Naval History Forums

Norman P's views should be respected. But paulc, please do do draw any comparisons between the LCS and the 'battlecruiser'. That is downright ludicrouus and shortsighted. Plus most crucially you are 110 years adrift. Man has even been to the Moon since. Apparently. I should also remind you that the ...

Although now well off topic, following the precedent of half the posts on this particular thread, it is astonishing how everyone so conveniently forgets the sinking of the Pommern at Jutland. Her entire complement of 844 would not have known what happened. Much along the lines of the armoured cruise...

Her location is known but has not been sighted. Much more interesting would be the wreck of the cruiser SMS Karlsruhe lost on 4th November 1914 some 200 miles east of Trinidad. Much conjecture and supposition has surrounded her demise, despite the survivors accounts. Doubtful if any efforts will be ...

Paul, you mean the German High Seas Fleet never ventured to meet the Grand Fleet of course. My favourite myth about Jutland is that SMS Seydlitz never sank. Seydlitz was the finest, best handled and most fortunate battlecruiser of the Great war. Nothing comes remotely close to what she and her men e...

There are many Jutland myths. This one concerns the Warspite / Warrior incident. Warspite, from Warrior lads. A deputation from Warrior was sent to the Warspite bearing gifts, boxes of cigars and sundry bottles that in most cases would rouse enthusiasm. "Take 'em mates-you saved us" said t...

Mike, your lead post and the issue of 14" torpedoes to this class. That is correct. As built, Indomitable, Inflexible and Invincible used the 14" (356mm) Whitehead torpedo in its various marks, depending on the date, for use by the ships 50' coal fired steam pinnace. A 2nd 50' or 36' was a...

SMS Nassau. The RN, Great Britains Royal Navy, had a strict sequence for lettering all turrets or gun mountings on all their ships, from battleships, through armoured cruisers, torpedo boat destroyers and, for torpedo tubes, submarines. As did the kaiserschlichtmarine. But the German system bore no ...

Jose, i'm afraid she was not the first Spanish carrier. Dedalo served with your navy from 1972 - 1989. Spain was somewhat late in true fixed wing carrier aviation, and the ex USS Cabot obviously filled a need in a rather archaic fashion. Dedalo was replaced with the very ship whose demise you mention.

RF, you are confusing the 3 sisters.
It was Invincible sunk at Jutland. Her gunnery was rather good in fact.
Both her sisters Inflexible and Indomitable came through unscathed.

Almost all warships have balanced rudders, unlike merchant ships. In the British RN there were 2 separate types. The larger ships, some cruisers and above, often had their rudder supported mid way by a pintle due to the weight. The much more common was a balanced rudder whose rotating axis, the part...

The rudder(s) on any ship are the most critical component. Forget the size of your ship, weapons, amount of armour or experience of the crew. If you lose your rudder, you are literally up the creek without a...never a truer phrase. Yes, RN rudders made extensive use of wood and cork. Also the corro...

Thanks for pointing out that error Simon. Poor planning on my part. It should read, Director control was moving rapidly onwards and it was their half sister Neptune where it was first fitted in the fore top. Additionally, to further clarify this, Neptunes director was the first to be retained after ...

HMS Queen Elizabeth was never the flagship of the 5BS. From its inception in Oct 1915 and until the final day of the war HMS Barham was the only flagship of the fast squadron. The 5BS was also the only Grand fleet squadron which comprised solely ships of the one class, the supreme Queen Elizabeths. ...

The West German navy did acquire 7 ex RN ships in 1958. 4 were Black Swan or modified BS. Type 138 in German service. Graf Spee - Flamingo Hipper - Actaeon Scheer - Hart Scharnhorst - Mermaid 3 were assorted Hunt class. Gniesenau - Oakley Brommy - Eggesford Raule - Albrighton Most of these had been ...

Hercules and sister Colossus may have looked better with 2 masts. There was no need. Fire control was moving rapidly onwards and it was their half sister Neptune where it was first fitted in the fore top. Neptune was the last to carry both fore and main masts. H and C also had the fore mast abaft th...