Oberon-class submarine

The "Oberon" class was a ship class of 27 British-designed submarines operated by five different nations. They were designed as a direct follow-on from the "Porpoise" class: physical dimensions were the same, but stronger materials were used in hull construction, and updated equipment was fitted.
The submarines were built between 1957 and 1978 by four shipyards: Cammell Laird (4), Chatham Dockyard (6), Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company (11) and Vickers-Armstrongs (6). Thirteen of the submarines were operated by the Royal Navy, six by the Royal Australian Navy, three by the Brazilian Navy, three by the Royal Canadian Navy/Canadian Forces Maritime Command (plus two ex-Royal Navy boats later acquired for non-commissioned roles), and two by the Chilean Navy.
The "Oberon"s operated during the height of the Cold War, with duties including surveillance, tracking of other ships and submarines, delivery and retrieval of special forces personnel, and serving as targets for anti-submarine training. Submarines of the class were in service until 2000. As of 2015, eight of the submarines are preserved intact as museum vessels, another three are partially preserved (with some exterior portions of the submarine on display), and one is in private ownership and awaiting conversion for display. The rest have been sold for scrap, including one former museum vessel.
Design and construction.
The -long "Oberon" class was based heavily on the preceding "Porpoise" class of submarines, which were in service from 1956 to 1988. Changes from the "Porpoise" design were primarily to improve the strength and stealth of the submarine. Instead of UXW steel, the hull was built from QT28 steel, which was easier to fabricate and stronger, allowing the submarine to dive deeper. Glass-reinforced plastic was used in construction of the casing.
Electronics, sonar, and radar systems were also upgraded to the latest standard. The submarines were equipped with a type 1002 surface search and navigation radar, a type 187 active-passive attack sonar, and a type 2007 long-range passive sonar.
The "Oberon"s were constructed at a variety of shipyards in the United Kingdom: the six Australian and two Chilean submarines by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company (the latter were built after the Scott Lithgow merger); the three Brazilian submarines by Vickers-Armstrongs; and the three Canadian submarines at Chatham Dockyard. Construction of the British submarines was shared amongst four dockyards: the three mentioned above and Cammell Laird.
Armament.
The "Oberon"s were originally armed with eight torpedo tubes: six tubes in the bow, and two short tubes for antisubmarine defence in the stern. The submarine normally carried a payload of 20 torpedoes for the forward tubes; a mix of Mark 24 Tigerfish and Mark 8 torpedoes, while only the two preloaded Mark 20S torpedoes were carried for the stern tubes. Naval mines could be carried instead of torpedoes: the torpedo payload would be replaced with up to 50 Mark 5 Stonefish or Mark 6 Sea Urchin mines.
The forward torpedo tubes are constructed in two sections bolted together across the bulkhead at the fore end of the torpedo compartment. The long inner section is constructed of rolled steel fitted with welded flanges and support brackets. The outer section is constructed of a similar tube long but with a reinforced thick section behind the main bulkhead. The internal door hinges at one side with two locking mechanisms, a swing bolt opposite the hinge and a rotating locking ring attached to the tube which presses down on the ten projecting lugs around the door. The outer end of the tube is sealed with a domed bow cap. Bow shutters close across the bow caps so as to preserve the streamlined shape of the bow when the cap is closed.
The bow caps and shutters are mechanically linked to a hydraulically operated drive rod from within the torpedo compartment. The bow cap opens first behind the shutter, which then folds back against it forming a smooth exit tube. Interlocks prevent the doors at both ends being opened at the same time but the inner door is also provided with a test cock to check whether the tube is full of water before opening and remains held nearly closed by the swing bolt after the locking ring is released. The tube internal diameter is 22.5 in, wider than the torpedo, which is designed as a loose fit inside the tube. Torpedoes could be fired either electrically or with compressed air.
The aft torpedo tubes passed through the ballast tank at the rear of the submarine. A section projected into the boat through the bulkhead, forming overall a relatively short tube of , but of diameter.
With the retirement of the Mark 20S torpedo in the 1980s, the stern torpedo tubes were decommissioned and thereafter used for storing beer.
Propulsion systems.
The class used diesel-electric propulsion, with lead-acid batteries to provide power when the engines cannot be used. Each vessel has two Admiralty-pattern V-16 diesel engines (ASR1 16VMS), each driving one 1280-kW 880-V generator. These can provide power directly to the two electric motors, one directly connected to each propeller, or for charging batteries. The diesel engines can only be operated with external ventilation, but this can be obtained either while on the surface or when shallowly submerged by use of two snorkels which can be raised from the fin. One snorkel brings in new air to the boat, while the other takes exhaust fumes from the engines. The ventilation system is designed so the fresh air spreads through the boat.
The generators are cooled by an internal fan on the shaft which circulates air through a filter and water-cooled heat exchanger within the casing. A grill allows pressure equalisation inside and out. The generator has one pedestal bearing fed with oil from the diesel engine lubrication supply and is fitted with an internal heater to prevent condensation when not running.
The submarine has two batteries, each comprising 224 2V cells (type D7420) giving a nominal 440 V output. One battery is located underneath the crew accommodation compartment, and the other under the control compartment. Each battery has a switch circuit in the middle so it can be split into two banks of 112 cells. The cells are designed to deliver 7420 Ah over a period of five hours. All steelwork within the battery compartments is lined with rubber to protect the metal from attack by acid, and also all conducting material is insulated to prevent risks of electric shock. Waxed timber is used to make framing and crawlways to access the batteries and support them because of its resistance to acid. The battery compartment has a sump to collect any spilled liquids. Each cell weighs and contains 18.5 gallons of electrolyte. Cells are held tightly in place with wooden wedges to prevent movement with the boat. Each cell has four connector bolts to each electrode and an agitator pipe which bubbles air through the cell to ensure the electrolyte remains mixed and uniform. Cooling water is fed through pipes attached to the electrode connectors to prevent overheating and the battery temperature is monitored.
