Ships in Class: Yorktown, Hornet, Enterprise Built in a series of three, only the USS Enterprise survived the war, with the USS Yorktown sunk during the Battle of Midway, and the USS Hornet during the Battle of Santa Cruz. The USS Enterprise went on to become the most frequently decorated US carrier of the war, even earning the British Admiralty Pennant...
At the time of Italy’s entry into World War Two, she possessed a modern and – on paper at least – highly effective fleet. Four battleships and eight heavy cruisers were available, with three more battleships being fitted out. However, there were no aircraft carriers (initially), not least because the Regia Marina was intended to operate near to friendly...
Submarines: Compared to a German Type VII C submarine, the Marcello-class were much larger, displacing 1,060 tons versus 769. Speed and range between the two classes were almost similar, but the Marcello-class had more torpedo tubes than the famous U-Boat. The Marcello-class should be considered one of the most successful produced by the Italian shipyards...
Admiral Franz von Hipper was commander of the German battlecruiser squadron of the Battle of Jutland in 1916 and subsequently became commander-in-chief of the German high seas fleet. It was for him that Admiral Hipper was named, the lead ship of her class. Admiral Hipper saw significant action over the course of the war, with a heavy emphasis on the Battle...
In 1923 it was decided to convert an incomplete Normandie-class battleship to a carrier. Despite a refit in 1935, she was far too slow for fleet operations in World War Two and was demilitarised in 1942. In 1943 she joined the Free French Naval Force where she served for a time before being converted to an aircraft transport. Béarn was the only French...
Blüche was named for Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, who lead the Prussians to victory at Waterloo. She was the second of the Admiral Hipper-class of heavy cruisers, completed shortly after the outbreak of World War II. She was assigned to the task force supporting the invasion of Norway in April 1940, serving as the flagship of Konteradmiral Oskar Kummetz...
Also known as the Jaguar-class, Chacal (Jackal)-class destroyers were designed to fulfil a scouting role for fleet battle lines and to attack enemy shipping in the Mediterranean. As a result, they possessed poor endurance, mounted no anti-submarine weapons, and had woefully inadequate anti-aircraft fire, especially in the face of the German Luftwaffe. The...
The four vessels of the Suffren-class were based on the Duquesne-class, though each was built to slightly different standards as lessons were learned from the preceding ship. Their hull form was sleek and graceful, taking a classic cruiser form. While the Duquesne-class lineage was apparent, the Suffren-class had a much more modern look about them. Armour...
Laid down in 1937 and commissioned in 1941, HMS Duke of York was a King George V-class of battleship. She had the distinction of transporting Winston Churchill across the Atlantic to meet Franklin D. Roosevelt in the Winter of 1941. Churchill wrote of his experience, “Being in a ship in weather such as this is like being in a prison, with the extra chance...
An early aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy, HMS Eagle was originally a super-dreadnought of the Chilean Navy (named Almirante Cochrane), laid down in 1913, but was purchased by the Royal Navy for conversion to a carrier in 1918. This work was not finished until 1924. Initially deployed in the Indian Ocean against the threat of German commerce raiders...
Built as a training cruiser for the French Marine Nationale the Jeanne d'Arc was both floating school and combat capable warship. During WWII she formed part of a flotilla taking French gold to Canada before joining Free French forces in 1943. The single vessel of the Jeanne d’Arc-class was designed to use the same guns as the Duguay-Trouin-class. She was...
Köln was the third of the Königsberg-class of light cruiser, operating between 1929 and 1945, initially under the Reichsmarine and subsequently the Kriegsmarine. In the 1930s she served as a training vessel for cadets, but the outbreak of World War Two saw her conducting operations in the North Sea, though she didn’t encounter any British warships at this...