Tag Archives: steampunk navy

Warship Wednesday, February 20 2013

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Here at LSOZI, we are going to take out every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1859-1946 time period and will profile a different ship each week. – Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Second battleship brigade in Helsingfors, winter 1914-1915
Here we see the Second Battleship Squadron of the Imperial Russian Navy’s Baltic Fleet with the ice and snow-clad Russian battleship Slava (Russian: Слава “Glory“) at anchor forefront in Helsinki during WWI. The Slava was one of the most famous and unlikely of Russian warships.

slava 1910
The last commissioned of a class of five Borodino-class battleships, her four sister ships: Borodino, Imperator Alexander III, Knyaz Suvorov, and Oryol, were all either sunk or captured at the Battle of Tsushima, 27 May 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War. Slava herself would more than likely have shared the same fate if it wasn’t for the fact that she was still under construction until October of that year.

The Slava at anchor off an unanmed inlet on the Finnish coast (Finalnd was part of Tsarist Russia at the time) guarding the Tsar and his yacht while the monarch, his family, and his suite relax ashore

The Slava at anchor off an unnamed inlet on the Finnish coast (Finland was part of Tsarist Russia at the time) guarding the Tsar and his yacht while the monarch, his family, and his suite relax ashore

As the largest and best-equipped battleship left in the Tsar’s Baltic Fleet until the Gangut class dreadnoughts were built, the Slava became a default flagship for the decade of service before WWI. During the war, she was the head of the Second Battleship Squadron (the Ganguts were the First) of three other pre-dreadnoughts. Slava, with just a pair of gunboats as escorts, sailed into the Gulf of Riga in 1915 to challenge the Germans there.

She exchanged fire first with the German pre-dreadnoughts Elsass and Braunschweig, then the Nassau and Posen a week later. Slava flooded her side compartments to give herself a 3° list which increased her maximum range to about 18,000 yards. For two years, Slava slugged it out with German ships and engaged the Kaisers troops onshore. Finally in 1917 the large modern dreadnoughts König and Kronprinz sailed into the Gulf and exchanged heavy fire with the old obsolete Slava in what became known as the Battle of Moon Sound.

After the Battle of Moon Sound

After the Battle of Moon Sound

Her 12-inch magazine exploded just after her crew scuttled her and the Russians fired six torpedoes into her hull for good measure. Her remains were salvaged in 1935.

In the end, her four sisters were sunk before she was born, but she successfully fought off four German battleships of the same vintage on her home territory before the Kaiser had to send a pair of his most modern sluggers to overwhelm her.

Glory indeed.

slava
Specs:
Displacement:     14,415 long tons (14,646 t) normally
15,275 long tons (15,520 t) full load
Length:     397 ft 3 in (121.1 m)
Beam:     76 ft 1 in (23.2 m)
Draft:     29 ft 2 in (8.9 m)
Installed power:     15,800 ihp (11,800 kW)
Propulsion:     2 shafts, 2 vertical triple-expansion steam engines
20 water-tube boilers
Speed:     17.5 knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph)
Range:     2,590 nautical miles (4,800 km; 2,980 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement:     846
Armament:     2 × 2 – 12-inch (305 mm) guns
6 × 2 – 6-inch (152 mm) guns
20 × 1 – 75-millimeter (3.0 in) guns
4 × 1 – 47-millimeter (1.9 in) saluting guns
4 × 1 – 15-inch (381 mm) torpedo tubes
Armor:     Krupp armor
Waterline belt: 145–194 mm (5.7–7.6 in)
Deck: 25.4–51 mm (1–2 in)
Turrets: 254 mm (10.0 in)
Barbettes: 178–229 mm (7–9 in)
Conning tower: 203 mm (8.0 in)

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO)

They are possibly one of the best sources of naval lore http://www.warship.org/naval.htm

The International Naval Research Organization is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the encouragement of the study of naval vessels and their histories, principally in the era of iron and steel warships (about 1860 to date). Its purpose is to provide information and a means of contact for those interested in warships.

Nearing their 50th Anniversary, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.

I’m a member, so should you be!

Warship Wednesday, Febuary 13

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Here at LSOZI, we are going to take out every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1859-1946 time period and will profile a different ship each week.

– Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday,  February 13

This week we are taking a brief look at US K-Class Blimps and their occasional teaming with Escort Carriers during and just after WWII.

On December 6, 1938 a prototype Goodyear blimp was sent to the US Navy’s lighter than air division for testing. This prototype proved so succesful that in October 1940 they ordered six more for use in escort and patrol work offshore. When the US entered WWII, this soon turned into a total of 134 of these 251-foot long helium nonrigid airships delivered by 1955.

