FLEETS #15: Russian Navy

Some of the heaviest surface combatants of Russian Navy
today in formation, Marshal Ustinov in the foreground and
Peter the Great in the background.

The U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), published an excellent report accompanied by some very good graphs, about the current and future capabilities of Russia's maritime forces. ONI's most recent unclassified report on Russia's navy, The Russian Navy - A Historic Transition, looks historically and currently at the role played by Russian Naval forces. It is the first such report discussing the Russian Federation Navy by ONI since the seventh and last issue of Understanding Soviet Naval Developments published in 1991. Moreover, the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) is making available publicly two great tables, the one about the Russian Major Navy Forces by Fleet, Russian Major Navy Forces by Fleet (Continued) and Russian Navy New Constructions.

INFOGRAPHICS OF COAST GUARD VESSELS #2: United States, Venezuela and Albania

Written by D-Mitch

This is the second post of a new category of infographics of various coast guard vessels from around the world. These infographics aim to highlight the most important equipment of the vessels; I do not analyze the systems in depth as I do for the warships instead I provide some basic information mainly from wikipedia (if else I provide the source) about the ships, their history and their capabilities.

 1.  Legend class cutters (National Security Cutters - NSCs) of the United States Coast Guard

USCGC Bertholf 

USCGC Bertholf with open hangars

NSCs are the flagship of the Coast Guard's cutter fleet, designed to replace the 115-meter Hamilton-class High-Endurance Cutters, which entered service during the 1960s. Ingalls has delivered five till today with one more being on sea trials. The Legend-class cutters are the second longest of all U.S. Coast Guard cutters, behind the research icebreaker Healy, and will replace the twelve Hamilton class cutters in service. These cutters are envisioned by the Coast Guard as being able to undertake the entire range of the High Endurance Cutter roles with additional upgrades to make it more of an asset to the Department of Defense during declared national emergency contingencies (the NSC is built to about 90% military standards). These vessels can be used for intercepting suspect vessels, or for rescuing swimmers, fishery protection, maritime homeland security missions, counter terrorism, or coastal patrol missions. To facilitate intercept missions, the Legend class can carry and launch both the 7-meter Short Range Prosecutor and the 11-meter Long Range Interceptor RHIBs.

PHOTO GALLERY #10: Kountouriotis, frigate of the Hellenic Navy

Frigate Kountouriotis of the Hellenic Navy

Today, December 6th of 2015, Hellenic Navy celebrates the feast day of its patron Saint, Saint Nicholas and the anniversary of the Balkan Wars (1912-13) naval battles. Such day of the year is a great opportunity for citizens of Athens and Piraeus to visit warships of Hellenic Navy that visit Piraeus for three days (Dec 4-6) to pay tribute to the patron saint of sailors and to give the opportunity to the citizens to "learn more" about their country's Navy. Once again for the second time in a row I was there! F462 Kountouriotis, is one of the nine (ten once, Bouboulina was decommissioned in 2013) of the Elli class frigates (Kortenaer/Standard class) of the Hellenic Navy. The name pays tribute to Pavlos Kountouriotis who was a famous Greek admiral and naval hero during the Balkan Wars, regent, and the first and third President of the Second Hellenic Republic. For a full analysis of the equipment and the capabilities of the Elli class click here. Enjoy about 60 photos of the ship!

PHOTO GALLERY #9: Roussen, fast attack craft of the Hellenic Navy

Roussen, lead ship of the Roussen class FACM

Today, December 6th of 2015, Hellenic Navy celebrates the feast day of its patron Saint, Saint Nicholas and the anniversary of the Balkan Wars (1912-13) naval battles. As such day of the year is a great opportunity for citizens of Athens and Piraeus to visit warships of Hellenic Navy that visit Piraeus for three days (Dec 4-6) to pay tribute to the patron saint of sailors and to give the opportunity to the citizens to "learn more" about their country's Navy. Once again for the second time in a row I was there! P67 Roussen, is the first boat of the Roussen class, the most modern surface combatants in service with Hellenic Navy and some of the most well armed and advanced boats in this category worldwide. The class is named after its lead ship in honor of Second Mate Nikolaos Roussen, a distinguished World War II submarine officer. Roussen fought bravely during the war but he found death in April 1944 after being mortally wounded during a naval mutiny while he was leading a naval detachment to recapture corvette Apostolis. This is the second boat of the Roussen class I have visited (Daniolos was my first!) but this time I was given the permission to have access on the upper deck. Photos of the interior of the ships are forbidden as usual. For a full analysis of the equipment and the capabilities of the class click here. Enjoy more than 35 photos of the boat!