In operation, each battery is charged until the voltage reaches 560 V, then allowed a further hour's charging. Fortnightly, it should be allowed 5 hours' charging after reaching 560 V to ensure a maximum charge is reached. Every two months, the battery should be given an equalising charge of eight hours to ensure all cells have reached their maximum. The battery is designed to operate with a specific gravity of the electrolyte between 1.080 and 1.280. Initial charging current should be around 1650 amps for s.g. below 1.180, 1250 A above 1.180, falling to 280 A when charging is complete. At a voltage around 538 V, the cells begin to give off explosive hydrogen gas, so the applied power is reduced during charging to keep voltage below this value until current falls to 280 A, which is then maintained while voltage is allowed to rise until the requisite voltage and charge time are reached. In an emergency, the charging current can be raised to 2000 A. To maintain overall capacity, batteries need to be completely discharged over a five-hour period once every four months and then completely recharged. The battery compartments are sealed to prevent gases escaping into the submarine, or salt water entering, which inside a battery would cause the release of poisonous chlorine gas. Ventilation fans are used to extract hydrogen released by the cells and catalytic converters are placed strategically through the submarine to remove hydrogen from the air by recombining it with oxygen to form water.
Each of the two propellers on the submarine is connected to a 3000 bhp DC electric motor. Each motor is designed with two separate armatures, in effect two motors in the same unit. Speed of the submarine can be varied by connecting the batteries and armatures in different series and parallel combinations. Slowest speed is obtained by connecting both batteries in parallel, thus supplying 440 V, across all four motor armatures in series, thus applying 110 V to each ('shafts in series'). Next, the batteries in parallel may be applied across the two motors in parallel, with their armatures in series ('group down'). This applies 220 V across each armature. Third, both batteries are applied in parallel across all four armatures applying 440 V to each ('group up'). Finally, the batteries can be arranged in series so as to apply 880 V across all four armatures in parallel ('batteries in series'). Each armature also has an associated field winding which is separately supplied with current which may be varied resistively, providing further speed control (maximum 35 A).
The motors are designed with a sealed oil sump from which oil is pumped continuously to lubricate the bearings. A fan draws air from the engine room through the motor to cool it and returns the exhaust air to the engine room through a water-cooled heat exchanger. This arrangement reduces the possibility of water being drawn into the motor should there be a leak in the cooler. The motor is also fitted with a heater to keep it warm when not running so as to prevent condensation internally. Temperature and revolution speed are monitored and displayed on the control panel.
Auxiliary power.
The batteries provide variable DC power (VP), which ranges in normal usage from 390 to 650 V. Pumps for ballast, water, air compressors, ventilation, cooling, and hydraulics are all designed to cope with this supply range, but some equipment cannot. The boat, therefore, is supplied with two sets of auxiliary motor generators designed to be powered by the batteries and produce stable output, one set powered by each main battery. A 220 V DC supply (CP) is provided by two generators, one supplied from each battery with either being sufficient by itself. Two 60 Hz three-phase alternators provide power for equipment designed to work off 115 or 230 V AC and two more 15 kW 400 Hz generators provide power at 205 V AC used by radar, sonar, fire control, and communications electronics. Two generators plus an additional backup battery provide 24 V DC.
In the event of damage to the main electrical distribution system, provision is made for one of the CP generators to be connected directly to one armature of the port motor, to provide some propulsion by alternative circuitry.
Service.
British service.
The first of the class to be commissioned into the Royal Navy was "Orpheus" in 1960, followed by the name vessel in 1961. The last to be commissioned was "Onyx" in 1967. Six were commissioned between 1967 and 1978 for the RAN. In 1982, HMS "Onyx" took part in the Falklands War, the only conventional submarine of the RN to do so, landing members of the SBS. She was escorted back to UK at 5 kn after hitting an undetected submerged reef which damaged two of its torpedo tubes, trapping a Tigerfish torpedo. It was removed back at Portsmouth.
All "Oberon"s in service, including boats exported, have now been decommissioned; the last RN boats were decommissioned in 1993, with the final Canadian and Australian "Oberon"s decommissioned in 2000.
Canadian acquisition.
Beginning in 1957, Canada began looking at acquiring submarines to replace the training 6th Submarine Division provided by the Royal Navy at Halifax, Nova Scotia. A proposal was submitted to the Canadian Chiefs of Staff in November 1959 affirming the need for a Canadian submarine service and to incorporate the acquisition of the subs into the fleet renewal plan of the late 1950s. The subs would be part of Canada's effort to rectify the problem of block obsolescence in its surface fleet. In 1960 two options were presented to the Canadian government, the first suggesting the acquisition of expensive s and the second proposing the purchase of six cheaper "Oberon"s as part of a larger package of vessels. In March 1962, Cabinet recommended the purchase of three "Oberon"s and eight frigates, on the condition that the cost of acquiring the submarines from the United Kingdom would be offset by British defence purchases in Canada. It was also supplement by Balao-class submarine trainer HMCS Grilse S-71 (former USS Burrfish SS-312) beginning in 1961. On 11 April 1962, the purchase was announced in the House of Commons of Canada by the Minister of National Defence, Douglas Harkness.
However, the Conservative government postponed the acquisition of the "Oberon"s due to the slow speed of the United Kingdom's attempt to offset the acquisition. The Conservative government was defeated in 1963 and the incoming Liberal government suspended all major defence procurement projects upon taking power. The United Kingdom, in an effort to get the contract moving, offered the hulls of "Ocelot" and "Opportune", but Canada passed on them. However, when "Onyx" became available, Canada took up the offer. The final price of $40 million for the entire contract was agreed upon in 1963.
Since "Onyx" was already under construction, the boat was finished to Royal Navy specifications. All three boats received modifications to the original "Oberon" design, which included the enlargement of the snort de-icer, a different weapons fit, a larger air conditioning unit, active sonar and different communications equipment. The second and third hulls were built to Canadian specifications, which moved the galley forward of the control room to make room for the sonar equipment. This led to the removal of three crew bunks, a problem that was never rectified in the submarines and led to an accommodation issue for the crew.
The first submarine was scheduled to be delivered in 1965, with the following two in 1967 and 1968, respectively. The three boats were given First Nations names; "Onyx" being renamed "Ojibwa", "Onondaga" and "Okanagan". They entered service on 23 September 1965, 22 June 1967 and 22 June 1968 respectively for service as "clockwork mice", submarines used to train surface vessels in anti-submarine warfare.