The blimps were the P-3 Orion of their day and most of the equipment you are used to on these  sub-busters were present on these airships. They were equipped with the ASG-type radar, that had a detection range of 90 mi (140 km), sonobuoys, and magnetic anomaly detection (MAD) equipment. The K-ships carried four Mk-47 depth bombs, two in a bomb bay and two externally, and were equipped with a .50 in (12.7 mm) Browning machine gun in the forward part of the control car. An aircrew of 10 normally operated the K-ships, consisting of a command pilot, two co-pilots, a navigator/pilot, airship rigger, an ordnanceman, two mechanics, and two radiomen.

The U.S. Navy airship K-69 launches from the deck of the escort carrier USS Mindoro (CVE 120), April 26, 1950

The U.S. Navy airship K-69 launches from the deck of the escort carrier USS Mindoro (CVE 120), April 26, 1950

After 1942 these airships increasingly started to patrol in concert with small converted merchant hulled ships, dubbed escort carriers. These roughly 10,000-ton ships carried about two dozen aircraft and, while not fast enough for operations with  the fleet, they were perfect for escorting merchant convoys. By pairing up blimps and small carriers, the blimps could be on constant search while the carrier kept depth-charge armed aircraft on alert to chase after sightings. The blimps were the eyes and the carrier planes the lightning of the gods called from above.

Here we see an unidentified K-class blimp approaching an equally unidentified escort carrier stern off the US East Coast in October 1944.

Here we see an unidentified K-class blimp approaching an equally unidentified escort carrier stern off the US East Coast in October 1944.

...and the landing.

…and the landing.

It’s unknown how many of these touch-and-gos happened, and if the Navy ever tried to refuel or rearm blimps from the decks of these jeep carriers, but its a possibility. More than a hundred ‘Jeep carriers’ were made during the war but by the late 1950s both the blimps and these hardy little flattops were discarded, replaced by new super carriers and converted Essex class fast carriers. It is known that both during the War and in the 1950s that navy blimps did in fact refuel from large fleet carriers at sea. In 1942 the Doolittle Raid probably wouldn’t have happened if Navy patrol blimp L-6 hadn’t delivered 2 boxes of navigators domes for B-25 to the Hornet while she was several hundred miles offshore.

In a future naval war with a littoral heavily contested by submarines, its possible that this concept could be dusted off once more. There are still blimps, the US still has the world’s largest supply of helium, and merchant ships could readily be converted with decking to carry expeditionary detachments of SH-60 helicopters for local ASW missions.

Stranger things have happened.

By the way, if you know the blimp/carrier involved in the 1944 pictures, let me know. Thanks!

(Specs of the K-class blimp)
Crew: 9-10
Length: 251 ft 8 in (76.73 m)
Diameter: 57 ft 10 in (17.63 m)
Volume: 425,000 ft3 (12,043 m3)
Useful lift: 7,770 lb (3,524 kg)
Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN-2 radials, 425 hp (317 kW) each
Maximum speed: 78 mph (125 km/h)
Cruise speed: 58 mph (93 km/h)
Range: 2,205 miles (3,537 km)
Endurance: 38 hours  12 min
Armament

1 × .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine gun
4 × 350 lb (160 kg) Mark 47 depth charges

Specs of the Casablanca-class escort carrier (one of the most common in US service)

Displacement:     7,800 tons
10,902 tons full load
Length:     512.3 ft (156.1 m) overall
Beam:     65.2 ft (19.9 m)
Extreme width: 108.1 ft (32.9 m)
Draft:     22.5 ft (6.9 m)
Propulsion:     Two (2) five-cylinder reciprocating Skinner Uniflow steam engines
Four (4) × 285 psi (1,970 kPa) boilers, 2 shafts, 9,000 shp (6,700 kW)
Speed:     20 knots (37 km/h)
Range:     10,240nm at 15 knots
Complement:     Ship’s Company: 860 officers and men
Embarked Squadron: 50 to 56 officers and men
Total Complement: 910 to 916 officers and men.
Armament:

1 × 5 inch/38 caliber gun
16 × 40 mm Bofors guns (8×2)
20 × 20 mm Oerlikon cannons

Aircraft carried: 28

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO)

They are possibly one of the best sources of naval lore http://www.warship.org/naval.htm

The International Naval Research Organization is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the encouragement of the study of naval vessels and their histories, principally in the era of iron and steel warships (about 1860 to date). Its purpose is to provide information and a means of contact for those interested in warships.

Nearing their 50th Anniversary, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.

I’m a member, so should you be!

Warship Wednesday, February 6

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Here at LSOZI, we are going to take out every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1859-1946 time period and will profile a different ship each week.

– Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday,  February 6

ussconn_trials_color

Here you see is the mighty new battleship USS Connecticut (BB-18) with ‘a bone in her teeth’ charging forward at absolute full speed of 18+ knots on acceptance trials in 1906. A century ago she was the best and most intensely beautiful warship in the US Navy.  She was such an important ship that a crowd of some 30,000 civilians as well as most of the entire active battle fleet of the Atlantic Squadron was present for the event. As a 15,000-ton ship with 11-inches of armor belt and carrying 4 12-inch guns, she was a hoss.

Of course the commissioning of the all big gun HMS Dreadnought the same year, with her 10 12-inch guns, 21-knot top speed, and upto 12-inches of armor in a 21,000-ton package, the Connecticut was already obsolete.

The Great White Fleet was impressive during the day.....

The Great White Fleet was impressive during the day…..

....And even more so at night. And Connecticut was there for every mile.

….And even more so at night. And Connecticut was there for every mile.

Nevertheless the brand new ship became the flagship of an impressive American fleet of 16 battleships in 1907. Dubbed the Great White Fleet, this impressive armada sailed 46,729 nmi around the world in 15 months. They made twenty port calls on six continents and flexed US Naval power to the world while Teddy Roosevelt smiled for the cameras. On each of those port calls, Connecticut led the fleet in, and then led the fleet away.

After 1909, the ornate bow shields, scrollwork, and white paint was removed and a sleek haze gray warship was left in its place

After 1909, the ornate bow shields, scrollwork, and white paint was removed and a sleek haze gray warship was left in its place

She remained a flagship for most of her service with the Navy. Painted haze gray in 1909, she intervened with quiet force in Mexican waters and then carried Smedly Butler and 400 marines to the  US occupation of Haiti in 1915. During WWI, outclassed by the newer battleships, she staid inshore in protected waters and was used as a training ship carrying the flag of Admiral Herbert O. Dunn of the Fifth Battleship Division.

After the war, by then considered just a large cruiser, she was used for training until scrapped in 1923 to comply with the Washington Naval Treaty at the ripe old age of 19 years old.

Specs
Displacement:     16,000 long tons (16,300 t)
Length:     456 ft 4 in (139.09 m)
Beam:     76 ft 10 in (23.42 m)
Draft:     24 ft 6 in (7.47 m)
Propulsion:

12 × 250 psi (1,700 kPa)[6] Babcock & Wilcox boilers;
8 Ship Service generators, reciprocating, at 100 kW each

Speed:     18 kn (21 mph; 33 km/h)
Complement:     827 officers and men
Armament:

4 × 12 in (305 mm)/40 or 45 cal guns (2 × 2)
8 × 8 in (203 mm)/45 cal guns (4 × 2)
12 × 7 in (178 mm)/45 cal guns
20 × 3 in (76.2 mm)/50 cal guns
12 × 3-pdr guns
6 × 1-pdr automatic guns
2 × 1-pdr semiautomatic guns
2 × .30 in (7.6 mm) machine guns
4 × 21 in (533 mm) submerged torpedo tubes

Armor:

Belt: 11 to 9 in (279 to 229 mm), tapering to 7 in (178 mm), 5 in (127 mm) and 4 in (102 mm) at bow and stern
Lower casemate: 9 in (229 mm)[
Upper casemate: 7 in (178 mm), with 1.5 to 2.5 in (38 to 63 mm) transverse splinter bulkheads between 7 in (178 mm) guns
Bulkheads: 6 in (152 mm)
Barbettes: 10 in (254 mm)
Turrets: 11 in (279 mm)/2.5 in (64 mm)/9 in (229 mm) in for 12 in (305 mm) guns, 6.5 in (165 mm)/2 in (51 mm)/6 in (152 mm) for 8 in (203 mm) guns
7 in (178 mm) around 7 in (178 mm) guns, 2 in (51 mm) around 3 in (76 mm) guns
Conning tower: 9 in (229 mm)/2 in (51 mm)

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO)

They are possibly one of the best sources of naval lore http://www.warship.org/naval.htm

The International Naval Research Organization is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the encouragement of the study of naval vessels and their histories, principally in the era of iron and steel warships (about 1860 to date). Its purpose is to provide information and a means of contact for those interested in warships.

Nearing their 50th Anniversary, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.

I’m a member, so should you be!

Warship Wednesday, January 30

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Here at LSOZI, we are going to take out every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1859-1946 time period and will profile a different ship each week.

– Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday,  January 30

0820204
Here you see is the Tambor class diesel sub USS Trout (SS-202) at Hunters Point, 11 December 1943. In a little less than 3 months after this photo was taken, the boat and her entire crew would be reported overdue and never heard from again.

She was commissioned in 1940 as part of the 6-ship class of fleet submarines (which all had ‘T’ names). She was brand new when the war broke out.

