Myoko class cruiser

The Myoko class heavy cruisers was one of the many cruiser classes that were built between WWI and WWII.The Myokos were pretty much the same as the Mogami and Takao classes that came after them.
However,although they were almost exactly the same as the Takao class(which are in many cases regarded as the same class) they differed from the Mogamis in the fact that the Mogamis were originally light cruisers armed with 15 6.1inch guns and only after a couple years of service that the cruiser was noticed as being top heavy and the 6inch guns were replaced with 8inch weapons.They all saw service in WWII and fought in many actions during.Only one of the four Myokos survived the war and it was scrapped soon after.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My%C5%8Dk%C5%8D_class_cruiser



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Tigertank

County class heavy cruiser

The County was another of the many cruiser classes built during the years between WWI and WWII except this class was built by Great Britain.The County class had a main armament of 8 8inch guns in four double turrets.The County class of 13 ships was divided into three subclasses,the Kent,London and Norfolk classes,which were sometimes thought of as three different classes.Two of the County class belonged to the Royal Australian Navy.During the war the class was involved in heavy fighting during the war but only lost three ships,including one of the two ships of the Royal Australian Navy,in the fierce fighting in the Pacific and Indian oceans.




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_class_cruiser



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Pensacola class cruiser

The Pensacolas were the first class "treaty cruisers" built by the United States navy.Completed in 1930 the Pensacola class was armed with 10 8inch guns in five double turrets which was a bulkier layout than the later 9 8inch guns in 3 triple turrets which was to become the average gun layout for an American heavy cruiser for the next 15 years.Both ships of the Pensacola class saw service in WWII but were decommissioned soon after and sunk as target ships in 1948.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pensacola_class_cruiser



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Tigertank

Portland class heavy cruiser

The Portland class was another one of the many American cruiser classes built during the inter war period.They were originally to have six ships but three of them were built on a modified design and later became their own class and one was never completed so only 2 ships of the class(the Portland and the Indianapolis)were ever completed.The Indianapolis had the president on board three times before the war started.The Portland saw action in many battles during the pacific was and so did the Indianapolis.Towards the end of the war the Indianapolis was used for a top secret and very important mission.She was to transport a piece of uranium,the key element in one of the Atomic bombs(the other one used plutonium),to the island of Tinan.She got to Tinan and delivered her cargo without any problems but on the return trip she was hit by torpedoes from the Japanese submarine I-58 and sank,becoming the last major American warship to be sunk during WWII.



This photo of the Indianapolis was taken just days before she was sunk.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_class_cruiser




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Tigertank

New Orleans class heavy cruiser

The New Orleans class was another one of the many cruiser classes built by America during the late 1920's and 1930's and the last one to be built before WWII.The New Orleans class was an excellent class with good armament,protection and speed,all without going beyond the limits set by the Washington naval treaty after WWI.All seven ships of the New Orleans class played a major part in many battles,
particularly in the fierce naval clashes off the island of Guadalcanal.Three of the class were sunk in one of these fierce battles and three more were severely damaged.The four remaining ships served in almost every major sea battle in the pacific theatre of WWII,both before and after Guadalcanal,and three of them were among the highest decorated US ships of WWII.



An overhead view of one of the New Orleans class.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans_class_cruiser




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Brooklyn class light cruiser

Please tell me if i have done a blog on this before(i have a strange feeling that i did).


Construction of the first of the Brooklyn class light cruisers began in 1933 and they were armed with 15 6inch guns.They were built to challenge the Japanese Mogami class cruisers which were also armed with 15 6inch guns.But a few years after they were completed the Mogamis were rebuilt,rearmed with 10 8inch guns and redisignated heavy cruisers.The seven brooklyns were completed in 1937.They were all involved in heavy fighting during world war 2 and several of them were badly damaged,although none of them were sunk.Five of them were later sold to various South American navies and one of these was sunk while serving with the Argentine navy during the falklands war.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_class_cruiser



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Northampton class heavy cruiser

The Northampton class of six ships was one of several classes of cruisers built by America during the 1930's.They were armed with 9 8inch guns and weighed 10,000 tons,the maximum size and armament of heavy cruisers of the time.This was because of a set of treaties which were supposed to limit the navy size of all the countries that participated.During world war 2 the Northamptons were all heavily involved in the naval war in the pacific in which three of them were sunk,including Northampton herself,in the fierce battles off Guadalcanal,the rest were decommissioned soon after the war ended.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northampton_class_cruiser



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Atlanta class AA (Anti Aircraft) cruiser

The Atlanta class design was supposed to be a light cruiser or scout cruiser but because of the large threat of attack from above they were redesigned as AA cruisers with a main armament of 16 5inch guns mounted in 8 double turrets.The first of them was completed just after America entered the war.
All of the Atlanta's served in the Pacific where two of them were sunk,including Atlanta,in the same battle off the south Pacific island of Guadalcanal.The rest of them served for the entire war with only one ever taking serious damage.