Two further "Oberon"s were acquired but never commissioned into the Canadian Navy. In 1989, "Olympus" was acquired as a stationary training vessel at Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 1992 "Osiris" was acquired for cannibalisation in a spare parts program between the UK and Canada. The submarine never sailed and was taken apart in the UK to arrive in Canada in 22,050 pieces in 1993.
Submarine Operational Update Program (SOUP).
By the late 1970s, the "Oberon"s in Canadian service had become obsolete and were in need of an update. Planning was done in 1978 and the program approved in February 1979. In an effort to take the subs from anti-submarine warfare training to frontline service, Maritime Command developed a refit program that included new sonars, periscopes, communications and fire-control systems. They also had their armament upgraded with the fitting of torpedo tubes capable of firing the Mk 48 torpedo. This would allow the submarines to be deployed by NATO in the North Atlantic to monitor Soviet submarines.
By 1975, the fire control system aboard the Canadian "Oberon"s was obsolete. Spare parts from the UK were becoming rarer. The Submarine Operational Update Program (SOUP) was developed to deal with the operational capability of the submarines along with a Logistic Support Agreement (LSA) to acquire more spare parts. The SOUP refits were performed during the submarines' mid-life refits. The LSA was finalised in 1989, with the acquisition of "Olympus" as a training vessel. However, the LSA was deemed insufficient by 1992 and the Canadian government acquired "Osiris" for cannibalisation.
The SOUP refits comprised a new US fire control system, a digital Singer Librascope Mark I, and new Sperry passive ranging sonar with the Type 719 short range sonar removed. The new sonar was placed in the upper casing on the pressure hull. New communications and navigational systems were installed. The submarines were fitted with new torpedo tubes for Mk 48 torpedoes; however, the torpedoes themselves were considered a separate procurement program, which was only finalised in 1985.
Between 1980 and 1986, one of the Canadian "Oberon"s was out of service undergoing the refit. SOUP came in on time and on its budget of $45 million in 1986. SOUP kept the Canadian "Oberon"s until the end of the 1990s when they were replaced by the British s.
Chilean service.
The Chilean government required two "Oberon"-class submarines to be built by Scott's Shipbuilders Engineering Co., Ltd. The first was built in 1971 and launched on 22 December 1972 and given the name "O'Brien", arriving at Punta Arenas on 10 August 1976. The second submarine, built in 1972, launched on 26 September 1973, was given the name "Hyatt". The submarine arrived at Punta Arenas on 10 February 1977. These two submarines were able to achieve a speed of 12 knots surfaced and 17 knots submerged. With a length of 90 meters and a displacement of 2,030 tons surfaced and 2,410 tons submerged, the submarines had a 6,000 bhp engine to power them. The submarines were fitted with eight 21-inch torpedo tubes. Both submarines remained in service until 31 December 2001 where they were replaced by Scòrpene-class submarines.
Australian service.
Australian "Oberon"-class submarines were reported to have regularly conducted operations with special forces, although due to their limited capability these were restricted to circumstances where the boat could surface, and were usually conducted at night. This included placing divers under the casing for further covert movement, or disembarking special forces teams using kayaks or inflatable boats.
The "Oberon" class was arguably the best conventional submarine class of its time, with a reputation for remarkable quietness. The quietness of the "Oberon" vessels enabled them to operate into the late 20th century until replaced by newer classes such as the "Collins" and "Victoria" classes in Australia and Canada, respectively.
Fates.
As of 2006, at least fourteen "Oberon"s are confirmed to have survived in some form. Seven have been preserved and converted into museum vessels or tourist attractions. Two have been partially preserved as monuments, while another five are awaiting conversion for museum work, or are otherwise awaiting disposal.
Two of the ex-Royal Navy submarines were preserved in the UK but only one remains. HMS "Onyx" was moved to Barrow-in-Furness after the museum at Birkenhead, Merseyside closed but was later towed to Gareloch in Scotland where she was broken for scrap in 2014 after failed attempts to turn her into a museum. The other boat, , is located at Chatham. is harboured in Sassnitz, Germany on the island of Rügen and can be visited. Another two British "Oberon"s were transferred to Canada: as a non-commissioned training vessel, and for spare parts. The other British submarines were disposed of.
Australia's six "Oberon"s have been preserved and are on display, either completely or partially. is located at the Western Australian Maritime Museum at Fremantle, while is located at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour, Sydney. The fin, outer hull, and stern section of are preserved on land at Holbrook, New South Wales. is located off Crib Point in Westernport Bay, Victoria, where she has been awaiting conversion into a museum vessel since 2002; a lack of funding and co-operation from local and state governments means that the volunteer group hoping to preserve "Otama" attempted to sell the submarine on eBay but to no avail. 's fin stands as a permanent memorial at , Garden Island, Western Australia. 's fin stands as a permanent memorial at Rockingham Naval Memorial Park in Western Australia.
In 2005, it was announced that the four surviving Canadian submarines (minus "Osiris", which was scrapped in 1992 after being stripped for parts) were to be sold for scrapping, as they had deteriorated beyond the point of use. was purchased for C$4 plus tax by the Site historique maritime de la Pointe-au-Père for use as a museum vessel, and was towed from Halifax to Pointe-au-Père, Quebec in July 2008. In July 2011, "Olympus" was towed to a scrapyard in Port Maitland, Ontario, with to be delivered to the same scrapyard in August 2011. has been preserved as part of the Elgin Military Museum. She was moved to Port Burwell, Ontario in November 2012, and will become a focal point of a new Museum of Naval History. Ojibwa opened for public tours in July 2013.
One of the Brazilian "Oberon"s ("Tonelero") sank while docked at the navy yards at the Praça Mauá on Rio de Janeiro, on 24 December 2000. The surviving Brazilian "Oberon", "Riachuelo", was converted into a museum at the Brazilian Navy Cultural Center ("Espaço Cultural da Marinha Brasileira") in Rio de Janeiro.
The Chilean Navy sold to the city of Valdivia in 2002, to be converted into the first submarine museum of Chile. The submarine went through a series of modifications in the ASMAR shipyards during that year, and as of December 2017, is already on display at the end of Avenida Costanera Arturo Prat, in front of the Corte de Apelaciones building.
Successors.
The "Oberon" class was briefly succeeded in RN service by the "Upholder"-class submarine. The "Upholder"-class submarines were later upgraded and sold to Canada for service in the Royal Canadian Navy after refit as the "Victoria" class, again replacing "Oberon"s.
The Australian "Oberon"s were replaced by the six s.
The two Chilean "Oberon"s were replaced by the s "O'Higgins" and "Carrera".
The Brazilian "Oberon"s were replaced by Type 209 submarines.


