Naval History Forums

Hello again, RF It would be interesting to have seen him perform as a true naval commander up against someone like Nelson...... It should be very difficult to guess !! Anyway, I´m still voting for Nelson, … but we can´t forget that the Royal Navy played, obviously, a capital role in all his actions....

In 1920, William Hovgaard wrote in his “Modern History of Warships” about destroyers: “The torpedo-gunboat failed in its main object, to protect battleships and other large vessels against the attack of torpedo-boats, …” That’s right! … but : “England, in particular, felt the need of vessels that co...

Hello, RF
About Blas de Lezo ...
to begin, just have a look at Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blas_de_Lezo
and his most famous achievement:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_ ... _de_Indias
certainly a man who gained his place in naval warfare history.

Spanish admiral Blas de Lezo should be included in this Hall of Fame Gallery.
Anyway, my vote is for Nelson... (he was bold enough to disobey admiral Jervis, aka "the Hanger" !!)

Talking about ”black pages” in the history of naval warfare … we can not forget admiral Vernon, even worse that the Duke of Medina Sidonia, in his battle of Cartagena de Indias in 1741.

Surprisingly, I didn't find any clear reference to Villaamil´s TBD “ Destructor ” (named as contratorpedero in Spain) of 1887 in British bibliography as a Spanish innovation. Was she the first destroyer in the history of naval warship technology? In the excellent David Lyon´s “ The first destroyers”...

Difficult question!
How about the "Wasa"?
She had a certanly short career...

As a Spaniard my nomination as the worst admiral of all time is, without doubt, José de Córdova who wrote one of the most execrable pages of the Spanish naval history, as commander of the fleet which was defeated in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent in 1797 by a minor British fleet under admiral Jervis...