Photos Navies Of All Nations

Australia:
ANZAC class frigate HMAS Arunta (II) (FFH-151), Canberra-class landing helicopter dock (LHD) HMAS Adelaide (III) (L-01) & Hobart class guided missile destroyer HMAS Hobart (III) (DDG-39) return to Sydney after a 3 month deployment. 17th Dec 2022

USN:
Forrestal class aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV-60) 15 Nov 1985

RN:
HMS Illustrious in Rosyth for the naming ceremony of HMS Queen Elizabeth in 2014

USN:
USS Saratoga (CV-3) leaving San Francisco for the last time in May 1946, her next stop would be Pearl Harbor and then finally Bikini Atoll to be used as a target vessel in Operation Crossroads.

Germany:
Panzerschiff (Armoured Ship) Graf Spee, 1936

USN:
Sidewheel steamer USS Commodore Morris moored on the Pamunkey River, Virginia, 1864

RN:
Battleship HMS Rodney. The crew of a QF 4.7" Mark VIII AA gun closed up with the crew of a multiple pom-pom also closed up in the background. 1940


Pre-war photo of HMS Ark Royal. 22,000 tons, launched in 1937. She had a short but active service life: Norway, chasing the Bismark, Force H convoys in the Med


HMS Ark Royal shown with a severe list while sinking after being torpedoed by U 81 off Gibraltar, 14th November, 1941


Queen Elizabeth class battleship battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth in coastal waters, 1943.


Dido class light cruiser HMS Argonaut (61) showing off her forward 5.25"/50 QF Mark l turrets at maximum elevation. Autumn 1942


Dido class light cruiser HMS Argonaut under repair at Philadelphia Navy Yard. 1943

France:
Commando Marine preparing to land on the Charles de Gaulle, Mission Antares 2022


Mistral class amphibious assault helicopter carrier Tonnerre (L9014) and D'Estienne d'Orves-class aviso (light corvette) Commandant Ducuing (F795) after an exercise in the Gulf of Guinea, Dec, 2022

RN:
Powerful class protected cruiser HMS Powerful (1897-1929), at anchor off Melbourne. Launched 1895. Had the unique experience of providing land naval brigades in the Boer War. HMS Powerful sailors helped relieve the siege of Ladysmith in 1899-1900 and were involved in several other battles



HMS K2. A completely unsuccessful and unlucky submarine. Launched 1915, 2000 tons, 8 x 18" torpedo tubes & two 4" deck guns. Steam powered, she suffered an explosion and fire during her trials, collided with two different submarines. Scrapped 1926. Shown with two QE class battleships.

Germany:
Armoured cruiser SMS Scharnhorst (shown 1907). Part of the German East Asiatic Squadron at sea when WWI began, under Admiral Maximilian von Spee, she helped destroy a RN squadron at Coronel but was later hunted down and sunk by RN battlecruisers at the Battle of the Falkland Islands.


Moltke-class battlecruiser SMS Moltke being coaled by its crew (probably pre-WW1)


Moltke-class battlecruiser SMS Goeben. Caught in the Med at the outbreak of WWI she managed to escape to Turkey. Renamed Yavuz she remained with Turkey until 1973 when she was scrapped.

Japan:
Hiyō-class aircraft carrier Jun'yō (Peregrine Falcon) at Sasebo, Japan, September 1945. Jun'yō was converted from the fast passenger liner Kashiwara Maru during construction, and was completed in 1942.
Two HA-201 class submarines are visible alongside. These were similar in many ways to German Type XXI and Type XXIII submarines.

Jun’yō and Hiyō were unusual carriers, but they weren't escort carriers.

These two ships were converted from large ocean liners like many escort carriers, especially Japanese. This alone says nothing as many light carriers were also converted from other ships along with a handful of fleet carriers (most never completed or completed immediately after the Washington Naval Treaty). This was part of a more general program to bulk up Japanese carrier forces by converting as many ships as possible due to the limitations of their shipyard capacity..

Despite being converted from liners like the smaller Taiyō (CVE)，the ships were large enough to have a good sized flight deck, hangar and aircraft capacity similar to other medium fleet carriers like Hiryū or Illustrious. This was initially slated as 48 ready A6Ms，D3As，and B5Ns but varied as the war went on due to aircraft availability. Escort carriers generally had 20-30 depending on design.

Operationally these two ships were always deployed with other fleet or light carriers. They spent much of the war in the 2nd Carrier Division of the Third Fleet with Shōkaku and Zuikaku the core of the 1st CarDiv. Hiyō sank during the Battle of the Philippine Sea operating with her sister the three other operational Japanese fleet carriers and the four operational light carriers. No escort carriers were in this operation, their missions were generally aircraft ferry and occasionally convoy escort and during the war they were mostly attached to the Combined Fleet directly or from late 1943/early 1944 to General Escort Command.

The main drawback of these two ships was the very slow speed for fleet carriers. Typical speeds were 30-33 knots while these ships were rated for 25 and with wartime loads never broke 23 in service. This is better than most escort carriers (15-21 knots)，but still severely limited the capability of the aircraft launching from the ships (in short more wind over deck means a shorter takeoff run for the same payload. Since aircraft operations required spotting aircraft on the rear of the flight deck for large launch groups, a longer takeoff run means you have less room to spot aircraft as the first ones must get airborne).

These were unquestionably the weakest fleet carriers Japan operated

RN:
Type 45 Daring class destroyers HMS Defender, HMS Diamond and River-class OPV HMS Mersey alongside HMNB Portsmouth. 10 Dec 2022


Type 45 Daring class destroyer HMS Duncan and HMS Queen Elizabeth alongside HMNB Portsmouth. 15 Dec 2022

Sweden:
Sverige-class coastal defence ship HSwMS Gustav V, moored in the Swedish archipelago during WW2

USN:
South Carolina-class battleship USS Michigan (BB-27) dockside at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, 1911. During her short career, Michigan participated in the occupation of Veracruz and saw duty escorting WWI convoys


Clemson-class destroyer USS Able P. Upshur (DD-193) at Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, 26 January 1921


Tennessee-class battleship USS California (BB-44) on her commissioning day at Mare Island Navy Yard on 10 August 1921.


A 12" gun of the dreadnought battleship USS Delaware (BB-28) being cut with a blowtorch, February 1924, during her scrapping according to the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty

USN:
Flight IIA Arleigh Bourke class destroyer USS Paul Ignatius (DDG-117) replenishes from RFA Tiderace. 16 Dec 2022


First flight III Arleigh Burke class destroyer, future USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125) during sea trials from Ingalls Shipbuilding, December 12



Nimitz-class, nuclear-powered supercarrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) returning to Yokosuka. Dec 15, 2022

USN:
Cyclone-class coastal patrol ships USS Hurricane (PC 3) and USS Monsoon (PC 4) in Baltimore's Inner Harbor to take part in Maryland's Star-Spangled Bicentennial Launch. 16 November 2011

Australia:
ANZAC class frigate HMAS Warramunga in drydock during a refit and upgrade, 2015

Japan:
Hyuga-class helicopter destroyer JS Ise (DDH-182) RASing with an Towada class replenishment oiler

Italy:
Squalo class submarine Squalo, before and after the modification of its bow, to improve its seakeeping and stability. 1930s



Gabbiano-class corvette Sibilla at Trieste, June 1943

Gabbiano-class corvette Sibilla at Trieste, June 1943