On patrol off of the outpost of Midway island on December 7, 1941, the sub was ordered back to Pearl Harbor as soon as possible to try to catch Yamato’s fleet. Missing the Japanese strike force, she was soon given a new mission . Trout sailed to the Philippines with a cargo of 3500 rounds of 75mm anti-aircraft ammunition and malaria drugs. She arrived at Corregidor, the island citadel at the entrance to Manila Bay in the Philippines in February 1942 after an epic 57-day war patrol through waters infested with Japanese navy ships.

There, Trout drew ten torpedoes and took on over twenty tons of gold and silver. It had been taken from Manila banks and moved to Corregidor for safekeeping from the approaching Japanese invasion force. Five hundred eighty-three gold bars and heavy canvas bags containing eighteen tons of silver coins were carefully loaded in Trout‘s bilges to be delivered to Pearl Harbor.  Each of the bars weighed 40-pounds and at  the time were worth $23K each. In today’s prices the gold alone was worth over $300-million dollars. Over $30 million in paper currency left behind on Corregidor was burned to prevent capture. General Wainwright disposed of some  350 tons of silver that could not be moved by dumping it in Manila Bay.

0820213

After landing her cargo at Pearl, she rejoined the fleet. She captured survivors of the sunken cruiser Mikuma during the Battle of Midway. Over the course of 11 war patrols she sank 23 Japanese ships amounting to some 87,000-tons in 32 torpedo and six gun actions. For this she was depth charged by the Japanese Navy no less than 8 times. Her combat including sending the  Kaidai class submarine I-182 to Davy Jones locker.

The Trout is on eternal patrol and has never been found. Her 81 men likely entombed with her on some forgotten stretch of sandy bottom deep in the South Pacific.

patch of the trout
Specs:

Displacement, Surfaced: 1,475 t., Submerged: 2,370 t.;
Length 307′ 2″ ; Beam 27′ 3″; Draft 13′ 3″;
Speed, Surfaced 20 kts, Submerged 8 kts; Max.
Depth Limit 250′;
Complement 5 Officers 54 Enlisted (as designed, enlarged during the war to help man larger gun crews;)
Armament, ten 21″ torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, 24 torpedoes, one 3″/50 deck gun, two .50 caliber machine guns, two .30 caliber Lewis machine guns;
Propulsion, diesel-electric, four General Motors diesel engines, 5,400 hp, Fuel Capacity 93.993 gal., four General Electric motors, 2,740 hp,
Battery Cells, 252, two propellers.

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO)

They are possibly one of the best sources of naval lore http://www.warship.org/naval.htm

The International Naval Research Organization is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the encouragement of the study of naval vessels and their histories, principally in the era of iron and steel warships (about 1860 to date). Its purpose is to provide information and a means of contact for those interested in warships.

Nearing their 50th Anniversary, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.

I’m a member, so should you be!

Warship Wednesday, January 23, 2013

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Here at LSOZI, we are going to take out every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1859-1946 time period and will profile a different ship each week.

– Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday,  January 23, 2013

sms_erzherzog_albrecht_1872

Here we see the Austrian navy ironclad screw corvette SMS Erzherzog Ferdinand Max as she appeared in the height of her service in the 1870s.

Laid down in Trieste during 1863 from lessons learned from the British Warrior and the ongoing US Civil War, she was named for the brother of then-Emperor Franz Joseph who we know today as the last Emperor of Mexico, Maximilian. Commissioned 24 May 1865, just six weeks after Lee surrendered at Appomattox, the Max was the lead ship of a four-vessel class. She was supposed to be armed with a pair of 8″ Krupp guns but these were embargoed by Germany due to the looming war with Italy. She left port without all of her armor, and carrying a number of dated 48-pounder guns that were found lying around the yard from old ships.

Tegetthoff on the bridge on the MAX during Lissa, standing like a boss. The Italians fired more than 1400 shells during the battle but fell far shot of causing any real damage to the Austrian Fleet

Tegetthoff on the bridge on the MAX during Lissa, standing like a boss. The Italians fired more than 1400 shells during the battle but fell far shot of causing any real damage to the Austrian Fleet

As the flagship of the 39-year old Kontreadmiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, head of the Austrian battle fleet, the Max charged headlong into fleet combat near the disputed island of Lissa in 1866.  Lacking her large 8-inchers, Tegetthoff ordered the ship to use its ram bow to good effect sinking the proud Italian ship Re d’Italia. The Italian ironclad suffered a 18-foot gash in her side and sank within two minutes. Her crestfallen master shot himself in the head with a revolver. The Austrian use of this desperate tactic at Lissa led to battleships keeping ram bows for a half-century although they were never used in fleet combat again.