USS ABSD-4

USS ABSD-4, later redesignated as AFDB-4, was a nine-section, non-self-propelled, large auxiliary floating drydock of the US Navy. Advance Base Sectional Dock-4 (Auxiliary Floating Dock Big-4) was constructed in sections during 1942 and 1943 by the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California for World War II. With all ten sections joined, she was 927 feet long, 28 feet tall (keel to welldeck), and with an inside clear width of 133 feet 7 inches. ABSD-4 had a traveling 15-ton capacity crane with an 85-foot radius and two or more support barges. The two side walls were folded down under tow to reduce wind resistance and lower the center of gravity. ABSD-4 had 6 capstans for pulling, each rated at at , 4 of the capstans were reversible. There were also 4 ballast compartments in each section.
World War II.
The ABSD-4 floating drydock departed California in 1944 and made the voyage across the Pacific Ocean in convoys in 48 days. USS ABSD-4 sections were reassembled at Espiritu Santo Naval Base at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides (now Vanuatu), in the South Pacific Ocean. Once assembled in the fall of 1944 she was move for operation at Seeadler Harbor (also called "Port Seeadler"), at Admiralty Islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea also called the "Manus Islands", after the largest island there. USS ABSD-4 sister ship USS "ABSD-2" also worked at Seeadler Harbor during the war. ABSD-4 repaired the large ships in the US Navy and United Kingdom's Royal Navy during World War II. Able to lift 90,000 tons ABSD-2 could raise large ships like, aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers, and large auxiliary ships, out the water for repair below the ship's waterline. She was also used to repair multiple smaller ships at the same time. Ships in continuous use during war need repair both from wear and from war damage from naval mine and torpedoes. Rudders and propellers are best serviced on dry docks. Without ABSD-4 and her sister ships, at remote locations months could be lost in a ships returning to a home port for repair. ABSD-4 had provisions for the repair crew, such bunk beds, meals, and laundry. ABSD-4 had power stations, ballast pumps, repair shops, machine shops, and mess halls to be self-sustaining. ABSD-2 had two rail track moveable cranes able to lift tons of material and parts for removing damage parts and install new parts.
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Some of the ships repaired:
Attacked.
Near the end of the war on April 22, 1945 at 2pm a Mitsubishi A6M Zero two seater plane piloted by Shimbo and Ensign Chuhei Okubo in the second seat, overflew Seeadler Harbor at 14,000 feet. They saw what they thought were two "aircraft carriers", but here actually empty floating dry docks ABSD-4 and ABSD-2. On April 27, 1945 at about 11:15pm a three Nakajima B5N a Japanese Zero fighter aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy flying from Truk flew over ABSD-4, one plane dropped an aerial torpedo and it hit one of the pontoons tanks of ABSD-4 damaging the dry dock. At the time of the attacked ABSD-4 was repairing a cargo ship, Landing Ship, Tank (LST) ship and a seaplane tender ship. The seaplane tender was loaded with ammunition and under an emergency repair.
She was repaired and returned to service. On the same day shortly after ABSD-4 was hit, ABSD-2 was hit by aerial torpedo into pontoon tank in section G, damaging the dry dock. ABSD-2 was repaired and returned to service. The
Post-war.
After the war ABSD-4, ABSD-4 was reclassified AFDB-4 and was taken out of service. ABSD-4 was left in Seeadler Harbor off Lombrum Point at Lombrum Naval Base. ABSD-4 was officially decommissioned and struck from the US Navy register on April 15, 1989. ABSD-4 is now a shipwreck that is partially sunk. The outer walls of the ABSD-4 remain above the water line. She rest at Lombrum, Papua New Guinea,GPS coordinates: .


Reaper (schooner)

Reaper was a Massachusetts privateer schooner that Captain Ephraim Sturdivant commanded during the War of 1812. Captain Sturdivant was officially charged by President James Madison to use the ship to attack British shipping. There is no evidence that she captured any British vessels.
Citations and references.
Citations
References


Narhvalen class submarine


Impeccable-class ocean surveillance ship

The "Impeccable"-class ocean surveillance ship is a single-ship class of United States Navy special mission-support ship. The original intention was to build six undersea ocean-surveillance ships carrying a SURTASS passive towed array and a Low Frequency Active transducer array. Only the lead ship, , was built.
History.
On March 28, 1991, Tampa Shipyards was awarded the contract to build the first ship of the class, the . The keel was laid on March 15, 1992. However, before the ship was completed, Tampa Shipyards went bankrupt, and construction of the rest of the ship class was cancelled. The Chief of Naval Operations for the United States Navy asserted the requirement to finish the initial ship. The incomplete hull was towed to Gulfport, Mississippi in 1995, where it was completed by Halter Marine Inc. "Impeccable" was officially launched on November 1, 2000.
A second ship, the , was planned. However, the contract was never awarded. and the other four ships were never named.
Similar Ship Classes.
The "Impeccable" class is similar in appearance to the much smaller four ship , led by the . Both classes are SWATH type ships.
The ships perform a similar surveillance function to the older 18-ship , whose lead ship is the . The "Stalwart" class is not a SWATH hull, but a modified oceangoing tug.


