-
We are implementing a new rule regarding the posting of social media links and Youtube videos, the rule is simple if you are posting these links please say something about it rather than just dropping what we call a "drive by Link", a comment on your thoughts about the content must be included. Thank you
Photos Navies Of All Nations
- Thread starter BravoZulu
- Start date
- Featured
-
- Tags
- hms saumarez
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2017
- Messages
- 44,432
- Points
- 463
RN:
St. Vincent-class dreadnought battleship HMS Vanguard between 1910 and 1917
On completion in 1910
Vanguard's starboard aft side, showing her rear 12-inch gun turret and anti-torpedo net booms, around 1914
The ship anchored in Scapa Flow at about 18:30 on 9 July 1917 after having spent the morning exercising general evolutions concluding practising the routine for abandoning ship. The Captain made a speech to the ship's company in which he stated that under present conditions a ship would either blow up in a matter of seconds, or would take several hours to sink. Practically this meant that all would go down with the ship or that everybody would be saved. There is no record of anyone detecting anything amiss until the first detonation at 23:20. Vanguard sank almost instantly, with only three of the crew surviving, one of whom died soon afterwards. A total of 843 men were lost, including two Australian stokers from the light cruiser HMAS Sydney who were serving time in the battleship's brig. Another casualty was Commander Eto Kyōsuke, a military observer from the Imperial Japanese Navy, which was allied with the Royal Navy at the time through the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. The bodies of 17 of the 22 men recovered after the explosion, plus that of Lieutenant Commander Alan Duke, who died after being rescued, were buried at the Royal Naval Cemetery at Lyness, not far from the site of the explosion.
A Court of Inquiry heard accounts from many witnesses on nearby ships. They accepted the consensus that there had been a small explosion with a white glare between the foremast and 'A' turret, followed after a brief interval by two much larger explosions. The court decided, on the balance of the available evidence, that the main detonations were in either 'P' magazine, 'Q' magazine, or both. A great deal of debris thrown out by the explosions landed on nearby ships; a section of plating measuring approximately six by four feet (1.8 by 1.2 m) landed on board the battleship Bellerophon. It was found to be from the No. 2 Hydraulic Room abaft 'A' barbette. It showed no signs of a blast from 'A' magazine, which reinforced the visual evidence suggesting that the explosion took place in the central part of the ship.
Although the explosion was obviously a detonation of the cordite charges in a main magazine, the reason for it was less clear. There were several theories. The inquiry found that some of the cordite on board, which had been temporarily offloaded in December 1916 and catalogued at that time, was past its stated safe life. The possibility of spontaneous detonation was raised, but could not be proved. It was also noted that a number of ship's boilers were still in use, and some watertight doors, which should have been closed in wartime, were open as the ship was in port. It was suggested that this might have contributed to a dangerously high temperature in the magazines. The final conclusion of the court was that a fire started in a four-inch magazine, perhaps when a raised temperature caused spontaneous ignition of cordite, spreading to one or the other main magazines, which then exploded
St. Vincent-class dreadnought battleship HMS Vanguard between 1910 and 1917
On completion in 1910
Vanguard's starboard aft side, showing her rear 12-inch gun turret and anti-torpedo net booms, around 1914
The ship anchored in Scapa Flow at about 18:30 on 9 July 1917 after having spent the morning exercising general evolutions concluding practising the routine for abandoning ship. The Captain made a speech to the ship's company in which he stated that under present conditions a ship would either blow up in a matter of seconds, or would take several hours to sink. Practically this meant that all would go down with the ship or that everybody would be saved. There is no record of anyone detecting anything amiss until the first detonation at 23:20. Vanguard sank almost instantly, with only three of the crew surviving, one of whom died soon afterwards. A total of 843 men were lost, including two Australian stokers from the light cruiser HMAS Sydney who were serving time in the battleship's brig. Another casualty was Commander Eto Kyōsuke, a military observer from the Imperial Japanese Navy, which was allied with the Royal Navy at the time through the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. The bodies of 17 of the 22 men recovered after the explosion, plus that of Lieutenant Commander Alan Duke, who died after being rescued, were buried at the Royal Naval Cemetery at Lyness, not far from the site of the explosion.
