Photos Navies Of All Nations

RN:
HMS Ark Royal (R09) passing laid up HMS Eagle (R05) in the Hamoaze awaiting scrap, 1978

Finland & USN:
Hämeenmaa-class minelayer Hämeenmaa (02) with Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) during a PASSEX in the Baltic sea 2022


USS Kearsarge (LHD-3), Hämeenmaa (02) and Hamina-class missile boat Tornio (PTG 81)


Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely (DDG 107), left, and Hylje-design pollution control vessel Halli (899) during manoeuvring exercises



USS Kearsarge (LHD 3), front, Hylje-design pollution control vessel Halli (899), Minelayer Hämeenmaa (02), USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44), USS Gravely (DDG 107), and Rauma-class missile boat Naantali (PTG 73) sail in formation

Italy:
Battleship Conte di Cavour opens fire with its 320mm main battery during the battle the Battle of Punta Stilo, July 9, 1940

The Battle of Calabria, known to the Italian Navy as the Battle of Punta Stilo, was a naval battle during the Battle of the Mediterranean in the Second World War. Ships of the Italian Regia Marina were opposed by vessels of the British Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy. The battle occurred 30 miles to the east of Punta Stilo, Calabria, on 9 July 1940. It was one of the few pitched battles of the Mediterranean campaign during the Second World War involving large numbers of ships on both sides. Both sides claimed victory, but in fact the battle was a draw and everyone returned to their bases safely.

Imperial Japan:
May 18, 1912: The first battlecruiser for the Imperial Japanese Navy was launched at Barrow-in-Furness. Her name was Kongō. She would serve for 32 years, seeing action from Tsingtao to Leyte Gulf before being sunk by USS Sealion

France:
Unfinished battleship Jean Bart, following an attack by gunfire and aircraft during a lull in the action at the Naval Battle of Casablanca, taken by an aircraft from USS Ranger on November 11th, 1942

USN:
Wichita class heavy cruiser USS Wichita (CA-45) operating in the Atlantic Ocean, out of Norfolk, Virginia (USA), on 1 May 1940. Note the markings on her turret tops (bars on the forward turrets, a circle on the after turret). These scheme was used on several other heavy cruisers in 1939-40.


USS Wasp (CV-18) Ready for launching, at the Bethlehem Steel Company shipyard, Quincy, MA, 17 August 1943


Light aircraft carrier USS Cowpens, CVL-25, during working up in the Atlantic Ocean, in mid-1943


Evarts-class "short-hull" destroyer escort USS Edward C. Daly (DE-17) in Alaskan waters, circa 1944


Brooklyn-class light cruiser USS Honolulu (CL-48) after being torpedoed at the Battle of Kolombangara, Solomon Islands, 12/13 July 1943

USN:
USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) passing the Walt Whitman Bridge, April 29, 1961

Russia:
Project 11352 patrol ship Lyogky (NATO Krivak IV) class frigate, mid 2000's


Tug Nikolay Chiker leads the Project 941 Akula (NATO Typhoon) class submarine Dmitri Donskoi (TK-208)with Project 1144 (NATO Kirov) class heavy nuclear missile cruiser Pyotr Velikiy in Kronstadt

USN:
Launching of battleship USS Texas on May 18, 1912. It would be almost two more years before she finished receiving all her armaments, and she would be officially commissioned on March 12, 1914.

