Naval History Forums

This book has a chapter dealing with a discussion in the British Parliament about the origins of the Marines. Obviously they were intended of amphibious operations, and as such they needed both land warfare and sea training, the question was how much of each. It was argued that if they received full...

I know how this is going to sound, but I can't picture it in me noggin'. If you need a crane to lift the cargo and place it into the hold of a merchantship (it travels down through the hatches and come to rest in the hold) once in the hold how do you position it? The hatches don't open up to the en...

According to Wikipedia's article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Sirte, Italian aircraft identified the merchant ship Breconshire as a battleship. The two reports from RAAF Hudsons of Mikawa's force before Savo Island were slightly misleading. The first had 'three cruisers, three dest...

Really? That's interesting, with reference to 64 and 74s I've always read upper gundeck, lower gundeck, orlop, hold https://c8.alamy.com/comp/AEECGM/agamemnon-64-gun-ship-of-1794-nelsons-favourite-ship-of-the-line-AEECGM.jpg This link here, shows the 64 Agamemnon, this I would call the "waist&...

Thanks, all. Thank you for advising, I was half-aware about its history as a raised "castle" for missile men and for boarding actions, but with regards to 18th Century I was wondering to its purpose. The upper gundeck runs under the forecastle, or I guess is part of it - I get so confused...

See "Operational Experience of Fast Battleships: World War II, Korea, Vietnam". US battleships were not deficient in seaworthiness, but they were considered "wet" ships due to the fine bow entry mentioned by the OP. This extended through the IOWA Class and it was recommended tha...

On a 74, or thereabouts, ship of the line, what was actually in the forecastle? I know that you could walk through this to get to the Heads, and indeed, I assume that inside the forecastle was simply a continuation of the upper gundeck, but were there any cabins or stores etc in there? What was its...

Hi, all. Random musing; on say a standard 74 gun ship of the line, would sailors mess and sleep on the upper gundeck? (tables in between each gun, and sling hammocks, etc) All I'm thinking is that; on a 74, as indeed, most ships of the line, the upper gundeck is basically open to the elements. You ...

TTTT wrote: ↑Sat Aug 26, 2023 1:34 pm Battleships.jpg

Left to right: Richelieu, KGV, Baden, Bismarck, Yamato, Nagato, Colorado, North Carolina, South Dakota and Iowa.

Well, the hangar in the stern may be responsible too.

The Iowa class seems to have a very long and thin entrance, that would make the bow less buoyant, and for sure is the culprit of her bad seakeeping. This, as commented, was surely to give her more speed. The fullness of the stern is a little more difficult to explain, may be it is related to the nee...

Hi Marcelo, I hope your absence from home is due to a vacation and not a business trip :dance: Great Britain did employ a 68-pdr carronade in limited numbers from the late 1770s, but TTBOMK the 42-pdr was the heaviest long gun in RN service as the lower deck battery of certain large 1st Rate three-...

I've been reading a book by Chris Durbin called "The Colonial Post-Captain" wherein he states that some French Ships of the Line had 52 lb guns. That seems frankly ridiculous to me and I thought it might have been an editing mistake but it's repeated later in the book. It's fiction, but l...

Thanks for the recomendation!

Hi Marcelo, Clipper ships are indeed things of beauty. I was fortunate enough to have seen "Cutty Sark" in Greenwich, England back in 1976 (pre-fire). Pictures just don't do them justice sSimilar feeling for "USS Constitution"). Speaking of such vessels, I was fortunate enough t...

I finally got a copy of this. GEMA: birthplace of German radar and sonar Creator: Kroge, Harry von. This book tells the fascinating story of how German radar and sonar was developed in the years leading up to and through World War II. Harry von Kroge has devoted decades to collecting a mass of stat...