Abtao-class submarine

The Abtao" class were four submarines of the Peruvian Navy that entered service between 1954 and 1957. They are also known as the Lobo" class and the "Dos de Mayo" class and were constructed in the United States to a design based upon the United States Navy's . They were the last submarines to be constructed by the United States for the export market. All four submarines were powered by a diesel-electric system and armed with six torpedo tubes. Two of the submarines also mounted a /25 caliber gun. The four submarines, initially named for animals, were all renamed in 1957 for famous Peruvian battles. Beginning in 1991, the submarines were taken out of service, with the last decommissioned in 1999. One, , is a museum ship located in Lima, Peru.
Design and description.
The "Abtao" class were a modified version of the United States World War II design. They had a surfaced displacement of and submerged. They measured long overall with a beam of and a draft of .
The submarines were powered by a diesel-electric system composed of two General Motors single-acting Type 278A diesel engines and two electric motors turning two props rated at . The "Abtao" class had a maximum speed of when surfaced and submerged. They carried of diesel fuel and had a range of at 10 knots at snorkel depth.
The class was armed with six torpedo tubes with four located in the bow and two aft. Two vessels of the class, "Abtao" and "Dos de Mayo", had a /25 caliber gun mounted abaft the sail. The gun is manually sighted. All four submarines were equipped with SS-2A radar and BQR-3 and BQA-1A sonar. In 1981, their batteries were replaced and following that, Thomson Sintra Eledone active/passive intercept sonar was installed. They had a complement of 40 officers and ratings.
Construction and career.
The Peruvian Navy initially ordered two submarines from Electric Boat on 8 December 1951 based on the United States Navy's "Mackerel" design. The first two were laid down at the yard in Groton, Connecticut on 12 May 1952 and two more on 27 October 1955. The four submarines were initially named for animals ("Lobo", "Tiburón", "Atun" and "Merlin"). The class was initially known as the "Lobo" class, and later as the "Dos de Mayo" class. However, a decree in April 1957 by the President of Peru, Manuel Prado Ugarteche, ordered that the names of the vessels be changed to those of famous Peruvian battles. "Lobo" became "Dos de Mayo", "Tiburón" became "Abtao", "Atun" became "Angamos" and "Merlin" became "Iquique". "Abtao" was the first to launch in October 1953 and commission in February 1954 and "Iquique" the last to launch in February 1957 and commission in October 1957. They were the last submarines constructed by the United States for the export market.
"Abtao" and "Dos de Mayo" underwent a refit at Groton in 1965 and "Angamos" and "Iquique" in 1968. In 1988, "Abtao" took part in the rescue of the crew of the submarine which had sunk after a collision with the fishing vessel "Kiowa Maru". "Angamos" was taken out of service in 1990, followed by "Iquique" in 1993. "Abtao" was removed from service on 10 May 1999 and placed in reserve. The ship was removed from naval service in 2000 and converted into a museum ship in 2004 in Lima, Peru. "Dos de Mayo" was the last ship to be removed from service in 1999.


SS Algol (T-AKR-287)

SS "Algol" (T-AKR 287) is an vehicle cargo ship that is currently maintained by the United States Maritime Administration as part of the Military Sealift Command's Ready Reserve Force. She was built as a high speed container ship by Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij N.V. in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, hull no. 331, for Sea-Land Service, Inc. and named SS "Sea-Land Exchange", USCG ON 546383, IMO 7303205. Due to her high operating cost, "Sea-Land Exchange" was sold to the United States Navy in October 1981 as USNS "Algol" (T-AK-287).
In keeping with the pattern of the naming the "Algol"-class ships after bright stars, "Algol" was named after the bright eclipsing binary star Algol, known colloquially as the Demon Star, which is a bright star in the constellation Perseus.
Conversion.
Conversion began on 13 October 1982 at National Steel and Shipbuilding in San Diego, California. Her cargo hold was redesigned into a series of decks connected by ramps so vehicles can be driven into and out of the cargo hold for fast loading and unloading. She was also fitted with two sets of two cranes; one set located at midship capable of lifting 35 tons, and another set located aft capable of lifting 50 tons. She was delivered to the Military Sealift Command in 1984 as USNS "Algol" (T-AKR 287).
Service.
When not active, "Algol" is kept in reduced operating status due to her high operating cost. If needed, she can be activated and ready to sail in 96 hours. In 1984, "Algol" was the first Fast Sealift Ship to take part in a European exercise when she took part in the NATO exercise, Operation REFORGER. "Algol" took part in the Persian Gulf War in 1990. Along with the other seven "Algol"-class cargo ships, she transported 14 percent of all cargo delivered between the United States and Saudi Arabia during and after the war. In October 1998, "Algol" was activated to carry disaster relief supplies and equipment to Puerto Rico and other nearby islands following the aftermath of Hurricane Georges. In early 2003, "Algol" was activated to take part in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
On 1 October 2007, "Algol" was transferred to the United States Maritime Administration. On 1 October 2008, "Algol" was transferred to the Ready Reserve Force, losing her USNS designation. If activated, SS "Algol" will report to the Military Sealift Command.


CMA CGM Vela

CMA CGM Vela is a container ship operated by CMA CGM. The ship is owned by Reederei NSB and operated by CMA CGM. The "CMA CGM Vela" was finished in 2008 by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Ltd and delivered to the owner on 19 October 2008. The ship was carrying yard number DSME hull 4125 and after launching it was christened in the ships home port Hamburg, Germany.
Design.
"CMA CGM Vela" is one of the largest ships in the fleet of CMA CGM. The vessel is long, has a beam of and maximum draft of . The ship has a deadweight of 131,831 tonnes and capacity for 11,040 teu. The gross tonnage of the vessel is 128,600 and the net tonnage is 72,696. The "CMA CGM Vela" has a Suez gross tonnage of 130392,48 GT and a Suez net tonnage of 114078,26 NT.
Engine.
The "CMA CGM Vela" was built according to the latest IMO requirements. The ships main engine, a MAN B&W 12K98ME-C, produces enough power to reach a cruising speed of 24.3 knots.