PHOTO GALLERY #8: Pipinos, submarine of the Hellenic Navy

S121 Pipinos, second of the Papanikolis class

Today, December 6th of 2015, Hellenic Navy celebrates the feast day of its patron Saint, Saint Nicholas and the anniversary of the Balkan Wars (1912-13) naval battles. As such day of the year is a great opportunity for citizens of Athens and Piraeus to visit warships of Hellenic Navy that visit Piraeus for three days (Dec 4-6) to pay tribute to the patron saint of sailors and to give the opportunity to the citizens to "learn more" about their country's Navy. Once again for the second time in a row I was there! S121 Pipinos, is the second submarine of the Papanikolis class (Type 214 designation for the Hellenic Navy) of the Hellenic Navy, the most advanced submarines currently in service with Hellenic Navy and a class of one of the most advanced submarines in this category (diesel-electric/conventional submarine). The name pays tribute to Andreas Pipinos who was a fighter in the Greek War of Independence, noted for his success with fireships. This is the second submarine of Type 214 class I have visited (Papanikolis was my first!). Enjoy more than 20 photos of the boat!

FLEETS #14: Swedish Navy, Israeli Navy and Egyptian Navy today

Written by D-Mitch

This is the fifth article about various countries' navies today. In these articles, I briefly describe a country's naval fleet by reporting the ships in each type/category of warships and by providing a nice image where all the types of warships are illustrated and the units of its class are reported. I include the vessels that will enter in service this year and I have excluded those that are about to be decommissioned. I deliberately excluded many classes of auxiliary ships; those that they have "0" defence capacity and those that have secondary roles such as hydrographic survey ships, tugs, depollution vessels and training ships.

NAVAL FORCES #7 and INFOGRAPHICS #19: Submarines of Europe, Mediterranean Sea and Asia-Pacific in 2015

The following images were created by Naval Graphics (twitter acount: Naval_Graphics) and they depict the submarines that are operational in Europe, Mediterranean Sea and the region of Asia-Pacific as of late 2015. All the images are posted here with his perimission. Enjoy these absolutely excellent graphs!

Submarines of Europe and Mediterannean Sea in 2015. By Naval Graphics. Image in high resolution here.

NAVAL FORCES #6: Naval Power in the Eastern Mediterranean in 2015

The following image was created by me (D-Mitch) in order to illustrate the major naval fleets in the Eastern Mediterranean. This image was included in a long and very detailed article (in Greek) titled ΝΑΥΤΙΚΕΣ ΕΞΕΛΙΞΕΙΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΑΝΑΤΟΛΙΚΗ ΜΕΣΟΓΕΙΟ (English: Naval Developments in the Eastern Mediterranean) that was written by me and fox2 and you can enjoy it in the above mentioned link. This article marks my new cooperation with fox2 at his blog idbam.blogspot.gr; more articles will follow in the future.

Naval Power in the Eastern Mediterranean in 2015. Image in high resolution here.

INFOGRAPHICS OF COAST GUARD VESSELS #1: Greece, Turkey and Romania

Written by D-Mitch

With this new post I begin a new category of infographics of various coast guard vessels from around the world. These infographics aim to highlight the most important equipment of the vessels; I do not analyze the systems in depth as I do for the warships instead I provide some basic information mainly from Wikipedia (if else I provide the source) about the ships, their history and their capabilities.

1. Dost class offshore patrol vessels of the Turkish Coast Guard

Guven OPV. Photo: Combat Master

The CMS of Guven. Photo: Combat Master

The contract for the construction of four Dost class offshore patrol vessels at RMK Marine Shipyard was signed on 16 January 2007. These large ships were commissioned the period 2013-2014. The design of the these ships are based on the Sirio class offshore patrol vessels produced by Italian Fincantieri. With the commissioning of these ships, the Turkish Coast Guard is able to perform its duties mainly search and rescue in sea state 5 and higher. These ships are the first Turkish Coast Guard vessels that can support helicopter operations. (source: turkishnavy.net)

HISTORY #4: Age of Sail largest warships

Compiled information from Wikipedia articles by D-Mitch

In the previous post I included a number of infographics of various types of warships from the Age of Sail, the period lasting from the 16th to the mid-19th century where naval warfare was dominated by sailing ships armed with cannons. In this post I will describe briefly some of the the largest, most powerful and advanced warships of that era.

HMS Victoria the largest wooden warship which ever entered service

HMS Victoria was the last British wooden first-rate three-decked ship of the line commissioned for sea service. With a displacement of 6,959 tons, she was the largest wooden battleship which ever entered service. She was also the world's largest warship until the completion of HMS Warrior, Britain's first ironclad battleship, in 1861. Victoria´s hull was 79.2 metres (260 ft) long and 18.3 metres (60 ft) wide. She had a medium draught of 8.4 metres (27.5 ft). Her hull was heavily strapped with diagonal iron riders for extra stability. Victoria was the first British battleship with two funnels. She was armed with a total of 121 guns (32 8-inch smooth-bore muzzle-loading guns on the lower gun deck, 30 8-inch (200 mm) guns on the central gun deck, 32 32-pounders on the upper gun deck, 26 32-pounders and one 68-pounder on the upper deck). Victoria was ordered on 6 January 1855, laid down on 1 April 1856 at Portsmouth, and launched on 12 November 1859. She cost a total of £150,578 (2010: £11,764,000) and had a complement of 1,000. During trials in Stokes Bay on 5 July 1860 Victoria reached a top speed of 11.797 knots (21.848 km/h), making her the fastest three decker worldwide, along with the French Bretagne. 

