Photos Navies Of All Nations

RN:
Fiji-class light cruiser HMS Ceylon at Bahrain circa 1957.

Russia:
Project 1164 Atlant (NATO Slava) class cruiser Moskva

Germany:
Light cruiser Leipzig, likely 1930's


U-boats on display for Admiral Miklos Horthy, regent of the Kingdom of Hungary, circa 1938

Italy:
Ersatz Triglav-class destroyer Cortellazzo (formerly the Austro-Hungarian SMS Lika II, taken over as war reparations) at Venice, date unknown


Giussano-class light cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni in Venice on April 20, 1934

On 17 July 1940 the ship sailed from Tripoli, accompanied by Bande Nere, bound for Leros in the Aegean, where British activities in Greek waters were causing concern. In the early hours of 19 July, while off Cape Spada (Crete), the Italian squadron, having been reported by RAF aircraft the previous day, was intercepted by the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney and five destroyers. During the ensuing engagement Colleoni was struck in the engine room by a shell from Sydney, which knocked out the boilers and immobilised her. This left her an easy target for the torpedoes of the British destroyers HMS Ilex and HMS Hyperion. She sank with the loss of 121 sailors.

Despite their speed advantage, the Italian cruisers failed to outrun Sydney because the most obvious route of escape to the south was to be changed to south-southwest, in order to avoid being trapped between the enemy and the shores of Crete. This gave the Australian cruiser the chance to close the range, as she did. The light armour of Colleoni was unable to defeat Sydney's rounds. The lack of aerial reconnaissance was another factor contributing to the Allies' successful chase


Launch of Marcello class submarine Cappellini, 14 May 1939 at OTO-Muggiano shipyard.


Capitano di Corvetta Carlo Fecia di Cossato (one of Italy's leading submarine aces) on the deck of the submarine Enrico Tazzoli, Atlantic Ocean, either 1941 or 1942


MS motor torpedo boat passing through the Corinth Canal, during WWII

USN:
Escort carrier USS Sicily (CVE-118) underway with Avengers, Neptunes, Fords, Chevys, Packards, Studebakers . . . before 1952

Italy:
Indomito class destroyer Intrepido, having been ran aground after striking a mine off the Albanian coast, December 1915

The Intrepido, an Indomito-class destroyer, had sailed on 3 December 1915 as part of an escort for an Italian convoy between the mainland and Albania, when one of the escorted ships, the steamer Re Umberto, struck a mine deployed by an Austro-Hungarian submarine and sank; the prompt action of the escorting destroyers allowed to rescue most of the troops aboard, however (712 out of 765).

After disembarking at Vlorë the hundred or so survivors she had taken aboard, the Intrepido sailed again on an anti-submarine patrol; but on the following day, as she was returning, south of the Cape of Gjuhëz (Capo Linguetta for the Italians), the destroyer struck a mine. The detonation tore off the bow and seriously damaged the destroyer, other than killing four men and wounding others (among which the captain). The crippled Intrepido was ran aground to avoid its sinking; however, its condition convinced the Italians not to try and salvage her, and instead she was stripped of what could still be useful. The wreck later slipped and sank in deeper waters.

In 2007 an expedition located the wreck.

Italy:
Sauro-class submarine Carlo Fecia di Cossato (S 519) at Leghorn, June 1981

RN:
KGV class battleship HMS Duke of York is cheered as she returns to Scapa Flow after the sinking of the Scharnhorst at the Battle of North Cape a few days earlier, 1 January 1944

USN:
Naval Strike Missile (NSM) launched from USS Coronado (LCS-4) during missile testing operations off the coast of Southern California. The missile scored a direct hit on a mobile ship target. Sept 2014

Italy:
Delivery and commissioning of the first PPA, Paolo Thaon di Revel (P 430), to the Marina Militare - 18 March 2022

USN:
A Kamikaze hits USS Suwannee, (CVE-27), in the waters off the Philippines, 26 Oct 1944. Taken from USS Sangamon, (CVE-26)

At 07:40 on the 25th, "Taffy 1" was jumped by land-based planes from Davao in the first deliberate kamikaze attack of the war. The first one crashed into Santee; and, 30 seconds later, Suwannee splashed a kamikaze during his run on Petrof Bay. Her gunners soon shot down another enemy plane, then bore down on a third circling in the clouds at about 8,000 ft (2,400 m). They hit the enemy, but he rolled over, dove at Suwannee and crashed into her at 08:04 about 40 ft (12 m) forward of the after elevator, opening a 10 ft (3.0 m) hole in her flight deck.[1] His bomb compounded the fracture when it exploded between the flight and hangar decks, tearing a 25 ft (7.6 m) gash in the latter and causing a number of casualties

