MILITARY HEGEMONY OF FRANCE
The military hegemony of France in Europe and in many regions overseas began on 19 May 1643 with the destruction of the Spanish Netherlands Army at Rocroi by a French army led by the 21-year-old Duke of Enghien (later Prince of Conde, the “Great Conde”). The young duke’s remarkable victory over Spain’s hardened veterans signaled the end of Spain’s military…
MALTA AND ITALIAN WAR PLANS
Italian bombing of the Grand Harbour, Malta. Italian battleship Roma (Regia Marina, 1940) By June 1940, Italy’s battleship strength increased. The Littorio and Vittorio Veneto were completed, the last two of the Cavour class were completing modernization, and work continued on the new Roma and Impero. So now, with these new additions and the surrender of France on June 24,…
Charge of the Rough Riders at San Juan Hill
Charge of the Rough Riders at San Juan Hill by Frederic Remington. In reality, they assaulted San Juan Heights and…
ORP Kondor project 613 (Whiskey V)
One of four Polish boats of this class. ORP Kondor (294) of project 613 (Whiskey V), one of four Polish…
Solomon’s trees
In earlier wars, such as the American Revolutionary War and the Civil War, deception was generally the brainchild of a…
Most Recent
Privateers and Navies versus Merchants
“USS Bon Homme Richard vs. HMS Serapis on 23 September 1779,” by Anton Otto Fischer After the declaration of war by the French, matters grew worse increasing the losses of ship-owners, freighters and consignees. The Lydia, Captain Dean, from Jamaica to Liverpool, serves as an example, for she was seized,…
Mercenaries in Bohemia, the Rhineland, the Low Countries, 1618–1625 I
The first stirrings of the conflict that would escalate into the bloody Thirty Years War took place in the kingdom of Bohemia, now the Czech Republic but then a part of the Holy Roman Empire, the conglomeration of electorates, duchies, principalities, counties, lordships, free cities and even free villages that…
Mercenaries in Bohemia, the Rhineland, the Low Countries, 1618–1625 II
Scots in Swedish Thirty Years’ War service. John Seton and his musketeers were still in Bohemia. After occupying the town of Prachatice and the country as far east as Neuhaus, they had been forced back by the advancing Imperial armies to Wittingau (now Trebon) and had been there since September.…
A Faustian Shadow
A kind of Faustian shadow may be discerned in—or imposed on—the fascinating career of Wernher von Braun: A man so possessed of a vision, of an intellectual hunger, that any accommodation may be justified in its pursuit. —Washington Star editorial, 20 June 1977 The announcement of von Braun’s death produced…
Radio Echo Signals from Moving Objects
30ft Sound Mirror Sir Robert Watson-Watt Possibly the first group positively to start research into radio detection was that under Dr A. Hoyt Taylor at the US Navy Radio Division at Anacostia (predecessor of the Naval Research Laboratory, founded in 1923). In September 1922, probably triggered by Marconi’s recent speech,…
The Re-invasion and Destruction of Zululand
Map of the Battle of Ulundi on 4th July 1879 in the Zulu War: map by John Fawke The Burning of Ulundi Further disasters – but a glimmer of hope The British public had certainly had more than its fair share of disasters to absorb. The original invasion of Zululand…
Confederate Spar-Torpedo Boats I
First sketch of CSS David, according to Rear Admiral Dahlgren Like many good stories, this one begins with a bang and a considerable amount of drama. When in the evening hours of 5 October 1863 darkness was descending on the port of Charleston, a small, cigar-shaped craft was silently slipping…
Confederate Spar-Torpedo Boats II
Explosive charge lashed to boom of spar torpedo The Confederate torpedo boat CSS David showing the spar torpedo mounted to the bow Contemporary texts attested to the currency of the basic concept of torpedo-boat warfare formulated by Fulton at the time of the American Civil War (Steward 1866:1; Barnes 1869:38–39),…
JAPANESE EXPLOSIVE MOTORBOATS I
The Maru-in and Shinyo Explosive Motoboats Early Maru-re boats had the depth charges mounted alongside the pilot’s compartment. The depth charges could be released manually or by ramming the prow into the target ship. Division of Naval Intelligence, ONI 208-J Supplement No. 2, Far-Eastern Small Craft, March 1945, p. 31.…
JAPANESE EXPLOSIVE MOTORBOATS II
■ Recruiting in the Homeland While the first hastily-recruited and partly-trained EMB units were preparing for action in the Philippines, an official programme of recruitment and training had begun in Japan. The formation of kamikaze aircraft units was officially announced on 27 October 1944 and, at the beginning of November,…