Naval History

The Dawn of the German Empire Navy

Germany Naval History Warship 11 Min Read

König Wilhelm as completed. She had been laid down for Turkey.  König Wilhelm As compared with the second-class vessels upon which Friedrich Carl and Kronprinz had been modelled, the larger British ironclads (the Warriors, Achilles and Minotaurs) displaced between 9300t and 10,900t. In 1866, the opportunity arose for Prussia to acquire a ship of this class, when the impecunious Ottoman authorities put up for sale their Fatih, building at…

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Battle British Naval History 28 Min Read

Raid on Medway I

Upnor Castle, which lies opposite the dockyard at Chatham, played an important part in the defence of the yard at the time of the Dutch raid. Attack on the Medway, June 1667 by Pieter Cornelisz van Soest, painted c. 1667. The captured ship the Royal Charles is right of centre.…

Battle British Naval History 29 Min Read

Raid on Medway II

De Zeven Provinciën was a Dutch ship of the line, originally armed with 80 guns. The name of the ship was also written as De 7 Provinciën. The literal translation is “The Seven Provinces”, the name referring to the fact that the Dutch Republic in the 17th century was a…

Germany Naval History 31 Min Read

January 1945: U-boat British Inshore Campaign

The German army had launched its large-scale counter-attack through the Ardennes against the Anglo-American forces on 16 December, and the U-boats were ordered to redouble their efforts to coincide with the assault. There had indeed been an increase in the number of U-boats at sea and sinkings achieved, see earlier.…

Ancient Warfare Biography Naval History Siege 29 Min Read

Demosthenes of Athens IV

The route the Athenian fleet took to Sicily Map of the siege showing walls and counter-walls Disaster in Sicily The last and most fateful chapter in Demosthenes’ career took place on the island of Sicily, and he himself was largely to blame for it. In 415, the Athenians sent a…

Crusades Naval History 9 Min Read

The Naval Leagues of the Smyrna Campaign (1343-1352)

No naval league materialized during the pontificate of Benedict XII, but his successor, Clement VI, oversaw the formation of two naval leagues, the first in 1343, which formed the preliminary wave of the Crusade of Smyrna, and the second in 1350. The first operation was officially proclaimed as a crusade…

Naval History 10 Min Read

Corsair Operations – 17th Century

Lorenzo Castro – A Sea Fight with Barbary Corsairs Contrary to popular myth, the corsairs did not prey indiscriminately on all Christian shipping. The regencies frequently made treaties with individual European powers, by which their ships would be left alone in return for some form of tribute (sometimes financial, sometimes…

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U-Boot Demise…

Oberleutnant zur See Herbert Werner commanded U-415 from 17 April 1944 through 14 July 1944.…

Brown Water Navy

The Monitors were the battleships of the Mobile Riverine Force. They were equipped with varied…

The End of the USS Essex¸ 27–28 March 1814 Part II

At 5.00 p.m. the wind dropped, a phenomenon Gardiner put down to the heat of…

The End of the USS Essex¸ 27–28 March 1814 Part I

On the morning of 27 March 1814 Captain David Porter informed First Lieutenant John Downes…