Patrol boat

A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border protection, immigration law-enforcement, search and rescue duties. There have been many designs for patrol boats. They may be operated by a nation's navy, coast guard, police force or customs and may be intended for marine ("blue water") or estuarine ("green water") or river ("brown water") environments. They are commonly found engaged in various border protection roles, including anti-smuggling, anti-piracy, fisheries patrols, and immigration law enforcement. They are also often called upon to participate in rescue operations.
Classification.
They may be broadly classified as inshore patrol vessels (IPVs) and offshore patrol vessels (OPVs). They are warships typically smaller in size than a corvette and can include fast attack craft, torpedo boats and missile boats, although some are as large as a frigate. The offshore patrol vessels are usually the smallest ship in a navy's fleet that is large and seaworthy enough to patrol off-shore in the open ocean. Smaller inshore patrol vessels also known as coastal patrol craft or coastal patrol boats. Riverine patrol craft are used for patrol river area. In larger militaries, such as in the United States military, offshore patrol vessels usually serve in the coast guard, but many smaller nations' navies operate these type of ships.
History.
During both World Wars in order to rapidly build up numbers, all sides created auxiliary patrol boats by arming motorboats and seagoing fishing trawlers with machine guns and obsolescent naval weapons. Some modern patrol vessels are still based on fishing and leisure boats. Seagoing patrol boats are typically around 30 m (100 ft) in length and usually carry a single medium caliber artillery gun as main armament, and a variety of lighter secondary armament such as machine guns or a close-in weapon system. Depending on role, vessels in this class may also have more sophisticated sensors and fire control systems that would enable them to carry torpedoes, anti-ship and surface-to-air missiles.
Most modern designs are powered by gas turbine arrangements such as CODAG, and speeds are generally in the range. They are primarily used for patrol in a country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Common tasks are fisheries inspection, anti-smuggling (usually anti-narcotics) duties, illegal immigration patrols, anti-piracy patrols and search and rescue (law enforcement-type of work). The largest OPVs might also have a flight deck and helicopter embarked. In times of crisis or war, these vessels are expected to support the larger vessels in the navy.
Their small size and relatively low cost make them one of the most common type of warship in the world. Almost all navies operate at least a few offshore patrol vessels, especially those with only "green water" capabilities. They are useful in smaller seas such as the North Sea as well as in open oceans. Similar vessels for exclusively military duties include torpedo boats and missile boats. The United States Navy operated the of armed hydrofoils for years, in a patrol boat role. The River Patrol Boat (PBR, sometimes called "Riverine" and "Pibber") is a U.S. design of small patrol boat type designed to patrol waters of large rivers.
Specific nations.
Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh Navy classified its medium size patrol ships as large patrol craft (LPC) which are armed with either anti-ship missiles or torpedoes. Those ships typically have heavier armaments but less range than OPVs.
Ireland.
Irish Naval Service.
List of INS vessels;
Sweden.
Additionally, the Royal Swedish Navy also operates smaller types of patrol boats (Swedish: "bevakningsbåt" = "guard boat"):
The Swedish Coast Guard operate an additional 22 patrol vessels for maritime surveillance.


CCGS Frederick G. Creed

CCGS "Frederick G. Creed" was a hydrographic survey vessel operated by the Canadian Coast Guard on behalf of the Canadian Hydrographic Service, a scientific agency of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The ship was built in 1988 by Swath Ocean Systems Incorporated of San Diego, California and entered service the same year. The ship was taken out of service in March 2020 and sold for scrap.
Design and description.
CCGS "Frederick G. Creed", constructed of aluminum, employed a SWATH system and was named after Frederick G. Creed, an inventor and pioneer of this technology. The vessel had a gross tonnage of 152 tons and was long with a beam of and a draught of . "Frederick G. Creed" was powered by two General Motors 12V92 geared diesel engines driving two shafts turning a fixed pitch propeller each. The machinery was rated at and gave the vessel a maximum speed of . "Frederick G. Creed" had a range of at and had capacity for of diesel fuel for an endurance of three days. "Frederick G. Creed" had one dry lab aboard and carried one manually-launched rigid-hulled inflatable boat. The vessel had a complement of four personnel, composed of one officer and three crew.
Construction and service.
CCGS "Frederick G. Creed" was built in 1988 by Swath Ocean Systems at their yard in San Diego, California. The vessel entered service with the Canadian Coast Guard in 1989 and is registered in Ottawa, Ontario and rated as a Mid Shore Science Vessel. It was homeported in Rimouski, Quebec and was used to perform surveys of the Laurentian and Maritimes regions. "Frederick G. Creed" was sent to Cape Hatteras to perform wave dynamic studies. In March 2020, the vessel was declared surplus and sold for scrap. Demolition was completed in December 2020.


Patrol gunboat (hydrofoil)

Patrol gunboat (hydrofoil) was a type of vessel built by the U.S. Navy in the 1970s and tested by the U.S. Coast Guard.
The distinction between a standard Navy gunboat, such as a PC, was that the patrol gunboat (hydrofoil) was very fast, capable of speeds of up to 45 knots, while the standard PC was usually limited by hull resistance to speeds less than 20 knots.


LT Cortesia-class container ship

The "LT Cortesia" class is a series of 8 container ships built for Conti Reederei and operated by Evergreen Marine. The ships were built by Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea. The ships have a maximum theoretical capacity of around 8,084 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU).


SIGTTO

SIGTTO is the Society of International Gas Tanker and Terminal Operators. It is a not-for-profit organisation. It was formed as an international organisation for industry participants to share experiences, address common problems and derive policy for improvement to maritime operations. The Society has more than 170 members including large companies such as BP, Exxon, Chevron and Shell. It was founded in 1979 and has Observer Status at the International Maritime Organization as an NGO. Focusing on LNG and LPG the society is involved in the creation of publications to enhance maritime knowledge and promote safety at sea. They are actively involved in research for the use of Gas as a marine fuel and publish various relevant industry guidelines.