France:
Mistral-class LDH Dixmude (L-9015) arrives in Marigot, Saint-Martin island to provide supplies for the local population. Operation Resilience, 17 April 2022

USN:
USS Charleston (LCS 18) sails off the coast of Japan during Exercise Noble Vanguard


Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Sioux City (LCS 11), left, transits with Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75),Tyrrhenian Sea, May 16, 2022


Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely (DDG 107) during manoeuvring exercises in the Baltic Sea, May 2022

USSR:
Personnel of the Project 68-bis light cruiser Admiral Nakhimov" (pr. 68-bis) is preparing for the parade dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the heroic defence of Sevastopol, 1954

USN:
A Loening OL-8A amphibian aircraft takes off from USS Lexington (CV-2), 1930

PLA(N):
Wooden hulled gunboat, Vanguard pictured here after her refit in the wake of the Wanshan Campaign. Vanguard, with other Gunboats of the PLAN during the Wanshan Campaign (Liberation and Struggle and others) were lightly armed gunboats that the PLAN used. Vanguard is a wooden hulled boat, allegedly equipped with 13mm machine guns before her refit (pictured above), where the PLA upgunned these gunboats to carry 57mm cannons/mountain guns. They also apparently put a 100mm gun on a float (they used a tugboat to tow it around) to drive away any returning KMT forces.

USN:
Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate USS Stark after being hit by two Excoct missiles, May 17, 1987

Though she was in a war zone, the US was not a belligerent in the Iran-Iraq Tanker War at the time and Iraq wasn’t yet hostile to the US. Iran and Iraq had been attacking merchant shipping (many attacks over several years) in the Persian gulf in order to deny each other an advantage in their stalemated land war. Although both sides were attacking ships, the US generally saw Iran and not Iraq as the “bad guy”.

The attack on the Stark was apparently the result of poor targeting by the Iraqi pilot, who reportedly thought the Stark was an Iranian ship. Later theories on the intent of the attack differ. The USN had seen Iraqi planes fly similar attack profiles against merchantmen often enough for it to seem routine.

Because she was not a belligerent her captain had not directed any heightened alert status and opted to have her chaff and phalanx on standby, and had no missile on the Mk 13 launcher’s rail. She was thus unprepared for an attack. The Iraqi plane was reported to the Stark via AWACS and the track did show up intermittently on the Stark’s radars, so it was known of by the watch in CIC. The geometry of the Iraqi approach meant that the Phalanx was masked by the Stark’s own mast and she would have had to maneuver to unmask the CIWS, which she failed to do until it was too late.

The Exocet missile impacts and resulting fires killed 37 and injured 21 of the crew. She was undoubtedly a mission kill on the day, but she was saved by the efforts of her crew and personnel from other ships.

Saddam Hussein formally apologized for the incident, and deconfliction procedures were worked out between the Iraqi air force and the USN to prevent future reoccurrences of the incident.

After repairs in Bahrain the Stark was able to steam back to the US under her own power and was fully restored to service after more extensive yard work. After several more years of service and several more deployments she was decommissioned in 1999.

The Stark’s captain was reprimanded for his pre-attack decisions and was ineligible for further promotion, but was allowed to take an early retirement.

PLA(N):
Type 056A corvette Huangshi (502) fires a YJ-83 during a training exercise, Sept. 12th, 2016


Aircraft carrier Shandong (CV-17) basking in the afterglow. Sanya, Dec 16th, 2019, the day before her commissioning

USN:
Sailors aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG-69) conduct a helicopter in-flight refueling with an MH-60S “Seahawk” helicopter assigned to the “Golden Falcons” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 12. Sagami Bay (May 9, 2022)

RN:
A 600 lb armour plate - 14.7" thick - weighing about 30 tons is fitted to the battleship HMS Duke of York, April 1940

RN:
Daring class destroyer HMS Duncan sailing up the Forth

USN:
Change of Command ceremony for Vice Admiral John Ballentine; Commander Sixth Fleet, as he transfers his flag to the USS Newport News on January 6th, 1950



Heavy cruiser USS Toledo (CA-133) crewmen loading ammunition from a barge in Inchon Harbor, Korea, prior to Toledo's moving into position to support United Nations ground forces, as they attempt to stop the enemy's spring offensive, circa late April 1951


Sorting 100 lb bombs aboard aircraft carrier USS Boxer, (CV-21), after replenishment from USS Les, (AKA-60), off Korea on 18 September 1951