Photos Navies Of All Nations

[BravoZulu]

RN:
Aircraft carrier HMS Glorious is inspected by her crew after collision with French ocean liner Florida. East of Gibraltar, April 02, 1931.

Shortly after 9:00 a.m., on April 1, 1931, the slightly more than one year old British aircraft carrier, HMS Glorious, left Gibraltar with her attendant vessels to conduct operations with her air wing. The twin funneled, three year old French liner Florida of Societe Generale de Transport Maritime a Vapeur was returning to Genoa from Buenos Aires. Passengers on the Florida delighted in watching the maneuvering warships. At times, the intermittent fog would shroud one or the other vessels.

The Glorious had seventeen Fairey Flycatcher aircraft in the air with her escorts deployed on station around her when she entered one fogbank at about thirty knots. The Uruguayan consul in Malaga, Don Victor Barros, was a passenger on the Florida. “I was watching the British Fleet at maneuvers as we steamed along through patches of drifting fog. It was possible to see some of the ships quite plainly, and the Glorious was evidently calling her aircraft in. Four planes were about to alight, and the Glorious drew away from the remainder of the fleet, tearing along at about thirty miles an hour to allow them to land on her deck.” On the Glorious’ bridge was her captain, forty six year old Charles Kennedy-Purvis, who already had nine years seniority as a captain. Early press reports list her captain as D.F. Moir.

The initial attempts by the Glorious to obtain optimum conditions for landing her aircraft started to come apart. Had she completed her turns to facilitate the landing, she would have endangered her escorting cruisers. She maintained course and they steamed right into the fog. Kennedy-Purvis had every reason to be confident in the skills of captains of his escorts, and their ability to maintain station. The joker in the deck was the Florida.

In the fog, her aircraft had to defer landing until conditions cleared, so they circled above. The Daily Mail wrote, “Looking below, the pilots saw that their parent ship had steamed at high speed into the low bank of fog, above the top of which they could see moving the black tip of her mast. Almost immediately the pilots noticed the mast of another ship break through the white carpet covering the sea.

“Their quick eyes, used to following the movements of ships beneath them, foresaw the danger. Leaning out of their cockpit, they followed the course of those little black sticks of masts. There was no doubt that a collision was imminent. Instantly, their fingers flew to the keys of their radio sets, but it was too late. It was like shouting across a greasy Broadway to prevent two automobiles from colliding.” One pilot claimed that he heard the collision.

Barros continued his account from the Florida. “After my first glimpse, however, the fog hid the Glorious until, suddenly, she loomed right over us, crashing into us near the bow. From where I was standing in the doorway of a deck-cabin, I was hurled headlong overboard into the sea, and drowning must have been the fate of many, for I was in the water in a dazed condition for twenty minutes before a cutter from the Glorious rescued me. Not until I was aboard the warship did I realize the extent of the disaster.”

In a matter of seconds, the 18,000 ton Glorious went from thirty knots to a complete stop, deep in the port side of the Florida, immediately forward of her bridge. Chaos prevailed on the Florida. Falling deck cargo, largely crates of bananas, killed some; others were butchered by flying steel from the ships’ sides, making their bodies unrecognizable. Eight passengers were missing, believed to have fallen through holes in the Florida’s side, or jumped into the sea in panic. The death toll was 33; thirty one passengers and one crewman on the Florida and one crewman on the Glorious. Ironically, the crewman on the Florida was her radio operator, Francisco Montes, who had earlier bought a zinc-lined coffin so his body could be transported back for burial in Marseilles some day; that day was earlier than he expected. The line complied with his wishes.

On board Glorious, one crewman, Seaman Ernest John Bicker, was killed, and later buried with honors at Gibraltar on April 3. Rather than pull out of the Florida’s side, Kennedy-Purvis kept the Glorious imbedded in the Florida’s side, and the two crews improvised gangways between the two ships which allowed more than 500 passengers from the Florida to cross to the Glorious. Once the Florida had her pumps going and mats over some of the holes in her side, the Glorious slowly backed out, and took the Florida in tow, despite having lost much of her bow.

Unable to land her planes, the Glorious ordered them to fly to the Malaga aerodrome. Four were unable to reach the shore, thirty miles away, and ditched at sea, their crews rescued by escorting destroyers. Eventually, the towing duties were delegated to some of her escorts.

The Florida’s passengers were trans-shipped to the Gouverneur General Laferierre, which had been diverted from her normal, Oran-Marseilles voyage. The Florida herself was made seaworthy and returned to Marseilles for repairs. During World War Two, she was sunk at Bone by Axis aircraft; raised in 1944, she was reconditioned and emerged with one funnel after her refit in 1948. In 1955, she went to Siosa Lines as the Ascania, and was scrapped in Italy in 1968.