INFOGRAPHICS #18: Age of Sail warships (collection)

The anatomy of an 18th c Man-of-War

In this post I have included a number of infographics of various types of warships from the Age of Sail, the period lasting from the 16th to the mid-19th century where naval warfare was dominated by sailing ships armed with cannons. The end of the sail began in the late 1840s when the steam technology became available. Many ships that were intended to be built as sailing ships they received during their construction or shortly after their launch, engines and screw propeller. The largest, the most powerful and advanced warships of that era will be presented in summary in a next post, the HISTORY #4: Age of Sail largest warships. A great look inside HMS Victory, Lord Nelson's famous flagship (104-gun first-rate ship of the line) at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 and world's oldest naval ship still in commission, can be found here.

Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary - Today, past and future (a quick overview)

Written by D-Mitch

RN warships from WWI to 2010. By www.dailymail.co.uk

In this post I aim to present in brief the impressive decline of the United Kingdom's naval force (Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary) through the last decades as well as the current and the future status of the fleet and its synthesis according to the decisions that have been taken the last years. I will not describe all the kind of cuts in the numbers of the various warship categories and craft neither I will expand upon this topic as numerous other very good sites (first of all the savetheroyalnavy.org that its main aim is to put pressure on the UK government to properly resource the RN, others such as the ukarmedforcescommentary.blogspot.com, the britisharmedforcesreview.wordpress.com, the thinkdefence.co.uk, the ukdefencejournal.org.uk and more) have focused and analyze thoroughly this issue and the decline of UK's naval power. My main target is to summarize in a simple way the UK's naval power through the last decades by using a variety of infographics, charts and useful information compiled from some good sources.

FLEETS #13: French Navy, Portuguese Navy and Finnish Navy today

Written by D-Mitch

This is the fifth article about various countries' navies today. In these articles, I briefly describe a country's naval fleet by reporting the ships in each type/category of warships and by providing a nice image where all the types of warships are illustrated and the units of its class are reported. I include the vessels that will enter in service this year and I have excluded those that are about to be decommissioned. I deliberately excluded many classes of auxiliary ships; those that they have "0" defence capacity and those that have secondary roles such as hydrographic survey ships, tugs, depollution vessels and training ships.

INFOGRAPHICS #17: Russian Navy submarines (collection)

The past meets the present! Typhoon and Borei SSBN class

This is a collection of fifteen (15) infographics about Russian Navy submarines. The majority of them refer to those vessels that are currently in active service. Please keep in mind that the data on the infographics might not be completely accurate, some of the reported numbers are approximations such as the operational depth, the submerged speed, other capabilities or even the number of submarines that are in active service. As somebody can guess, this is classified information.

The first infographic was created by the talented artist Anton Egorov and it depicts in one image all the submarines that are currently in service with the Russian Navy and their main characteristics and capabilities.

Russian Navy submarines by Anton Egorov High resolution image here.

INFOGRAPHICS #16 and HISTORY #3: Battleships of WWII!

Written by D-Mitch

IJN Yamato in 1941. The ship, together with its sister-ship,
IJN Musashi, were the only super-battleships that saw action.

This article is devoted to the battleships, the most powerful ships to sail the waves and the pride of every navy from 1880 to the early '40s. These large warships with the impressive gun armament, the so-called "Castles of Steel" or "The Floating Fortresses", were a symbol of naval dominance and national might, and for decades the battleship was a major factor in both diplomacy and military strategy. The following image (compiled by iksanov) depicts individual battleships and battlecruisers of major battleship classes as they were in a specific year (camouflage, prior or after a modernization, etc.). The majority of them served during WWII with very few exceptions such as the España class battleship Jaime I (n.28) or the HMS Vanguard (n.2) that was commissioned in 1946 (I modified the original image because instead of Vanguard, it had the Sovetsky Soyuz-class battleship, a ship that was never completed and commissioned). Somebody can notice also that not all the battleship classes are included, such examples are the Conte di Cavour class of Italy, the New Mexico and Pennsylvania classes of the United States of America, the Ise class of Japan and many more classes of the United Kingdom. For a brief overview of all the battleship classes (ironclads, pre-dreadnoughts, dreadnoughts, battleships and fast battleships), including those that were never commissioned, you can read here (I noticed quickly that some classes are missing though such as the Espana class). About the individual battleships within the classes you can find them here where they are listed alphabetically. Please notice that the silhouettes have not been created by me but by anonymous users in the web (if somebody found an author or the authors please send me a message!)

