Photos Navies Of All Nations

[BravoZulu]

USN:
USS New Orleans (LPD 18) receives fuel lines from USNS Tippecanoe (T-AO 199)

 

[BravoZulu]

USN:
USS Hornet (CV-8) at Battle of Midway,6 June 1942

This is a still from John Ford's The Battle of Midway, one of two films he made about the battle. It includes footage from before and after the main battle, along a couple famous shots by Ford himself during the Japanese attack where the film jumped off the reels due to nearby bomb hits. Ford was wounded in one of these incidents. As a propaganda film in one of the darkest periods of the war, this saw a wide release, and was one of the four Academy Award winners for Best Documentary in its inaugural year. At time of posting, this particular video has 330,537 views, while the archive.org version has 80,532, and I have also seen it broadcast on TCM.
His second film, Torpedo Squadron 8 was much more personal. Before the battle, Ford and his cameramen had shot footage of the 30 pilots and gunners of Torpedo Squadron 8 on Hornet, and only George Gay survived the battle (more pilots flew from Midway, two of 18 survived and are not included). Ford made 30 copies of the film and gave them to the 30 families. At time of posting, this video has 2,601 views, though the archive.org copy has 7,736 views as it's been up longer.

 

[BravoZulu]

RN:
HMS Howe being towed from the builder's yard, June 1942

HMS Howe enters dock for her finishing touches before taking her place with the Fleet.

Revenge-class battleship HMS Ramillies in 1942

HMS Sirius, a Dido-class light cruiser, at Taranto 9-10 Sept 1943

 

[BravoZulu]

USN:
USS San Diego (CL-53). The second most decorated USN warship of the second world war after the legendary USS Enterprise (CV-6)

Newly commissioned USS Franklin (CV-13) departing Norfolk Naval Shipyard on the Elizabeth River, Norfolk, Virginia, United States, 21 Feb 1944

USS Baron (DE-166) at Mare Island, Oct 20, 1944

 

[BravoZulu]

RN:
Battleship HMS Benbow, with her 16.25-inch guns

 

[BravoZulu]

RN:
Battleship HMS King George V at sea, behind a swell, c. 1940-41.

HMS Aurora, with her deck laden with troops and transport, sailing towards the Athens port of Piraeus. Oct 1944.

 

[BravoZulu]

RN & France:
'A Gallant Rescue' by Ebenezer Colls, HMS Endymion rescues a French two-decker, Spanish Coast, 1803

This painting is in the collection of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, and comes with a brief description of the event depicted.

Towards the close of the long French war, Captain the Hon. Sir Charles Paget, while cruising in the ‘Endymion’ frigate on the coast of Spain, described a French ship of the line in imminent danger, embayed among rocks upon a lee shore, bowsprit and foremast gone, and riding by a stream cable, her only remaining one. Though it was blowing a gale, Sir Charles bore down to the assistance of his enemy, dropped his sheet anchor on the Frenchman's bow, buoyed the cable, and veered it athwart his hawse. This the disabled ship succeeded in getting in, and thus 700 lives were rescued from destruction. After performing this chivalrous action, the ‘Endymion’, being herself in great peril, hauled to the wind, let go her bower anchor, club hauled and stood off shore on the other tack

There is some controversy about whether this 'rescue' ever actually happened. No mention of it is made in Endymion's log and the painting's description dates it to the end of the war, while Paget only commanded Endymion around 1803. Laughton - one of the leading naval historians of his time - dismissed it as 'improbable' in his 1893 DNB entry for Paget.

However, Paget's grandson, Revd Edward Paget reported in his 1913 memoir of his grandfather, that the story was well known in his family and that Paget had commissioned a different picture of the event in 1807 (the later dating being an error). As to why the event was not described in the log:

Sir Charles - who had other risky manoeuvres to his name - had not reported it officially since [it was] contrary to his specific instructions to destroy enemy shipping, let alone more general regulations. Edward also recalled his father's report that Sir Charles's particular worry in not doing so was how otherwise to account to the Admiralty for Endymion's loss of the two anchors involved.

 

[morris]

WW2, Russian destroyer Nezamozhnik (Fidonisi type, Novik class) at Black sea.

 

[BravoZulu]

RN:
OPV HMS Clyde in 2009, patrol vessel for the Falkland Islands. Decommissioned in 2019

 

[BravoZulu]

USSR:
July 1976, off Marsa Matruh. Light cruiser Zhdanov arrives for the USSR Navy Day celebrations. Later she will provide support for the Echo II class nuclear cruise missile submarine K-22 after the latter collides with USS Voge (FF-1047) in the Ionian Sea.

 

[BravoZulu]

Italy:
Destroyer Ugolino Vivaldi engaging British destroyers and cruisers while shells splash around her, 15 June 1942

Ugolino Vivaldi and her sister ship Malocello were slower than the other Italian ships (28 knots) and were unable to keep up when flank speed was ordered, so they were ordered to attack the convoy while the others went for the escort. They opened fire, but were faced with enemy destroyers; Vincent O'Hara says that it's possible that, when they launched a torpedo salvo, they struck a merchantman (whose sinking has been usually attributed to air attack).

Then the Vivaldi was struck by a 4.7 inch shell from HMS Matchless, a huge fire came up and she came to a stop; as she stood motionless, with the Malocello laying a smokescreen around them and enemy destroyers coming closer, her captain signalled: "We'll fight to the last. Long live the King." However, the enemies were soon recalled, but Admiral Da Zara (the Italian commander) had detached the other destroyers at his command to go support them, thus ending up with his force split in three.

After a while, the fire was put under control, a boiler was restarted, and the damaged destroyer was able to limp towards Pantelleria, and from there to the mainland for repairs.

 

[BravoZulu]

RN:
HMS Prince of Wales (R09) in Gibraltar, July 2021

HMS Lancaster escorting HMS Prince of Wales, July 2021

 

[BravoZulu]

Canada:
HMCS Margaret Brooke, second ship of the DeWolf class is delivered in a ceremony to the RCN, July 15 2021. HMCS Harry DeWolf herself can be seen moored behind her younger sister. Official commissioning is planned for October of 2022.

 

[BravoZulu]

France:
FREMM Aquitaine-class ASW frigate Provence

 

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Russia:
Admiral Kuznetsov in Cyprus in early 2014.

 

[BravoZulu]

USN:
Early November 1943, west of Guadalcanal Island. Assigned to Task Force 38, USS Saratoga is heading to Rabaul to attack Japanese warships and transports; photo taken from Douglas SBD Dauntless.

 

[BravoZulu]

USN:
USS Sicily (CVE-118) and USS Yorktown (CV-10) at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, early Feb 1954; note AF Guardian aircraft on Sicily and AD Skyraider aircraft on Yorktown.

 

[BravoZulu]

Italy:
Launch of Oriani class destroyer Giosuè Carducci, 29 october 1936, Odero Terni Orlando shipyard in Livorno.

Crew entering Turret no. 2 of the light cruiser Emanuele Filiberto Duca d'Aosta, January 1942

The inscription can be translated as "no matter what the cost, long live the Aosta!"

Battleship Andrea Doria being interned at Malta, 1943

 

[BravoZulu]

Imperial Japan:
25 October 1944, Battle of Cape Engaño, aircraft carrier Zuikaku and battleship Ise under attack of aircrafts of U.S. Task Force 38. Photographed by an aircraft from USS Enterprise (CV-6)

 

[morris]

Two brand new border patrol ships on trials in Gulf of Finland, July 2021:
PSKR "Rasul Gamzatov" (project 22460) - 511;
PSKR "Anadyr" (project 22100) - 453.