HMAS Hunter

HMAS "Hunter" (FFG) is the lead ship of the "Hunter"-class frigate of the Royal Australian Navy.
Development and design.
The "Hunter"-class frigate is a future class of frigates for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) to replace the "Anzac"-class. Construction is expected to begin in 2020, with the first of nine vessels to enter service in the late 2020s. The Program is expected to cost AU$35 billion and a request for tender was released in March 2017 to three contenders: Navantia, Fincantieri, and BAE Systems as part of a competitive evaluation process.
The "Hunter"-class frigate will be an Australian variation of the Type 26 class frigate that is to be operated by the Royal Navy from the mid-2020s. The class will have a full load displacement and will be approximately in length. The vessel will be capable of sailing in excess of and will have a full complement of 180 crew.
Construction and career.
"Hunter" was ordered on 30 June 2018 and named after Vice Admiral John Hunter. She will be built by BAE Systems Australia in Osborne. Expected to be laid down in 2022 and commissioned in 2031.


Norwegian K-class submarine

The Norwegian K class submarines are a class of three submarines the Royal Norwegian Navy received from Germany in 1948 as Allied war spoils. They were built as the Type VIIC/41 U-boat from 1940 to 1945. The ships were named , and . "Kaura" was returned to Germany in 1971 as a museum ship. It is the only surviving Type VII in the world.
Description.
The German type VIIC/41 was a slightly modified version of the successful VIIC and had the same armament and engines. The difference was a stronger pressure hull and lighter machinery to compensate for the added steel in the hull, making them actually slightly lighter than the VIIC. A total of 91 were built.


Five Fathom Bank light station

 Five Fathom Bank light station was a station for lightvessels in New Jersey, United States. It was located off the south end of Five Fathom Bank, 14.7 miles and 100 degrees from the Cape May Lighthouse. The station was in service from 1837 to 1972 before ultimately being replaced by a horn buoy.
Service.
Records for lightvessels are incomplete.
On or about April 30, 1891, LV-40 was removed from its post on Five Fathom Bank and replaced by a schooner "Drift", which temporarily would show a fixed white light on each masthead. Additionally, a buoy was used as an additional marker for the position while LV-40 was repaired.
In 1893, the "USS New York (ACR-2)" was performing sea trials and used the Five Fathom Bank light station and the North East End light station as markers to which it became the fastest armored vessel in the world. In 1894, the "USS Minneapolis (C-13)" again used the Five Fathom Bank light as a marker for its trial which it became the fastest armored vessel in the world.
On February 2, 1913, the Steamship "Prinz Oskar" and the schooner "City of Georgetown" collided and blamed the lightship for the accident. The "City of Georgetown" was heading towns the Cape Hatteras lightship in the southeast while the "Prinz Oskar" was heading in a circle to the northeast "in a great circle toward the transatlantic steamship route" with the Five Banks Light shone between the two vessels. Unable to see each other until it was too late, the "Prinz Oskar" collided with the ship and resulted in a large stove in its port bow, but the "City of Georgetown" was doomed and sank within 8 minutes. Captain A. J. Slocum and his crew of seven managed to get into their lifeboat and was taken aboard the "Prinz Oskar" and returned to Philadelphia for repair, listing to the starboard. The "City of Georgetown" was a long schooner with a beam that was launched in 1902 from Bath, Maine. The ship sank with its cargo of salt, of unlisted weight, but the ship's capacity was 1900 tons.


Cliffs Victory

The Cliffs Victory was a cargo vessel, originally built as a Victory ship, during World War II, as the Notre Dame Victory, and subsequently lengthened and converted to a lake freighter for the Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.
History.
U.S. Navy.
The ship was built in 1945 by Oregon Shipbuilding Company in Portland, Oregon. She had been mothballed, following her brief World War II service, and, when the Korean War required more vessels on the Great Lakes, she was purchased by Cleveland Cliffs, who planned to adapt her for service on the Lakes. According to Mark Thompson, author of "Queen of the Lakes", these plans triggered skepticism. But the conversion took only 90 days.
Great Lakes service.
Her adaptation left her with a unique profile. Her original bridge and central superstructure were removed and a new bridge and accommodation was built in the bow, as with all other lake freighters. Her engines were left midships, and the second superstructure, that other lake freighters had above their engines, in the stern was built above her engines in their midship locations. Her hull was lengthened by . But unlike every other lake freighter she still had holds abaft her engine rooms.
She was towed from the yard where she was converted, in Baltimore, Maryland to Chicago, Illinois, and special provisions had to be made so she could travel under the bridges she encountered. She passed under one bridge with only five inches of clearance.
At she was too long for the final lock on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. The lockmaster agreed for her bow to be tied in place, right up against the upstream doors to the lock, with her stern sticking out of the open lower doors. He then opened the upstream doors, and the vessel was hauled upstream far enough for the downstream doors to be closed.
Once she began carrying cargo on the lake, at , she was the fastest freighter on the lakes. When she was lengthened a second time, in 1957, by a further , she became "Queen of the Lakes" –the longest ship on the Great Lakes. She held this record until surpassed by the on June 7, 1958.
On December 21, 1971 large machinery damage discovered. The estimated cost of repairs was $100,000. On April 20, 1975 "Cliffs Victory" collided with the SS "Benson Ford" while attempting to break the latter vessel free from ice. "Cliffs Victory" went into Fraser Shipyards for port bow repairs and was returned to service on April 24. On December 9, 1976 the ship ran aground near Johnson Point in the St. Marys River while downbound in heavy ice conditions. "Cliffs Victory" was freed on December 11. The incident later became known as the "worst traffic jam in the river in fifty years", with about seventy vessels delayed by the incident. Assistance of three tugs and a Coast Guard icebreaker required to free "Cliffs Victory". During the resulting inspection, it was discovered that the rudder had been lost in the incident.
Retirement.
In 1985, her registry was changed to Panama and was briefly renamed "Savic". She was sold for scrap the same year to Hai International Corp. in Taiwan.