519934Re.Italia_vs_Ferdinand.Max

Both Tegetthoff and the Ferdinand Max became household words in Austria for decades. She was kept around as a training ship in Pola until 1916, one of the last US Civil War era ironclads afloat.

She was broken up in 1917.

Modell-SMS-Erzherzog-Ferdinand-Max-im-HGM
Specs:
Displacement:     5140
30’4″ x 42’0″ x 20’8″
Installed power:     3500SHP steam, coal fired. Three masted bark rig auxiliary.
Propulsion:     1 shaft, 1 steam engine
Speed:     12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement 489 men
Armament: (16) 48-pdr SB, (4) 8-pdr SB; (2) 3-pdr (at Lissa) 2x203mm Krupp guns added later

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO)

There are literally thousands of detailed articles that have been covered over the past 50-years by the INRO in Warship International. Click here http://www.warship.org/no11986.htm to read for free an example, this one on the Repulse and Prince of Wales last battle.

The International Naval Research Organization is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the encouragement of the study of naval vessels and their histories, principally in the era of iron and steel warships (about 1860 to date). Its purpose is to provide information and a means of contact for those interested in warships.

Nearing their 50th Anniversary, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has
published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.

I’m a member, so should you be!

Warship Wednesday, January 16, 2013

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Here at LSOZI, we are going to take out every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1859-1946 time period and will profile a different ship each week.

– Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday,  January 16, 2013

(By John Tansey, Deviant Art)

(By John Tansey, Deviant Art)

Here we see the Austrian navy frigate SMS Novara sailing through the gentle Pacific in the 1850’s.

Laid down in 1843 at the Venetian Arsenal, in Venice, Italy, she was placed in service in 1851. Armed with four impressive 60-pounder Paixhans guns and two dozen smaller 24-pounders, she could hold her own. At the time the commander of the Austrian Navy was Archduke Maximilian. The good Archduke sent the Novara in 1857 on a 27-month long scientific research mission. Circumnavigating the globe, it was the first large-scale scientific, around-the-world mission of the Austrian Imperial navy and remains a proud moment in Austrian history. In the mission they collected 21-binders of information and made more than 26,000 collections of fauna around the world. These collections lead to the discovery of pure cocaine, which is celebrated at high-dollar events to this day.

SMS.Novara.return

In 1864 the heroic vessel was charged with carrying Maximilian to Mexico where he assumed his new throne over that country, installed by French troops. However that didn’t work out too well for Max, and in 1868 the Novara returned to Mexico to retrieve his body.

The ship participated in the greatest Austrian naval victory at the Battle of Lissa in 1866 and spent  another three decades as a gunnery training ship before she was scrapped in 1899 at age 56.

She is well-remembered in Austria, a country that hasn’t had a blue-water navy since 1918.

20-Euro coin honoring the Novara and her scientific voyage

20-Euro coin honoring the Novara and her scientific voyage

Specs:

Displacement:     2,615 t (2,574 long tons)
Length:     76.79 m (251 ft 11 in)
Beam:     14.32 m (47 ft 0 in)
Draft:     5.8 m (19 ft 0 in)
Installed power:     1,200 ihp (890 kW)
Propulsion:     1 shaft, 1 steam engine
Speed:     12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Range:     3,300 nmi (6,100 km; 3,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement:     550
Armament:     4 × 60-pounder smoothbore Paixhans guns
28 × 30-pounder Novara guns
2 × 24-pounder Breech-loading guns

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO)

There are literally thousands of detailed articles that have been covered over the past 50-years by the INRO in Warship International. Click here to read for free an example, this one on the Repulse and Prince of Wales last battle.

The International Naval Research Organization is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the encouragement of the study of naval vessels and their histories, principally in the era of iron and steel warships (about 1860 to date). Its purpose is to provide information and a means of contact for those interested in warships.

Nearing their 50th Anniversary, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.

I’m a member, so should you be!

Warship Wednesday, January 9, 2013

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Here at LSOZI, we are going to take out every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1859-1946 time period and will profile a different ship each week.

– Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday,  January 9, 2013

Last_Jutland_warship_to_be_preserved_for_the_nation_2
Here we see the old “C-class” light cruiser HMS Caroline steaming with a bone in her mouth.

The Caroline, at 4700-tons when fully loaded and some 446-feet overall length is about the size of today’s Oliver Hazard Perry Class frigates, but when she was designed in the 1900s, she was a pretty fierce fast cruiser. Capable of over 28-knots, her pair of 6-inch guns and 8 smaller 4-inchers could make mincemeat of attacking destroyers and torpedo boats of the day. Her job was to keep these wolverines at bay from the battleships of the line while being available for scouting and shadowing the bad guy’s battle line. Detached from fleet service she was also capable of showing the flag round the world anywhere the water was more than 16-feet deep.