INFOGRAPHICS #15 and HISTORY #2: United States Navy aircraft carriers (1922 - today)

Original article (link) by Annalisa Underwood
Naval History and Heritage Command, Communication and Outreach Division, U.S. Navy

The article was improved by D-Mitch, with the addition of information, images, table (original table before the corrections here) and with the inclusion of the escort aircraft carrier classes.

Text and map of the current U.S. Navy aircraft carrier museums by (the excellent!) Jeff Head (link).

The evolution of the United States Navy aircraft carrier from 1922 till present:

Evolution of the USN aircraft carrier. Image: Annalisa Underwood and James Caiella.
High resolution image here.

The U.S. Navy’s first aircraft carrier, USS Langley (CV-1), was converted from the collier USS Jupiter (AC-3) and recommissioned March 20, 1922. Langley had a displacement of 11,500 tons and measured 542 feet in length. She could travel at a speed of 15.5 knots (17.8 mph) and boasted a crew of 468 personnel. Though Langley was not the first ship with an installed flight deck or the first ship from which an airplane had taken off, her service marked the birth of the era of the carrier. She was also the sight of the first carrier catapult when her commanding officer, Cmdr. Kenneth Whiting, was catapulted from her deck.

Ada class corvettes of the Turkish Navy

Written by D-Mitch

TCG Heybeliada, lead ship of the Ada class corvettes

The MILGEM project, from the Turkish words Milli Gemi (National Ship), is a Turkish national warship program with the aim to design and build locally a fleet of hi-tech stealth multipurpose corvettes and frigates that will replace older ships which are currently in service. Through this ambitious program, Turkey seeks to improve national military shipbuilding capacity and skills and ultimately to achieve independence from foreign weapon producers, designers and manufacturers. More than 50 local companies, including the largest Turkish defense firms such as Aselsan, Havelsan and RMK Marine, play a significant role in the MILGEM project, gaining invaluable experience in warship design and construction. The MILGEM Project Office of the Istanbul Naval Shipyard Command executes and coordinates the design, development and construction works of the MILGEM project since March 12, 2004. The programme initially included the construction of 12 ships in two batches (blocks, due to important differences among the batches). The first batch would have included eight (8) multipurpose corvettes the so-called MILGEM Block I (Ada; island in Turkish) class while the last four (4) would be of the TF-100 frigates equipped with vertical-launching system (VLS) for surface-to-air (SAM) missiles. This plan changed recently as the first batch will include only four corvettes of the Ada class, while all the rest ships will be designated as MILGEM Block II.

WARSHIPS OF THE PAST: Almirante Grau cruiser of the Peruvian Navy

Written by D-Mitch
 

Almirante Grau (CLM-81) cruiser of the Peruvian Navy

There are very few navies in the world today that have cruisers in their inventories. Two of the world's superpowers, as somebody could expected, the USA and Russia, have such warships in their fleets, ships that exceed the 10,000tons displacement and of length greater than 170 meters. The U.S. Navy has the Ticonderoga class (22 ships in active service) while the giant Zumwalt class destroyers, ships that are superior to cruisers, are under construction. Russia has one Kirov class cruiser in active service with another one under re-construction, which are the largest and most heavily armed surface combatant in the world today (thus sometimes they are classified as battlecruisers) and three Slava class cruisers. There are also navies in Asia that have ships that are classified as destroyers despite the fact that they have a displacement over than 10,000tons and they carry a very heavy armament. Such navies are the Japanese Navy with the Atago class and South Korean Navy with the mighty Senjong the Great class that is equipped with 128-cell vertical launching system (!), ships that are equal to cruisers in size (except the length) and armament. However, there is one more country except the "big two" that has also a cruiser in her inventory, a country with an important naval tradition and with a strong fleet. This country is Peru. Peruvian Navy's flagship today is BAP Almirante Grau (CLM-81), the last 6in gun armed cruiser in the world, a cruiser that its main armament consists of.. guns!

WARSHIPS OF THE PAST: California class nuclear-powered cruisers of the United States Navy

Written by D-Mitch

USS California, lead ship of the class. Photo: O' Connor

The California class cruisers were two nuclear-powered guided missile cruisers operated by the United States Navy between 1974 and 1998. The class was built as a follow-up to the nuclear-powered Long Beach, Bainbridge, and Truxtun classes. Like all of the nuclear cruisers, which could steam for years between refueling, the California class was designed in part to provide high endurance escort for the navy's new Nimitz class nuclear aircraft carriers, which were often limited in range due to their conventionally powered escorts continuously needing to be refueled. A third ship was approved but it was soon cancelled in favor of the improved Virginia class. Other than their nuclear power supply and lack of helicopter hangars, the ships of California class were comparable to other guided missile cruisers of their era, such as the Belknap class. The Californias were considered larger and even more sophisticated than Truxtun, a nuclear-powered cruiser derivative of the Belknap class, and returned to the double-ended concept although using single-arm launchers.

