Naval History
Scots in Russian Naval Service
Samuel Greig, or Samuil Karlovich Greig as he was known in Russia (30 November 1735, Inverkeithing, Fife, Scotland – 15 October 1788, Tallinn, Estonia, Russian Empire) was a Scottish-born Russian admiral who distinguished himself in the Battle of Chesma (1770) and the Battle of Hogland (1788). His son Alexey Greig also made a spectacular career in the Imperial Russian Navy.…
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U-BOAT WITNESS WWI
‘I had been going ahead partly submerged, with about five feet of my periscope showing. Almost immediately I caught sight of the first cruiser and two others. I submerged completely and laid my course so as to bring up in the centre of the trio, which held a sort of…
The End of the Milk Cows – U-490 et al Part I
June 1944 to May 1945 Doenitz sent out another nine U-boats to remote areas at the end of May 1944, and the last U-tanker, U-490, was sent out from Germany in support. By mid-May, U-490 was in the Northern Transit area. Apart from these boats there were only five U-boats…
The End of the Milk Cows – U-490 et al Part II
(U-219 Type XB minelaying submarine) U-195 had enjoyed a fairly uneventful cruise from Bordeaux to Djakarta. She left Bordeaux with a 250-ton cargo comprising optical instruments, mercury, dismantled V-weapons, torpedoes, blueprints, radar sets and a Japanese technical officer. After departing in company with U-180 and U-219, as described above, on…
Hellcats in the Royal Navy
The Royal Navy acquired large numbers of F4Fs as Grumman Martlets and made extensive use of the type. The F4F’s successor was the Grumman F6F Hellcat, designed as a private initiative in response to feedback from fleet aviators, which entered front-line service in mid-1943. It was powered by a 2,000…
Mediterranean Coastal and Torpedo Craft
Known popularly as PT boats, World War II–era patrol-torpedo boats were the American equivalent of German E boats and British motor torpedo boats. They were small, fast, wooden-hulled, shallow-draft vessels that depended on surprise, speed, and maneuverability and thus did their best work in coastal waters. During World War I,…
Conflict over the Bay, 1943
Gradually the boffins and engineers had improved the lot of the air crews by developing ASV radar, more reliable depth charges, anti-sub bombs and acoustic torpedoes, while they now had better aircraft. The fact that Dönitz had now effectively withdrawn from engaging in the mighty convoy battles of the North…