1305974875.18574142

Commissioned just four months after the start of WWI, Caroline served with the  4th Light Cruiser Squadron and famously led a torpedo attack during the Battle of Jutland. After the war she was sent to the East Indies Station based at Colombo where she patrolled the Indian coastline. In 1924 she became a drill ship for the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve in April 1924 at  Alexandra Dock, Belfast. There she remained as a dockside trainer and depot ship. Still officially in commission but never leaving port, she still had a reserve ‘crew’ as late as 2009. Not bad when you consider she was built in less than nine months.

In India post WWI

In India post WWI

Of her class of 28 cruisers, one was sunk in 1918 by a mine, six were lost during WWII, and the remainder were all broken up by 1948, leaving Caroline in Irish waters as the sole survivor of her group.

Finally, with her hull right at 98-years old, HMS Caroline was decommissioned on 31 March 2011. Her ensign was laid up in St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast. It is envisioned that she, the last survivor of Jutland and the last WWI-era Royal Navy cruiser afloat, will become a museum.

Today, disarmed, decommed, but still proud

Today, disarmed, decommed, but still proud

The Brits sure got a lot of use out of her.

Specs:

Displacement:     Nominal: 3,750 tons
Loaded: 4,219 tons
Deep: 4,733 tons
Length:     420 ft (128.0 m) (446 ft (135.9 m) overall)
Beam:     41.5 ft (12.6 m)
Draught:     16 ft (5 m) maximum
Propulsion:     4 shaft Parsons turbines
Power: 40,000 shp
Speed:     28.5 knots (53 km/h) (largely immobile after 1924)
Range:     carried 405 tons (772 tons maximum) of fuel oil
Complement:     325
Armament:     As built:

2 × BL 6 in (152 mm) /45 Mk XII guns (2 × 1),
8 × QF 4 in (102 mm) /45 Mk V guns[1]
1 × 6 pounder,
4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes

Later:

4 × 6 in (152 mm) /45 Mk XII
2 × 3 in (76 mm) anti-aircraft
4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes.

Today: None

Armour:     Belt: 3 to 1 in
Decks: 1 inch

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO)

They have one of the largest collections of ships photos from avid martial art enthusiasts around the world, many never before seen. Some of the collection online is at http://www.warship.org/ship.htm

The International Naval Research Organization is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the encouragement of the study of naval vessels and their histories, principally in the era of iron and steel warships (about 1860 to date). Its purpose is to provide information and a means of contact for those interested in warships.

Nearing their 50th Anniversary, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.

I’m a member, so should you be!

Warship Wednesday, January 2, 2013 (Happy NEW Year)

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Here at LSOZI, we are going to take out every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1859-1946 time period and will profile a different ship each week.
– Christopher Eger
Warship Wednesday,  January 2, 2013 (Happy NEW Year)

Turner,_J._M._W._-_The_Fighting_Téméraire_tugged_to_her_last_Berth_to_be_broken
Here we see the HMS Temeraire tugged to her last berth to be broken up in 1838.

While normally we cover steel ships, powered by coal, oil, diesel, or some other fossil fuel, the Temeraire deserves a special mention. Ordered in 1790, she spent 8-years in the stocks being constructed at the Chatham Dockyard before entering service during the Napoleonic Wars in 1799. Built as a Neptune-class ship of the line, she was a huge 2120-ton 185-foot long battleship of the sail era and as such carried an amazing 98 cannon arrayed on four decks. With each of these guns requiring a 5-7 man crew, the ship when fully manned carried over 700 sailors, officers, and marines.

She helped blockade both Spain and then France before having her moment of glory at the famous Battle of Trafalgar. It was there, in 1805, that she earned her reputation. Coming to the aide of Nelson in the HMS Victory, the Temeraire fought off the  112-gun Spanish ship Santa Ana, 74-gun French ship redoubtable, and 74-gun French ship Fougueux. This fighting was done at close quarters, usually within a football field and often involved ramming and lashing together. She had more than 125 casualties, all of her sails and masts yards shot or burned away, and her starboard hull and rudder head staved in. The battle ended with both Fougueux and the Redoubtable striking their colors and captured by Temeraire.

The_Battle_of_Trafalgar_by_William_Clarkson_Stanfield

Trafalgar: The damaged French Redoubtable caught between the Victory (the large ship in the foreground center) and the Temeraire (seen bow on). The Fougueux, coming up on Temeraire’s starboard side, has just received a broadside. 1836 oil on canvas by Clarkson Frederick Stanfield.