WARSHIPS OF THE PAST: Virginia class nuclear-powered cruisers of the United States Navy

Written by D-Mitch

USS Virginia (CGN-38) lead ship of the Virginia class nuclear-
powered cruisers, prior her refit in the '80s.

Elegant and heavily armed warships, the Virginia-class nuclear-powered guided-missile cruisers were a series of four double-ended (with armament carried both fore and aft) guided-missile cruisers commissioned in the late 1970s, which served in the United States Navy until the mid-to-late 1990s. A fifth warship, the CGN-42, was canceled before being named or laid down. With their nuclear power plants, and the resulting capability of steaming at high speeds for long periods of time, these were excellent escorts for the fast nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, such as the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. Their main mission was as air-defense ships, though they did have excellent flagship facilities, capabilities as anti-submarine (ASW) ships, surface-to-surface warfare (SSW) ships, and in gun and missile bombardment of shore targets.

Jacob van Heemskerck class frigates of the Chilean Navy

Written by D-Mitch 

CS Almirante Latorre (FFG-14). Photo: Armada de Chile

The Jacob van Heemskerck class or else L-class of Chilean Navy (Armada de Chile ) is a class of two anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) frigates. These are ex-Royal Netherlands Navy (Koninklijke Marine) frigates and they are the air-defence version of the Kortenaer (Standard or else S-class). These two AAW frigates were built as replacements after two of the Standard class frigates (frigates n.6 and n.7) that were under construction for the  Royal Netherlands Navy were sold to Greece (Hellenic Navy) in 1980-81. The two vessels were launched the period 1983-84 and they were commissioned in 1986. In 2005 the two ships were sold to Chile. In Chilean service, the F-812 Jacob van Heemskerck was renamed FFG-14 Almirante Lattore and the F-813 Witte de With was renamed FFG-11 Capitán Prat.

Sachsen class frigates of the German Navy

Written by D-Mitch

Frigate Hessen, last ship of the Sachsen class.

The Sachsen class (or else F124 class/Klasse 124) of German Navy (Deutsche Marine) is a class of three high-tech Anti-Aircraft Warfare (AAW) frigates built by Blohm + Voss, Howaldtwerke-Deutsche Werft and Thyssen Nordseewerke (from 2005 the three companies are part of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems) the period 1999-2005 under a contract of €2.1 billion (!) that was signed in 1996. The shipyards joined forces for this contract as Working Group 124 (ARGE 124); all three yards built a vessel each. An option on a fourth vessel that was provisionally to have been named Thüringen was not taken up. This class of warships is based on an enlarged pattern of the Brandenburg class (F123/Klasse 123) multipurpose frigates featuring stealth characteristics, weapons and sensors for air defence capabilities. The three vessels replaced the three Lütjens-class destroyers that were modified Charles F. Adams-class destroyers. It is worth of mention that the ships of the class have about 2,000tons more displacement and 10 meters more length than the class that they replace. The Sachsen class frigates are very similar to the Dutch De Zeven Provinciën class frigates (the class will be analyzed in another article), in that both are based on the use of a common primary anti-air warfare system built around the APAR and SMART-L radars as well as the area-defence SM-2 Block IIIA and point/medium range defence Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) surface-to-air missiles. The ships of De Zeven Provinciën class frigates are of similar size but their major differences are that they have one more module (8-cells) in their vertical launch system (VLS), they have Goalkeeper CIWS instead of RAM, 5in gun and their hangar can accommodate one helicopter. The last ship of the class, Hessen, entered in service in April 21, 2006. The vessels of the class are some of the most advanced AAW in the world and contribute significantly to the European air-defence.

WARSHIPS OF THE PAST: Giuseppe Garibaldi cruiser of the Italian Navy

Written by D-Mitch



Colorized photo of Giuseppe Garibaldi cruiser in the '60s

Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian Duca degli Abruzzi-class light cruiser, the latest evolution of the light cruisers Condottieri class, that served in the Navy of the Kingdom of Italy (Regia Marina) during World War II. The ship was named after the Italian general and politician and nationalist Giuseppe Garibaldi who played a large role in the history of Italy. The cruiser was laid down in 1933 and completed in 1936. She was commissioned in 1937. The 12,000t cruiser was initially armed with ten (10) 6in (152mm) guns in two triple and two twin turrets, a variety of medium and light guns, six (6) 533mm torpedo tubes while she could carry up to four (4) IMAM Ro.43 reconnaissance single float seaplanes that were launched from ship's two catapults. Active with the Italian Navy (Regia Marina) during World War II, she participated in numerous operations. Along with her convoy escort duties, shore bombardment and British convoy interception, she was present at Punto Stilo/Calabria. She missed the Battle of Cape Matapan, having been detached to Brindisi immediately before. On July 28, 1941 she was torpedoed by the submarine, HMS Upholder, and returned to port with 700 tons of water. With the Italian Armistice, she sailed to Malta in September 1943. Except for a very brief period of time on anti-blockade runner duties, she spent the remainder of the war in transport and training duties.