A Court of Inquiry heard accounts from many witnesses on nearby ships. They accepted the consensus that there had been a small explosion with a white glare between the foremast and 'A' turret, followed after a brief interval by two much larger explosions. The court decided, on the balance of the available evidence, that the main detonations were in either 'P' magazine, 'Q' magazine, or both. A great deal of debris thrown out by the explosions landed on nearby ships; a section of plating measuring approximately six by four feet (1.8 by 1.2 m) landed on board the battleship Bellerophon. It was found to be from the No. 2 Hydraulic Room abaft 'A' barbette. It showed no signs of a blast from 'A' magazine, which reinforced the visual evidence suggesting that the explosion took place in the central part of the ship.
Although the explosion was obviously a detonation of the cordite charges in a main magazine, the reason for it was less clear. There were several theories. The inquiry found that some of the cordite on board, which had been temporarily offloaded in December 1916 and catalogued at that time, was past its stated safe life. The possibility of spontaneous detonation was raised, but could not be proved. It was also noted that a number of ship's boilers were still in use, and some watertight doors, which should have been closed in wartime, were open as the ship was in port. It was suggested that this might have contributed to a dangerously high temperature in the magazines. The final conclusion of the court was that a fire started in a four-inch magazine, perhaps when a raised temperature caused spontaneous ignition of cordite, spreading to one or the other main magazines, which then exploded
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2017
- Messages
- 44,432
- Points
- 463
USN:
On February 23, 1969, Iowa class battleship USS New Jersey fired 1500 rounds of 5-inch ammunition in a night of shore bombardment—shown here is the aftermath. During her Vietnam deployment, the battleship fired more rounds than she did in WWII and Korea combined.
On February 23, 1969, Iowa class battleship USS New Jersey fired 1500 rounds of 5-inch ammunition in a night of shore bombardment—shown here is the aftermath. During her Vietnam deployment, the battleship fired more rounds than she did in WWII and Korea combined.
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2017
- Messages
- 44,432
- Points
- 463
Turkey:
Amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu (L-400), Sea Replenishment Combat Support Vessel (DİMDEG) TCG Derya (A-1590), Barbaros-class frigate TCG Orucreis (F-245) and Istanbul-class frigate TCG Istanbul (F-515) coming into Rotterdam - February 26, 2026
Amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu (L-400), Sea Replenishment Combat Support Vessel (DİMDEG) TCG Derya (A-1590), Barbaros-class frigate TCG Orucreis (F-245) and Istanbul-class frigate TCG Istanbul (F-515) coming into Rotterdam - February 26, 2026
TCG Istanbul (F-515) & 
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2019
- Messages
- 13,100
- Points
- 258
USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier arrives at Souda Bay on the island of 
Crete, Greece, February 23, 2026 | REUTERS/Stelios Misinas
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2017
- Messages
- 44,432
- Points
- 463
On 17 December, Spence prepared to refuel and pumped out all of the salt water ballast from her tanks; but rough seas caused the fueling operation to be cancelled. The next day, the weather worsened and the storm turned into a major typhoon. As the ships wallowed in canyon-like troughs of brine, Spence's electrical equipment got wet from great quantities of sea water taken on board. After a 72-degree roll to port, all of the lights went out and the pumps stopped. The rudder jammed; and, after a deep roll to port about 11:00, Spence capsized and sank. Only 24 of her crew survived. USS Hull and USS Monaghan were also sunk in the typhoon. Spence was struck from the Navy list on 19 January 1945.
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2017
- Messages
- 44,432
- Points
- 463
USN:
Clemson class destroyer USS Edsall (DD-219) is sunk by Japanese battleships &cruisers some 200 miles SSE of Christmas Island - March 1, 1942
USS Edsall was enroute to Batavia (now Jakarta) when they received the news that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor.
On February 27, 1942 USS Edsall & USS Whipple were escorting USS Langley when she was damaged by Japanese bombers and had to be scuttled.
On February 28th, the two destroyers met up with USS Pecos and offloaded most of the USS Langley survivors they were carrying except for the USAAF pilots and ground crew who had been passengers on Langley.
Afterwards, USS Edsall was ordered to sail alone to Tjilatjap in Java, because her USAAF passengers were needed to assemble and fly crated P-40 fighters which had been delivered there.
On March 1, 1942, a radio message from USS Edsall that she had been surprised by two Japanese battleships was received by a Dutch ship miles away, afterwards USS Edsall and her crew & passengers seemingly vanished….