PS:the only reason this blog is so short is because I couldn't find any more info on it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_class_cruiser


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Tigertank

Alaska class battlecruiser

It has been a very long time since I've blogged about a naval vessel of any size or form.


The early 1930's were a time when,despite all the naval treaties,cruisers were getting larger and being fitted with bigger guns.The Alaska class "super cruisers" were armed with 9 12inch  guns and were originally designed to compete with the new Deuschland class "pocket battleships" which were armed with 6 11inch guns.But the design was not revived until the late 1930's when the large Scharnhorst class battlecruisers armed with 9 11inch guns were being built.


But because of the large number of different designs suggested they were not laid down until late 1940.The Alaska's suffered another setback when in mid 1943 when half of the six ships in the class were cancelled.Two of the battlecruisers were completed in time to see some limited service in WW2 but the third was never completed.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_class_cruiser


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Tigertank

Tiger II "King tiger" super heavy tank

In 1937 the German army started to design a heavy tank,this tank came out in 1942 as the Panzer VI Ausf. I "tiger" tank.But by that time the German army was already working on an even bigger tank.In mid 1943 the huge tank went into production,the first one rolling out of the factory at the end of 1943.Because they entered production so late in the war only a third of the 1500 "King tiger's" ordered were actually built.


Despite this the Tiger II was a very formidable adversary,able to beat any tank it encountered in 1944-45.The only setbacks were that the tank was very prone to mechanical failures and engine breakdowns which meant that most of the Tiger II's were lost because they were abandoned by their crews because their engines wouldn't start.But the Tiger II was still a dangerous adversary and the only version of the Tiger II produced was the Jagdtiger,an even more formidable tank(actually it was a tank destroyer)with more armour and a bigger gun.


 
This was one of the few King tigers ever knocked out.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_II



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Tigertank

Panzer III meidium tank

Here is another tank I'd like to blog about.


In 1934,when the German army desperately wanted a new main battle tank,and eventually a fairly large tank(for the time)with a 37mm gun was selected.However even before it entered production it was outclassed by the Panzer IV:a newer and better tank armed with a 75mm gun and with better armour.Despite this it was a good tank and showed so in the invasion of Poland in 1939,where it was equal to or even better than the best tanks the Polish army had.However,as with the Panzer IV,the Panzer III met it's matches in France and Russia in 1940-41.By this time the obsolete 37mm gun was replaced with a short barrelled 50mm gun.



At the end of 1941 it was modified yet again,it's short barrelled 50mm gun was replaced with a long barrelled one.It's final gun modification came in the very last variant(the Ausf. n)in which the 50mm was replaced with a short barrelled 75mm gun.On top of these it got several armour upgrades during it's courier.By the end of 1944 the Panzer III was far outclassed by American and Russian tanks and by this time Germany had very,very few left but the continued to serve with some of Germany's allies until the end of the war.


Note:please see previous blog(Panzer IV)to see what "Ausf." means.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_III



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Tigertank

Panzer IV main battle tank

I just realised it has been a very long time since i have done a blog about a tank.

In 1934 the German army designed a new main battle tank.It was called the Panzer IV (meaning Tank 4)and it was armed with a 37 mm gun.However that design in favour of one that was armed with a short-barrelled 75mm gun and the first Panzer IV Ausf. A's(Panzer 4 version A) rolled out of the factory in 1936.When Germany attacked Poland in 1939 the small numbers of Panzer IVs(there were only 250 in service in 1939)quickly proved their worth in the heat of battle,destroying large numbers of inferior Polish tanks.However in France and Russia in 1940-41 the Panzer IV met it's match in the shapes of the French Char B1 bis and Russian T-34.




Throughout the war new versions of the Panzer IV were being created with improved equipment,weapons and armour,the most notable of these modifications being when the short barrelled 75mm gun was replaced with a long in the Ausf. F2 onwards.By 1944 the Panzer IV was no longer the major workhorse of the German army,this role falling to the new Panzer V "panther".However the Panzer IV and it's variants(different units produced on the same hull)still holds the records of being the most mass produced German tank of the war(at least 10,000 vehicles)and one of the few German tanks to serve throughout the entire war(1939-1945).


The Ausf. F2:the first version to use the long barrelled gun.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_IV


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Tigertank