INFOGRAPHICS #14: The Great White Fleet

The arrival of the Great White Fleet at San Francisco (May 6, 1908).
Magic Lantern Slide, scan courtesy of John Freeman

The Great White Fleet was the popular nickname for the United States Navy battle fleet that completed a circumnavigation of the globe from December 16, 1907 to February 22, 1909 by order of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. It consisted of 16 battleships divided into two squadrons, along with various escorts. Roosevelt sought to demonstrate growing American military power and blue-water navy capability. Hoping to enforce treaties and protect overseas holdings, the U.S. Congress appropriated funds to build American sea power. Beginning with just 90 small ships, over one-third of them wooden, the navy quickly grew to include new modern steel fighting vessels. The hulls of these ships were painted white, the Navy's peacetime color scheme, decorated with gilded scroll-work with a red, white, and blue banner on their bows. These ships would later come to be known as the Great White Fleet.

WARSHIPS OF THE PAST: Vittorio Veneto helicopter cruiser of the Italian Navy

Written by D-Mitch

Vittorio Veneto, the last cruiser of Italian Navy

Some years after the commissioning of the two helicopter cruisers of Andrea Doria class, the Italian Navy ordered an enlarged version of a helicopter cruiser. The new 180-meter cruiser received the name Vittorio Veneto (C550) and she entered in service with the Italian Navy in 1969. A second ship of the same design, the Italia, was cancelled. Instead, Italy proceeded later in the construction of Giuseppe Garibaldi light aircraft carrier, an aircraft carrying cruiser as it was classified in the early years of its service. Vittorio Veneto had a similar layout as the smaller Andrea Doria class helicopter cruisers, but with two elevators in the large (40x18.5-metre) flight deck and the hangar positioned below the flight deck. The ship was built from the keel up as guided missile cruiser forward and helicopter carrier aft. Unlike the Andrea Doria class ships, Vittorio Veneto had two combination mast/funnels, rather than separate funnels like the ships of the Andrea Doria class. Vittorio Veneto was a fast ship especially for her size as she was propelled by two steam turbines providing 73,000 shp, for a maximum speed of 32 knots. Similarly to Andrea Doria class vessels, she had a sets of stabilizing fins to improve stability for helicopter operations.

PHOTO GALLERY #7: HMAS Success, replenishment ship of the Royal Australian Navy

HMAS Success

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to visit HMAS Success, a modified Durance class Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment (AOR) serving in the Royal Australian Navy that was docked at Piraeus port. The tanker visited Greece to participate in a variety of celebratory events honoring Anzac Day, on April 25th. Some days earlier HMAS Success had visited Lemnos to present to the local community a reproduction of the 1926 painting by Sir William Russell Flint, held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales Collection, called "The Lemnians". "The Lemnians" reproduction is being gifted from the Lemnian Community in Sydney to the people of their ancestral homeland of Lemnos, a key Australian and Commonwealth staging and evacuation location during the Gallipoli Campaign (1915-16). The painting was carried by HMA Anzac and in a later stage was safely transported with the use of a helicopter from HMAS Anzac to HMAS Success

WARSHIPS OF THE PAST: Andrea Doria class helicopter cruisers of the Italian Navy

Written by D-Mitch 



Andrea Doria, the lead-ship of the class, after its
modernization in the late '70s

Determined to provide high quality and accurate information on naval warfare in an easy understandable manner to a broad audience I created my first personal webpage, the Naval Analyses. However, Naval Analyses is not limited only to the naval warfare of today as I have already included in this page since its inception about 10 months ago, Fleets, Photos and Infographics of navies and warships of the past. So with this new post, I begin a new category of short articles where I summarize the main features of some very important former naval classes. The Sachsen class, which was the most selected class in the poll (the poll closed on April 1st)  for the Analysis of this month, it will be published before the end of April or the latest in the first weeks of May (I am really sorry about that!). In this article, I summarize the Andrea Doria class cruisers, the first class of helicopters cruisers of the Italian Navy.



FLEETS #12: People's Liberation Army Navy

People's Liberation Army Navy, the rise of a new naval power

The U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), published recently (April 9, 2015) an excellent report, the first unclassified report in six years, about the current and future capabilities of China's maritime forces. The document is titled  "The PLA Navy: New Capabilities and Missions for the 21st Century", and you can read it here. Moreover, for the first time ever, the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) is making available publicly two great identification and recognition guides of China’s myriad People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and Maritime Law Enforcement (MLE) ships. The first poster, a very detailed fleet poster, illustrates all the classes of PLAN and MLE warships and ships respectively, with 148 carefully labeled silhouettes. A second poster includes 89 photos, one for each class of ship (warship or law enforcement ship), aircraft, helicopter and drone. The first poster definitely is an excellent and very difficult work considering the amount of detail and information in order to depict the numerous classes of naval units.

