WW1 Royal Navy

Courageous class battlecruisers (1915)

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United Kingdom – Battlecruisers The Courageous Class were three light battlecruisers intended for an Operation in the Baltic in 1917 which never materialized and instead, they were partly converted as aircraft carrier after the war and signing the Washington treaty. Both helped pioneer the interwar fleet air arm but had short careers during WW2, Courageous … Read more

WW1 British Battleships

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United Kingdom: 80 battleships 1890-1918 Overview poster of British Capital Ships in WW1, including projects (light grey) British Battleships of WW1 comprised three types of vessels: Dreadnoughts, 21 of them which made the meaty bulk of the Royal Navy, 12 Battlecruisers, and 51 pre-dreadnoughts. They were basically a deterrence force stockpiled in the firth of … Read more

HMS Hermes (1919)

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United Kingdom – Aircraft Carrier HMS Hermes was the first (or second depending on the authors) purpose-built aircraft carrier. Indeed the Imperial Japanese Navy claimed to have the first, IJN Hosho. However, the latter was started AFTER the British carrier, but launched and completed before. Engineers and yard’s team were in a rush as a … Read more

Nordenfelt Submarines (1885)

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UK – 1885-90 – 4 submersibles. The earliest military torpedo submarines: In 1886, Ottoman submarine Abdülhamid (1886) was the first in history to fire a torpedo while being submerged. Why it fell on Turkey ? It was due to a Swedish Company better known than Bofors, also of the Maxims/Vickers Empire and Hotchkiss. The firm … Read more

WW1 British Seaplane Carriers

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WW1 British Seaplane Carriers United Kingdom (1914-21) 17 ships Pioneer in naval air warfare You would be surprised that on paper, in 1918, the Royal Navy had more “aircraft carriers” than in 1939. Of course, this is playing with words, as most were in reality mixed airplanes/seaplane carriers and not pure aircraft carriers. They had … Read more

HMS Tiger (1913)

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United Kingdom (1913) Battlecruiser The HMS Tiger: Feline beauty and hard shell Described by historian John Keegan as “certainly the most beautiful warship in the world then, and perhaps ever”, the Tiger was also better protected, yet cheaper than the older Lion class, the “big cats” disliked by the admiralty. Despite of her merits, no … Read more

Apollo class cruisers

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Royal Navy (1890-91) – 21 cruisers The ‘Mythologic’ 2nd class protected cruisers The Apollo class were in WW1 already in reserve for many, at disposal for possible missions. They mostly saw service in the Boer war and the Latona, Apollo, Intrepid, Iphigenia, Andromache, Naiad and Thetis were converted into minelayers in 1907 and therefore found … Read more

WW1 British Destroyers

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WW1 British Destroyers Royal Navy (1895-1919) – About 536 ships Introduction It is strange to think of the fact, that the largest active fleet on earth was rightly dismissive of “naval dust”. And yet had a great importance in the development of the torpedo (Via Whitehead), and its carrier, the torpedo-boat, through the first turbine … Read more

British C class cruisers (1914-1922)

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United Kingdom (1914-22) 7 sub-classes, 28 cruisers The veteran light cruisers The ‘C’ class were called artificially that way by most authors for simplification; This comprised the Caroline class on one hand, and the Calliope, Cambrian, Centaur, Caledon, Ceres, and Carlisle, relatively similar in design, concept, and specifications. They were a wartime “mass-production” class to … Read more

HMS Furious (1917)

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HMS Furious (1917) United Kingdom – Aircraft Carrier History’s first aircraft carrier The HMS Furious is like a warship with several lives. She started as a battlecruiser, evolved into an hybrid plane carrier, an experimental aircraft carrier during WW1, and a modern aircraft carrier during WW2. But above all, she was the first to carry … Read more