The Glorious received temporary repairs at Gibraltar before sailing to Malta for permanent repairs, which were completed by September 21, 1931. In 1940, she was sunk under odd circumstances by the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Her captain is widely believed to have been, not of sound mind at the time of her sinking. He was speeding back to the UK to court martial her air officer, J B Heath, who had been one of the fliers circling over the Glorious the day of the collision. The Royal Navy's findings will be classified until 2040.

From July 12 through July 18, Mr Justice Bateman of the Admiralty Division investigated the collision. He divided the blame between the two ships, two thirds of the blame to the Florida, and one third to Glorious. This decision was upheld on appeal in December.

Kenedy-Purvis went on to a distinguished career. From 1935 to 1938, as a rear admiral, he commanded the First Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean Fleet; from 1938 to 1940, he was the President of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich; as a vice admiral, he was Commander in Chief of the American and West Indies Station from 1940 to 1942, in which capacity he oversaw the transfer of many British bases to the US; he was promoted to admiral on February 16, 1942, and served as Deputy First Sea Lord from July 29, 1942 through the end of the war, leaving the post in 1946.

Before her conversion to an aircraft carrier, the Glorious was a “large light cruiser.”

 

[BravoZulu]

USN:
USS Oriskany (CVA 34) entering San Diego Harbor after completing her first tour of duty in the Korean War. May 1953.

 

[BravoZulu]

France, USN, Italy, Belgium, Greece:
FS Charles de Gaulle carrier strike group

Strike Group composition:

• Aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R-91) (Middle)
• FREMM ITS Carlo Margottini (F-592) (bottom left of carrier)
• FREMM FS Provence (D-652) (top right of carrier)
• Air Defence Destroyer FS Chevalier Paul (D-621) (bottom right of carrier)
• Command and refuelling vessel (BCR) Var (A-608) (not seen)
• A nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) (not seen)
• Belgian frigate BNS Leopold I (F-930) (leading formation)
• Greek frigate HS Kanaris (F-464) (top left of carrier)
• U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Porter (DDG-78) (trailing formation)

 

[morris]

The last-ever Imperial Japanese fleet review with 98 ships present was dedicated to the 2600th anniversary of Emperor Jimmu’s enthronement. Off Yokosuka, October 11, 1940.

 

[morris]

USN:
Fletcher class destroyer, museum ship The Sullivans, at risk of sinking due to hull damage, February 2021

It is a centerpiece of the largest inland naval museum in the country, and now the elements have pushed USS The Sullivans to the brink of sinking.
The 78-year-old Fletcher-Class destroyer is taking on water through several leaks and listing noticeably to its port side.
The Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park is using pumps to remove water from the ship. However, they are struggling to keep up, and more damage could occur, says park president and CEO Paul Marzello.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[BravoZulu]

Russia:
28th Feb, 2021. Zelenodolsk AM Gorky built, Project 21631 Black Sea Fleet 41st Brigade of Missile Boats’ Buyan M class corvette Orekhovo-Zuevo (626) transited Bosphorus towards Mediterranean armed with SS-N-30 land attack Kalibr missiles

 

[BravoZulu]

RN:
HMS Queen Elizabeth departing Portsmouth today

HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08) leaving Portsmouth today, taken from her sister ship HMS Prince of Wales (R09)

Museum ship HMS Warrior

 

[BravoZulu]

USN:
USS Wisconsin, 1988

 

[BravoZulu]

USN:
F6F-3 Hellcat of VF-1 being catapulted from the hangar deck catapult on the carrier Yorktown (Essex-class) off Trinidad, 3 Jun 1943.

USS Selfridge (DD-357) coming into Mare Island Navy Yard, for repairs as her bow was blown off just forward of her bridge in a heroic action at the Battle of Vella Lavella, October 6, 1943

Rear Admiral Matsuji Ijuin sailed from Rabaul with a force of six destroyers and two transport groups, the latter including three transport destroyers. About twenty small craft joined up from Buin on southern Bougainville. On October 6, this small armada—seemingly disproportionate to the task at hand—was discovered by American air search. Six American destroyers were in the area, and they moved to intercept, but they were divided into two divisions separated by about twenty miles. The northern group—Selfridge, Chevalier, and O’Bannon, under Captain Frank R. Walker—charged into action without waiting for Captain Harold O. Larson’s southern group (Ralph Talbot, Taylor, and La Vallette). Since the days of John Paul Jones, American naval lore had honored and applauded the bold attack on superior enemy forces. In this case, however, Walker’s daring proved rash. His three-destroyer squadron advanced on Ijuin’s nearest division of four destroyers and fired projectiles and torpedoes. Ijuin turned away and blew a smoke screen to cover his withdrawal, but one of his destroyers, Yugumo, continued toward the Americans and exchanged fire as she closed. She was lit up by at least five 5-inch shell hits and quickly exploded into flame. A few minutes later, Walker’s ships ran into a deadly spread of Long Lances. Chevalier and Selfridge each had their bows torn off, and O’Bannon was unable to avoid colliding with the injured Chevalier. Selfridge continued firing gamely on the second division of enemy ships, passing in column at a range of about 11,000 yards, but took a torpedo in her port side at 11:06 p.m. Chevalier was finished, while the heavily damaged O’Bannon and Selfridge managed to hobble back into Purvis Bay. As the Americans cleared the area, the Japanese small craft completed the evacuation of the troops at Marquana Bay. The Japanese had won a tactical and strategic victory in this “Battle of Vella Lavella.” It was to be their last sea victory of the war.