INFOGRAPHICS #13: Trafalgar class nuclear powered attack submarines of the Royal Navy

HMS Triumph, last built submarine of the Trafalgar class.
Photo: Moshi Anahory

The Trafalgar-class nuclear-powered attack submarines were designed as Cold War warriors but have been adapted to the demands of the 21st century. The primary role was to hunt out and destroy enemy nuclear missile submarines as well as surface ships, over the decades they have been kitted out to perform other roles including covert surveillance and inshore reconnaissance of installations and landing beaches. All seven vessels were constructed by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. Three submarines have already retired (Trafalgar, Turbulent and Tireless) and four are active (Torbay, Trenchant, Talent and Triumph). These four submarines have been fitted with the Sonar 2076 system, which the Royal Navy describes as the most advanced sonar in service with any navy in the world. The Sonar 2076 sonar suite has the processing power of 2,000 laptop computers while it has the world’s largest number of hydrophones (13,000!), providing the Royal Navy with the “biggest ears” of any sonar system in service today. This sonar is so sensitive that one lurking in the Solent would be able to detect a ship leaving New York harbor 3,500 miles across the Atlantic! The boats have a displacement of 5,300tons, a length of 85.4 meters and the complement is 130 people. Like all Royal Navy submarines, the Trafalgar class have strengthened fins and retractable hydroplanes, allowing them to surface through thick ice.The submarines of the class are equipped with Spearfish torpedoes and Tomahwak land attack cruise missiles. The following images depict the compartments and the general characteristics of the boat as well as its most important weapon systems and electronic equipment.

Battleships and Men

Photo collection by D-Mitch

 

USS Missouri (BB-63)

HMS Nelson

This is a collection of approximately 90 crew photos of various countries' battleships and battlecruisers. I have always found really impressive the size of these Kings of the Seas, the so-called "Castles of Steel" or "The Floating Fortresses", with the huge guns during the 19th century and the early 20th century. Moreover, the fact that these massive warships had a crew of thousands of men (the complement of some ships exceeded the 2,700 men!), larger that any kind of today's surface combatant. So, enjoy some nostalgic photos of these former giant rulers of the seas with their crews! If you have similar photos, please share them with me and I will include them in this collection!


Elli class frigates of the Hellenic Navy

Written by D-Mitch

Hellenic Navy Elli class frigates in formation

The Elli class of Hellenic Navy (Πολεμικό Ναυτικό) is a class of nine (9) general-purpose frigates. These are ex-Royal Netherlands Navy (Koninklijke Marine) Kortenaer-class frigates which are also known as Standard or S-class frigates. The name "Standard" came from the idea to pursue standardization within NATO fleet. Ten ships were built by the former Royal Schelde Dockyard (now Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding) and two by the former Wilton-Fijenoord (it has been acquired by Damen Shiprepair) between 1978 and 1983. A total of twelve S-frigates were built, two for Greece (frigates n.6 and n.7 during construction were sold to Greece, L-frigates replaced them) and ten for the Netherlands. Ultimately, of these ten Dutch ships, eight were sold to Greece and two to the United Arab Emirates. The Iranian Navy ordered eight modified ships from Royal Schelde but the contract was canceled after the Iranian Revolution. Together with the Jacob van Heemeskerck class (also known as L-class), an AAW variant of the Standard frigates, it was the largest Dutch naval shipbuilding project of the 20th century. Once, these frigates were the workhorses of the Royal Netherlands Navy, today they are the workhorses of the naval force of Greece.

Choose the next month's ANALYSIS!

Currently, I am working on two new ANALYSES, the one will be posted this month, perhaps I will manage to finish and publish the second one this month as well. But the next month, I will not be the one that I will decide which ANALYSIS to write. It will be YOU! Choose the ANALYSIS that you would like to read the coming month. Choose a class among corvettes, frigates, destroyers and fast attack craft and see the article published some days later after the poll has been closed (end of March)! The second most voted class perhaps will be also published among FLEETS, INFOGRAPHICS and more as usual!

The POLL is closed!

FLEETS #11: French Navy, German Navy, Royal Navy and Austro-Hungarian Navy in WWI

The following images illustrate the most important classes of warships that were in service with the navies of France, Germany, United Kingdom and Austria-Hungary (Austro-Hungarian Empire) during the World War I. More posts will follow for your collection of current naval fleets but also of fleets from the past.