Medical officer Lieutenant Walter B. Burwell wrote:
One of our corpsmen tending the wounded on the flight deck saw the plight of those isolated by fire on the forecastle. He came below to report that medical help was critically needed there. It seemed to me that we would have to try to get through to them. So he and I restocked our first aid bags with morphine syrettes, tourniquets, sulfa, Vaseline, and bandages, commandeered a fire extinguisher and made our way forward, dodging flames along the main deck. Along part of the way, we were joined by a sailor manning a seawater fire hose with fairly good pressure, and though the seawater would only scatter the gasoline fires away from us, by using the water and foam alternatively as we advanced, we managed to work our way up several decks, through passageways along the wrecked and burning combat information center and decoding area, through officers' country, and finally out on the forecastle. Many of the crew on the forecastle and the catwalks above it had been blown over the side by the explosions. But others trapped below and aft of the forecastle area found themselves under a curtain of fire from aviation gasoline pouring down from burning planes on the flight deck above. Their only escape was to leap aflame into the sea, but some were trapped so that they were incinerated before they could leap. By the time we arrived on the forecastle, the flow of gasoline had mostly consumed itself, and flames were only erupting and flickering from combustible areas of water and oil. Nonetheless, the decks and bulkheads were still blistering hot and ammunition in the small arms locker on the deck below was popping from the heat like strings of firecrackers. With each salvo of popping, two or three more panicky crew men would leap over the side, and we found that our most urgent task was to persuade those poised on the rail not to jump by a combination of physical restraint and reassurance that fires were being controlled and that more help was on the way. Most of the remaining wounded in the forecastle area were severely burned beyond recognition and hope.

Within two hours, her flight deck was sufficiently repaired to enable the escort carrier to resume air operations. Suwanee's group fought off two more air attacks before 13:00; then steamed in a northeasterly direction to join Taffy 3 and launch futile searches for Kurita's rapidly retiring force. Just after noon on 26 October, another group of kamikazes jumped Taffy 1. A Zero crashed into Suwanee's flight deck at 1240 and careened into a torpedo bomber which had just been recovered. The two planes erupted upon contact as did nine other planes on her flight deck. The resulting fire burned for several hours, but was finally brought under control. The casualties for 25–26 October were 107 dead and 160 wounded. The escort carriers put into Kossol Roads in the Palaus on 28 October, then headed for Manus for upkeep on 1 November.

**This image is from the 2nd of the two strikes on Suwanee**

Germany:
Berlin-class replenishment ship Berlin (A 1411) at Stagnesbasen in Harstad, Norway. March 2022

USN:
Spruance-class destroyer USS Deyo DD-989, Sep 1993. Image by u/surrounded_by_vapor


USS Enterprise (CVN-65), rear, and USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) meet briefly in the seas of the Arabian Gulf Region. Enterprise's deployment was extended after the 9/11 attacks, 16th September 2001.

RN:
Battleship HMS Warspite and other vessels at the Spithead Review off Gosport, Portsmouth. Photographed by Aerofilms Ltd in July 1924.


Battlecruiser HMS Repulse (34) anchored off the French coast at Villefranche-sur-Mer on the Côte d'Azur circa 1938

France:
Durance-class tanker Marne seen from Aquitaine-class FREMM Auvergne while they are both deployed with the Charles de Gaulle CSG, March 2022


Charles de Gaulle (R 91) transits the Mediterranean Sea, March 2022

USN:
Heavy cruiser USS Portland (CA-33) from the port stern at Mare Island, wearing 32/7D, 1944


Landing Ships Tank LST 206 & LST 22 on a Leyte beach, Philippine Islands. Oct 20th, 1944

France:
Dunkerque class battleship Strasbourg entering Toulon in 1942

Australia & RN:
Modified Leander class light cruiser HMAS Hobart (inshore) and modified Dido Class cruiser HMS Black Prince (Ex RNZN) at the breakers yard in Japan, late 1962/ early 1963

South Africa:
President-class (Rothesay or Type 12M) anti-submarine warfare frigate SAS President Kruger (F150), alongside at Naval Base Simon's Town c. 1970s.

USN:
Museum battleship USS Texas in dry dock at the Todd Shipyards in Galveston during her 1988-1990 refit