Repaired but never the same again, she continued to serve for another decade of the Napoleonic wars, seeing combat against Danish and French ships. By 1812, no longer needed in the line and with her wood in decay, she was placed in reserve. Her guns were landed, her crews dispersed, and she was pressed into use as a first a prison ship, then a receiving ship, victualing ship, and finally as a guard ship, before her old but still majestic hulk was sold to the breakers in 1838.

“”The flag which braved the battle and the breeze, No longer owns her.”

The famous painting of the proud but stricken vessel being towed to scrap “The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her last berth to be broken up, 1838″ by J. M. W. Turner,  has sat at the National Gallery in London since 1851. In 2005, The Fighting Temeraire was voted the greatest painting in a British art gallery and an aging RN Commander James “Shaken, not stirred” Bond admired her in last year’s Skyfall movie. Her name went on to grace a steam-powered warship, a  Bellerophon class battleship in World War One, but has not been on the ocean since 1921. Today HMS Temeraire is the name of the shore side Directorate of Naval Physical Training and Sport (DNPTS) in Portsmouth.

Specs:

Tons burthen:     2,12058⁄94 (bm)
Length:     185 ft (56 m) (gundeck)
152 ft 8 in (46.53 m) (keel)
Beam:     51 ft 2 in (15.60 m)
Depth of hold:     21 ft 6 in (6.55 m)
Sail plan:     Full-rigged ship
Complement:     738
Armament:    98 guns:
Gundeck: 28 × 32-pounder guns
Middle gundeck: 30 × 18-pounder guns
Upper gundeck: 30 × 18-pounder guns
Quarterdeck: 8 × 12-pounder guns
Forecastle: 2 × 12-pounder guns

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO) They have one of the largest collections of ships photos from avid martial art enthusiasts around the world, many never before seen. Some of the collection online is at http://www.warship.org/ship.htm

The International Naval Research Organization is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the encouragement of the study of naval vessels and their histories, principally in the era of iron and steel warships (about 1860 to date). Its purpose is to provide information and a means of contact for those interested in warships.

Nearing their 50th Anniversary, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.

I’m a member, so should you be!

Warship Wednesday, December 26

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Here at LSOZI, we are going to take out every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the  1859-1946 time period and will profile a different ship each week.

– Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday,  December 26

dualio

Here we see the beautiful legacy dreadnought Caio Duilio as she appeared in WWII. Caio Duilio was an Italian Andrea Doria-class battleship that served in the Regia Marina during World War I and World War II. She was named after the First Punic War Roman fleet commander Gaius Duilius, winner of the  Battle of Mylae in 260 BC.

Ordered in 1911 she was completed in 1916. Even though this was in the middle of WWI, the Duilio didn’t see much active service as from 1916-18 naval combat in the Med was largely restricted to patrolling the barrage line in the Adriatic to keep the Austro-Hungarian fleet bottled up while avoiding both German and Austrian U-boats (Captain Von Trapp!).

dreadnought Caio Duilio and her sister Andrea Doria as they appeared in the 1920s. Note the immense coal smoke.

Dreadnought Caio Duilio and her sister Andrea Doria as they appeared in the 1920s. Note the immense coal smoke.

Between the wars the ship was modernized. Originally a 22,000-ton coal-fired battleship with a baker’s dozen 305mm guns (in three triple and two double turrets) that could make, she became a 30,000-ton oil-fired (which more than doubled her horsepower) battleship with ten 320mm guns that could make 27-knots. It was in this configuration that she entered WWII.

During the war she fought, as Italy did, first with the Axis (1939-43) then with the Allies (1943-45). She was assigned to convoy duty between Italy and Libya to supply Axis troops fighting in the North African Front. She took a torpedo from a Swordfish in her bow during the Battle of Taranto but was quickly repaired. In the First Battle of Sirte in 1941, she was the flagship of the Close covering force under Rear Admiral Raffaele de Courten (on Duca d’Aosta) as he slugged it out with a force of British cruisers and destroyers. The battle, like most of the naval combat in the Med during WWII, was inconclusive with a few rounds fired from extreme range and much maneuverings done but few ships on either side hit. After Italy came over to the Allies she spent the rest of the War cooling her heels in Malta.

After the war she was retained in service for another decade. She was the flagship of the Italian Navy 1947 to 1949 and after that was retained as a training vessel and ceremonial duties ship for senior personnel. She was stricken in 1956 and scrapped the following year after more than forty years of honorable service. Her sister-ship, Andrea Doria, was scrapped two years later and was the last Italian battleship.

Caio Duilio didn’t have the most impressive legacy of sea service, having never sunk another ship in combat through two world wars. Still, she was one of the handful of warships planned before 1914 that served in both world wars to one extent or another and survived to see NATO service in the twilight of the battleship.

