British
HMS Inflexible (1876)
Inflexible, 1876, as completed with sails for training. Note the torpedo launching chute over the stem. The design concept of Inflexible was of a raft, the citadel, which would float if the ends were destroyed or flooded. The ends were closely subdivided and protected by a thick deck. A light, unprotected structure above provided accommodation. In 1885 Inflexible’s sailing rig…
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The Naval Africa Expedition and the Battle for Lake Tanganyika
The Battle for Lake Tanganyika was a series of naval engagements during the First World War between the naval elements of Germany, Britain and Belgium between the end of 1915 and the beginning of 1916, for control of the Lake. Germany’s most valuable colony in Africa, German East Africa, was…
Early Tanks and Armored Vehicles
The Soviet Union produced a large number of tank designs in the period between the two world wars. Early Russian experiments with AFVs in World War I had been limited to armored cars, such as the Austin Putilov. Based on a British chassis, it had entered service early in World…
TACTICAL ADAPTATION -1915-6 Part I
Trench construction diagram from a 1914 British infantry manual The year 1915 was a formative experience, one in which the lines of development which would be followed through into the battles of 1918 were put in place. Although the front was static, the thinking of the armies was not. The…
TACTICAL ADAPTATION -1915-6 Part II
John Tiller Squad Battles World War I. This one I didn’t expect to see any time soon: a squad/tactical level war game about World War I. I have been playing the grand-tactical/operational level war game France ’14 and boy many things that I’ve seen there now make sense! Like how…
Sikh Wars (1845-1846, 1848-1849)
Anglo-Sikh Wars : The 3rd Light Dragoons at the Battle of Mudki, 1845 by E. Croft Two short but particularly brutal wars waged by British forces against the Khalsa, the army of the Sikh religious sect, for control of the Punjab in northwest India. The First Sikh War followed hot…
‘Confident and Full of Hope’
French troops fought encircled until all their ammunition was used and led several counter-attacks, the commander of 253.ID, general Kühne, was even captured. The Germans let the defenders parade in the streets after the battle granted them the honors of war to salute their fierce resistance. During the height of…