French Navy (Marine Nationale) in WWI

Click to enlarge and save the image to view the details - French Navy in WWI

INFOGRAPHICS #12: USS Arizona (BB-39) battleship

USS Arizona. Photo: US Navy

The following image was created by Donn Thorson and it illustrates in detail main characteristics and weaponry of one of the most famous battleships in  United States history, the USS Arizona (BB-39). USS Arizona was a Pennsylvania-class battleship built for and by the United States Navy in the mid-1910s; it was the second and last of the Pennsylvania class of super-dreadnought battleships which in comparison with the dreadnoughts, they had increased displacement, heavier guns and all their main armament was placed on the centreline. The ship is best known for her cataclysmic and dramatic sinking during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, the event that brought about U.S. involvement in World War II. During the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Arizona was bombed. The battleship exploded and sank, killing 1,177 officers and crewmen. Unlike many of the other ships sunk or damaged that day, Arizona could not be fully salvaged, though the Navy removed parts of the ship for reuse. The wreck still lies at the bottom of Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial, dedicated on 30 May 1962 to all those who died during the attack, straddles the ship's hull.

Durand de la Penne class destroyers of the Italian Navy

Written by D-Mitch

D560 Luigi Durand de la Penne, lead ship of the class.
Photo: Marina Militare Italiana

Elegant lines and powerful armament. These are the characteristics of the Durand de la Penne class destroyers of Italian Navy (Marina Militare), the last class of non-stealth major surface combatants in service with Italian Navy and some of the most beautiful and well-armed warships ever built. Two ships belong in this class of anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) destroyers, the Luigi Durand de la Penne and the Francesco Mimbelli. The ships were built by Fincantieri and they were commissioned in 1993. Initially there was a plan to built four ships of the class but the second pair was cancelled as Italy joined France in the Horizon project for AAW destroyers. The ships of the class are advanced and quite capable to perform any kind of mission given due to their extensive armament and electronic equipment.

PHOTO GALLERY #6: Changbaishan, amphibious warfare ship of the People's Liberation Army Navy

The impressive 20,000ton LPD Changbaishan!

On Monday morning (February 16, 2015), the 18th Escort Task Force of People's Liberation Army Navy arrived in Piraeus, Greece, for a four-day visit. The fleet consists of the Changbai Shan (989), a Type 071 Yuzhao-class Landing Platform Dock (LPD), the flagship of the squadron, the frigate Yuncheng (571), a Type 54A class frigate (Jiangkai II)  and the large replenishment ship Chaohu (890), a Type 903A (Fuchi) replenishment ship. The fleet is under the command of Real Admiral Zhang Chuanshu. On Wednesday, the Chinese ships docked at Piraeus, were open to the public (except Chaohu) for a limited time (10:00-12:00 and 14:00-16:00). Of course, I could not miss this opportunity; I found the time to visit the warships just for an hour. Enjoy photos of LPD Changbaishan, the flagship of the Chinese task force and one of the four ships of the class in service with People's Liberation Army Navy that was commissioned just in 2012!

PHOTO GALLERY #5: Yuncheng, frigate of the People's Liberation Army Navy

The 4,000ton frigate Yuncheng of  People's Liberation Army Navy

On Monday morning (February 16, 2015), the 18th Escort Task Force of People's Liberation Army Navy arrived in Piraeus, Greece, for a four-day visit. The fleet consists of the Changbai Shan (989), a Type 071 Yuzhao-class Landing Platform Dock (LPD), the flagship of the squadron, the frigate Yuncheng (571), a Type 54A class frigate (Jiangkai II)  and the large replenishment ship Chaohu (890), a Type 903A (Fuchi) replenishment ship. The fleet is under the command of Real Admiral Zhang Chuanshu. On Wednesday, the Chinese ships docked at Piraeus, were open to the public (except Chaohu) for a limited time (10:00-12:00 and 14:00-16:00). Of course, I could not miss this opportunity; I found the time to visit the warships just for an hour. Enjoy photos of FFG Yuncheng, a modern frigate with balanced capabilities that commissioned in 2010!

PHOTO GALLERY #4: Chaohu, replenishment ship of the People's Liberation Army Navy

The 23,000ton (!) Type 903A AOR Chaohu

On Monday morning (February 16, 2015), the 18th Escort Task Force of People's Liberation Army Navy arrived in Piraeus, Greece, for a four-day visit. The fleet consists of the Changbai Shan (989), a Type 071 Yuzhao-class Landing Platform Dock (LPD), the flagship of the squadron, the frigate Yuncheng (571), a Type 54A class frigate (Jiangkai II)  and the large replenishment ship Chaohu (890), a Type 903A (Fuchi) replenishment ship. The fleet is under the command of Real Admiral Zhang Chuanshu. On Wednesday, the Chinese ships docked at Piraeus, were open to the public (except Chaohu) for a limited time (10:00-12:00 and 14:00-16:00). Of course, I could not miss this opportunity; I found the time to visit them just for an hour. Let's begin with some photos of the AOR Chaohu. Enjoy!