, Philips Van Almonde, Gerard Callenburgh. The Tjerk Hiddes or Gerard Callenburgh class destroyers were specifically designed to counter the Japanese “special type” destroyers in the east indies. They were larger, faster, better armed and with greater range compared to the 1920s Admiralen … Read more
light Cruisers Agano, Noshiro, Yahagi, Sakawa The last IJN light cruisers The Agano class (阿賀野型軽巡洋艦) were the last Japanese light cruiser built in Japan, before the larger Oyodo class, mostly cancelled. But they arrived late in the war: The fourth, IJN Sakawa, was only completed in December 1944, very last Japanese cruiser since shipyards were … Read more
Fairey Seafox (1936) RNAS/FAA 1936-39: 66 built. The Fairey Seafox was designed and built by Fairey Aviation to be catapulted from light cruisers. It entered service in 1937 and stayed active until 1943 with just 66 produced, in service with 11 naval air squadrons. This biplane was powered as pet an admiralty request by the … Read more
Germany: SMS Cöeln(ii), Dresden(ii), Wiesbaden(ii), Magdeburg(ii), Leipzig(ii), Rostock(ii), Frauenlob(ii), Ersatz Cöln, Ersatz Emden, Ersatz Karlsruhe (1916-1919) Coeln class cruisers 1916: These were the very last German cruisers of WWI, a gradual improvements of previous light cruiser classes and reaching a new standard in size, speed and armament that was fitting well the needs of the … Read more
King Georges V class fast battleships (1938) United Kingdom (1937-1941)King Georges V, Prince of Wales, Duke of York, Howe, Anson The King Georges V class were not the last Battleship class of Great Britain (this goes to Vanguard), but the last to see action in WW2. These five fast battleship (still called “battlecruisers” in 1930) … Read more
USN Destroyer Leaders: USS Mitscher, John Mc Cain, Willis A. Lee, Wilkinson The Mitscher class were four experimental large conventional destroyers, considerably larger than all previous one albeit more reasonable than the previous massive USS Norfolk (DL-1), earliest attempt of “fleet escort, destroyer”, cruiser-size. Due to their reclassifications as destroyers leaders (DL-2 to 5)they were … Read more
Marine Nationale, 1896-1920 The cruiser “Jeanne d’Arc” was the largest French cruiser in 1899, first oceangoing armoured cruiser and prototype for all following French armoured cruisers until 1907. Designed initially in 1892 as protected cruiser for overseas service, this was changed later and the design was modified by Engineer Emile Bertin as an armoured cruiser. … Read more
Regia Marina – Scout Cruisers 1898-1923 The last ‘Esploratori’ Agordat and Coatit were built at Castellamare in 1897. They had been designed by Nabor Soliani as protected scout cruisers, launched in 1899 and commissioned in 1900. They derived also from Italian Torpedo Cruisers and became a first modern attempt as creating a scout cruiser or … Read more
River class Frigates (1942) United Kingdom/Canada – (1942-45): 151 ships. The River class frigates built in large quantities by UK and Canada in WW2, in service in both countries and used by other allies like the RAN, FFN, or Royal Netherlands Navy ramped-up considerably the ASW capabilities of the Royal Navy and RCN during the … Read more