After the war, it was learned that Edsall had been sighted inadvertently following a Japanese Task Force, USS Edsall was fired upon by the battleships Hiei & Kirishima and the cruisers Tone & Chikuma from around 27,000 yards away.
USS Edsall started maneuvers, with radical turns, intermittent smoke screens, and at one point firing torpedoes which narrowly missed the cruiser Chikuma.
The four Japanese warships fired around 1,335 8-inch & 14-inch shells at the little destroyer, scoring maybe 1-2 hits.
Admiral Naguma finally had enough and ordered airstrikes, 26 Aichi D3A dive bombers from the carriers Kaga, Hiryū, and Sōryū immobilized USS Edsall with several 250 lb bomb hits.
The battleships and cruisers then closed in and resumed firing, sinking the destroyer which capsized “showing her red bottom" according to an officer onboard Hiei.
A Japanese Navy after action report described the sinking of Edsall as “a fiasco” and the rules of engagement for battleships & cruisers against destroyers was revised.
It was recorded that some survivors from USS Edsall were rescued by the Japanese ships, including eight sailors picked up by the cruiser Chikuma, but at the end of WW2 no survivors were located.
In September 1946 two mass graves with decapitated bodies were located on the island of Celebes, six crew members from Edsall and five of the USAAF passengers were identified among the remains.
During the Japanese War Crimes Trials held after WW2, it was decided not to press charges for the decapitation of the Edsall survivors because of fragmentary evidence…
Picture is a still from Japanese film of the sinking.
In 2023, the wreck of USS Edsall was found roughly 200 miles SSE of Christmas Island at a depth of 18,000 feet.
The destroyer sits upright and is in one piece; some of her guns still point in the direction of her attackers.
Clemson class destroyer USS Edsall (DD-219) is sunk by Japanese battleships &cruisers some 200 miles SSE of Christmas Island - March 1, 1942
USS Edsall was enroute to Batavia (now Jakarta) when they received the news that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor.
On February 27, 1942 USS Edsall & USS Whipple were escorting USS Langley when she was damaged by Japanese bombers and had to be scuttled.
On February 28th, the two destroyers met up with USS Pecos and offloaded most of the USS Langley survivors they were carrying except for the USAAF pilots and ground crew who had been passengers on Langley.
Afterwards, USS Edsall was ordered to sail alone to Tjilatjap in Java, because her USAAF passengers were needed to assemble and fly crated P-40 fighters which had been delivered there.
On March 1, 1942, a radio message from USS Edsall that she had been surprised by two Japanese battleships was received by a Dutch ship miles away, afterwards USS Edsall and her crew & passengers seemingly vanished….
After the war, it was learned that Edsall had been sighted inadvertently following a Japanese Task Force, USS Edsall was fired upon by the battleships Hiei & Kirishima and the cruisers Tone & Chikuma from around 27,000 yards away.
USS Edsall started maneuvers, with radical turns, intermittent smoke screens, and at one point firing torpedoes which narrowly missed the cruiser Chikuma.
The four Japanese warships fired around 1,335 8-inch & 14-inch shells at the little destroyer, scoring maybe 1-2 hits.
Admiral Naguma finally had enough and ordered airstrikes, 26 Aichi D3A dive bombers from the carriers Kaga, Hiryū, and Sōryū immobilized USS Edsall with several 250 lb bomb hits.
The battleships and cruisers then closed in and resumed firing, sinking the destroyer which capsized “showing her red bottom" according to an officer onboard Hiei.
A Japanese Navy after action report described the sinking of Edsall as “a fiasco” and the rules of engagement for battleships & cruisers against destroyers was revised.
It was recorded that some survivors from USS Edsall were rescued by the Japanese ships, including eight sailors picked up by the cruiser Chikuma, but at the end of WW2 no survivors were located.
In September 1946 two mass graves with decapitated bodies were located on the island of Celebes, six crew members from Edsall and five of the USAAF passengers were identified among the remains.
During the Japanese War Crimes Trials held after WW2, it was decided not to press charges for the decapitation of the Edsall survivors because of fragmentary evidence…
Picture is a still from Japanese film of the sinking.
In 2023, the wreck of USS Edsall was found roughly 200 miles SSE of Christmas Island at a depth of 18,000 feet.
The destroyer sits upright and is in one piece; some of her guns still point in the direction of her attackers.
Similar threads
- Sticky
Other Post
British military weapon designations
- HighlandSniper58
- All other military discussion