In 1962 the Missile cruiser Caio Duilio was commissioned and had a 30-year career of her own which celebrated the elder Gaius Duilius as well as the former battleship. In 2009, an Orizzonte-class destroyer was commissioned with the same name, ensuring that there will be a Caio Duilio in the Italian navy for generations yet to come.

Specs:
Displacement:     As built:
22,956 tons normal
24,729 tons full load
As modernized:
26,434 tons normal
29,391 tons full load
Length:     168.96 m (554.3 ft)
Beam:     28.03 m (92.0 ft)
Draft:     8.58 m (28.1 ft)
Propulsion:     As built:
Steam turbine system
20 boilers
4 shafts
30,000 shp
As modernized:
Steam turbine system
8 Yarrow type boilers
2 shafts
75,000 shp
Speed:     As built: 21 knots (39 km/h)
As modernized: 27 knots (50 km/h)
Complement:     As built: 1,233
As modernized: 1,485
Armament:     As built:
13 × 305 mm (12 in) guns (Three triple and two double turrets)
16 × 152 mm (6 in) guns
13 × 76 mm (3 in) guns
6 × 76 mm anti-aircraft guns
3 × 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes
As modernized:
10 × 320 mm (12.6 in) guns (Two triple and two double turrets)
12 × 135 mm (5.3 in) guns (Four triple turrets)
10 × 90 mm (3.5 in) anti-aircraft guns
15 × 37 mm anti-aircraft guns
16 × 20 mm anti-aircraft guns
Armor:     Belt: 254 mm
Turrets: 280 mm
Decks: 98 mm

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO)

They have one of the largest collections of ships photos from avid martial art enthusiasts around the world, many never before seen. Some of the collection online is at http://www.warship.org/ship.htm

The International Naval Research Organization is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the encouragement of the study of naval vessels and their histories, principally in the era of iron and steel warships (about 1860 to date). Its purpose is to provide information and a means of contact for those interested in warships.

Nearing their 50th Anniversary, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.

I’m a member, so should you be!

Warship Wednesday, December 19

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Here at LSOZI, we are going to take out every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1859-1946 time period and will profile a different ship each week.

– Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday,  December 19

French bb Charlemagne
Here we see the beautiful pre-drednought  Charlemagne of the French navy undated photo around 1900.

Built before the lessons learned in the Spanish-American war, but utilizing some learned from the clash of Japanese and Imperial Chinese armored vessels in 1894,  she was commissioned in September 1897. She is typical of her era with Harvey armor, a varied and confusing series of main, secondary, tertiary, quaternary, and quinary batteries of armament– all of which had limited elevation and arcs of fire. Built with twenty coal-fired boilers to power a trio of 4-cylinder vertical triple expansion steam engines on independent shafts, the 386-foot long battleship broke a blistering 18-knots on her trials.

PhotoWW1-01bbFrCharlmagnePS

By 1906, at the ripe old age of 8, she was thoroughly obsolete. Her place in the battle line was taken by fast oil-fired warships with Krupp armor and an all-big gun battery. However this did not mean she was retired. On the contrary the French kept her in service for another decade of service in both peace and war. Considered almost expendable by 1915, she and five other French battleships were tasked with close in bombardment of the Turkish defenses of the Dardanelles during the Gallipoli campaign.

She served it up hot to the Turks and took some punishment in return. She was patched back together but by 1917 Charlemagne was laid up.

She was scrapped in 1923.

Specs:

Displacement:     11,275 t (11,097 long tons) (deep load)
Length:     117.7 m (386 ft 2 in)
Beam:     20.3 m (66 ft 7 in)
Draught:     8.4 m (27 ft 7 in)
Installed power:     14,500 PS (10,700 kW)
20 Belleville water-tube boilers
Propulsion:     3 shafts, 3 four-cylinder vertical triple-expansion steam engines
Speed:     18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Range:     4,200 miles (3,650 nmi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement:     727
Armament:     2 × 2 – 305 mm (12 in) Mle 1893 guns
10 × 1 – 138.6 mm (5.46 in) Mle 1893 guns
8 × 1 – 100 mm (3.9 in) Mle 1893 guns
20 × 1 – 47 mm Mle 1885 Hotchkiss guns
4 × 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes
Armour:     Belt: 110–320 mm (4.3–12.6 in)
Decks: 55–90 mm (2.2–3.5 in)
Barbettes: 270 mm (10.6 in)
Turrets: 320 mm (12.6 in)
Conning tower: 326 mm (12.8 in)

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO) http://www.warship.org/

The International Naval Research Organization is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the encouragement of the study of naval vessels and their histories, principally in the era of iron and steel warships (about 1860 to date). Its purpose is to provide information and a means of contact for those interested in warships.

Nearing their 50th Anniversary, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has published hundreds of articles  most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.

I’m a member, so should you be!

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