USS Texas (BB-35) at anchor in Boston Harbor on February 25, 1944

USS Ticonderoga (CV-14) and USS Langley (CVL-27) entering Ulithi achorage, Caroline Islands, December 1944.

 

[BravoZulu]

USN:
Flight IIA variant USS Halsey (DDG 97) transits the Indian Ocean, 28 March 2018. Halsey served as a filming location for the TNT television series The Last Ship in the fictional role of USS Nathan James (DDG 151). USN photo.

Expeditionary Sea Base USS Hershel Williams (ESB 4) seen from hangar bay.

USS Tulsa (LCS-16) leaving San Diego Bay 15 Feb 2021

USS Carl Vinson heading out of San Diego into a Fog Bank - 18 Jan, 2021

 

[BravoZulu]

USN:
1991, four different generations of aircraft carriers from Battle Force Zulu steamed in formation after the cease-fire that ended Operation Desert Storm: USS Midway (CV-41), USS Ranger (CV-61), USS America (CV-66) and USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71)

Spruance class USS CUSHING (DD 985) anchored off of Phuket Island, Thailand in August 2004.

USS New York entering New York 2011

 

[BravoZulu]

RN:
HMS Hood in Vancouver Harbour for Special Service Squadron World Cruise - July 1924

HMS Ramillies at Gibraltar, on May 26th 1939.

HMS Victorious underway near Scapa Flow, 28 October 1941

HMS Renown and HMS Duke of York covering a convoy to and from Russia, March 1942

Town class light cruiser HMS Glasgow off New York Navy Yard, 11 August 1942

 

[BravoZulu]

Japan:
First 30FFM frigate "Mogami" launched. She is the first ship of the new Mogami class (FFM-1), but second to launch after "Kumano"(FFM-2). Both are names from IJN WW2 heavy cruisers.

 

[BravoZulu]

Imperial Japan:
Destroyer Minazuki undergoing trials, February 1927

IJN Nachi after an intense week when she sunk the Dutch cruiser Hr.Ms. Java (February 27) and took part in a successful hunt for HMS Exeter (March 01). Makassar, Sulawesi, early March 1942.

 

[BravoZulu]

PLA(N):
Second Type-075 LHD under construction

 

[BravoZulu]

Italy:
Submerged Type 212A submarine during a NATO exercise

Frigate Virginio Fasan (F 591)

 

[BravoZulu]

Germany:
Light cruiser Emden is carrying White Ensign as she depicts a damaged British cruiser on a filming location of the German submarine drama "Morgenrot" (1933). Bay of Kiel.

Bismarck, shortly after the Battle of Denmark Strait, 24 May 1941.

She has taken on about 1,000 tons of sea water forward, due to a shell hit from Prince of Wales, which resulted in her being down 3 degrees by the bow with a 9 degree list to port.

 

[BravoZulu]

Italy:
Speed trials for scout Tigre, 1924

The Tigre (Tiger in Italian) was one of three Leone-class scouts commissioned (out of five planned); large and powerful ships at the time of their commissioning (albeit dated in their concept, their design having been drafted during WWI), they were obsolescent by WWII (and had been reclassified destroyers in 1938). Together with her two sisters, she was deployed to Massawa in the Red Sea upon the Italian declaration of war, and would be lost in that campaign.

Navigatori-class light scout Luca Tarigo (first of her class to be commissioned) under construction, Ansaldo shipyard, Genova Sestri Ponente, 4 December 1927

Soldati class destroyer Carabiniere in 1940

 

[BravoZulu]

RN:
The 1st Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet in the North Sea, April 1915. Visible are HMS Marlborough (2R), HMS Colossus (3L) and HMS Hercules (4L). Other visible ships are HMS Superb, HMS St. Vincent, HMS Collingwood and HMS Vanguard.

 

[BravoZulu]

USSR:

Light cruiser Admiral Nakhimov is visited by Nikita Khrushchev (holding his hat) Sevastopol, October 1954. The ship will be dismantled immediately after top secret weapon tests in 1962.