MSC Chicago

MSC Chicago is one of the largest container ships and is owned by Santa Linea Shipping Corp. The vessel is operated through a partnership with the Mediterranean Shipping Company.
Hull and Engine.
"MSC Chicago" was built by Samsung Heavy Industries in yard 1510 and was completed in November 2005. The port of registry for the ship is in Monrovia, Liberia. The ship is 336.7m in length and 321m across the beam. The MSC Chicago has a depth of 27.2 m, and a draught of 15m.
The vessel is powered by a Man B&W 12K98MC-C engine, capable of producing 68,520 kW(93,159 hp) driving 1 propeller. This ship's maximum speed is 25kt.


SS Antoine Saugrain

SS "Antoine Saugrain" was a Liberty ship of the United States that served in World War II. The ship was built at the Permanente Metals Corporation Yard No. 2 in Richmond, California under Maritime Commission Contract 1728. Laid down on 26 July 1943, the ship was launched on 15 August, and delivered on 28 August. She was torpedoed off Leyte on 5 December 1944, and sank the next day.
Sinking.
"Antoine Saugrain" fought off 12 kamikaze torpedo planes on 5 December 1944. Twelve gunners were wounded and merchant seamen took over the machine guns to fight off the attack. Two days later she was sunk by a torpedo plane while in tow in the Surigao Strait near Leyte Gulf. Some of the 450 survivors had to swim a long time before being rescued.
The Coast Guard frigate's role of escorting convoys from the staging areas to the invasion sites likewise was crucial. In late November, the "Coronado" and "San Pedro" left Humboldt Bay, New Guinea, to steam the 1,250 miles to escort a convoy of ships bringing supplies and men to Leyte. The voyage proceeded without incident until 5 December when enemy planes attacked the convoy. One Japanese torpedo plane attacked the SS "Antoine Saugrain" from the port beam. The torpedo struck the freighter at the stern, exploded, and carried away its rudder. Fifteen minutes later another torpedo bomber approached the "Saugrain" and despite heavy gunfire, put a torpedo in the ship at the number two hold. This torpedo fatally wounded the vessel. The "Saugrain" had on board nearly 450 crew and Army troops. The "Coronado" and "San Pedro" steamed to the assistance of the freighter and saved all hands.
History.
The entire campaign for Leyte was that made on a convoy that was north-east of Mindanao and just one day out of Leyte on December 5. The Armed Guard voyage reports of 15 merchant ships tell the story of the action which resulted in the loss of one merchant ship, "Antoine Saugrain", and damage to two other ships, "Marcus Daly" and "John Evans". Japanese plane losses probably amounted to ten planes destroyed. The action opened with a bombing attack at about 0840, which did no damage. At 1220, "Antoine Saugrain" claimed hits on a torpedo plane that was strafing the convoy. A little later a torpedo hit the ship. At 1231 she claimed hits on another torpedo plane and almost immediately was hit by a second torpedo in her No. 2 hold. At 1247 the order was given to abandon ship. She finally went down while being towed to Leyte on December 6.
"John Evans" was more fortunate. She accounted for two planes during the afternoon of December 5, but the second plane crashed into her. A bomb exploded as the plane crashed. The "Evans" was able to make Leyte on December 6. Two Armed Guards and two members of her crew were wounded.
The "Marcus Daly", already a veteran of the worst attacks in the Leyte campaign in October, brought down two planes before a third hit her at about 1530 and made a hole “large enough to drive a train through”. The resulting fire was not brought under control until midnight. A torpedo missed the ship. Some 200 Army personnel were killed, missing, or wounded. One Armed Guard was killed and seven were wounded. Two members of the merchant crew were also killed. This proud ship made Leyte, and on December 10 assisted in shooting down a plane that managed to crash into her. The Armed Guard officer and seven other Armed Guards were wounded in this attack, but the "Daly" remained afloat.
Other merchant ships in the convoy gave a good account of themselves both on December 5 and in later attacks at Leyte. "Cape Gaspe" destroyed one plane on December 5 and received credit for an assist on December 10. Army personnel set up and manned additional machine guns. She reported 63 alerts between December 6 and 18. "Lew Wallace" was credited with the destruction of one plane and assistance in destroying two others on December 5. A bomb missed by only 40 yards. On December 10 she downed another plane and assisted in shooting down yet another. These planes were reported to have crashed into "William C. Ladd" and "Marcus Daly". "Conrad Kohrs" was credited with one assist on December 5. "H. H. Raymond" claimed a plane destroyed on December 5 and was credited with a plane on December 20. The latter plane dropped a bomb and then apparently tried to crash into the ship. It fell into the water 200 yards from the "Raymond". The "James H. Breasted" was credited with one plane downed, one assist, and one plane probably destroyed on December 5. At 1450 a bomb barely missed her 3”/50 gun tub. The plane that torpedoed "Saugrain" on December 5 also strafed "John Hart". The "Hart" was credited with the destruction of one plane on December 6. "Peter Lassen" was credited with the destruction of one plane on December 20. "William S. Colley" was credited with the destruction of the plane that crashed into a ship on December 5. "Richard Yates" received no credit for planes destroyed on December 5 but claimed hits on one plane. "James H. Lane" was credited with an assist on December 5 and destroyed another plane on December 25. Her Armed Guard officer reported that a torpedo passed the stern of the ship and missed by only 50 feet. The "Lane" was in the Leyte-Samar area from December 6 to April 8. Earlier, she had participated in the Morotai campaign and had assisted in destroying an enemy plane on October 31, 1944. "Morton M. McCarver" was in the December 5 attack but did not destroy any Japanese planes.
The only other merchant ship to be sunk in the Leyte operation was "William S. Ladd". Before she went down in Leyte Gulf she established the proud record of four planes destroyed. She accounted for one plane on the afternoon of December 5 and knocked down three on December 10. One of these planes crashed into her and set 500 drums of gasoline afire. A number of explosions in No. 4 and No. 5 holds followed at 1830 and the ship began to settle by the stern. At 1750 the after guns had been secured and the men manning them were ordered to abandon ship. At 1840 guns No. 1 to 5 were ordered secured and the Armed Guards were ordered to abandon ship. Not until 1930 did the last Navy personnel and ship’s officers abandon the doomed vessel. Eight Armed Guards were wounded when the plane crashed into "Ladd".
"On 5 December 1944, the was escorting a convoy from Hollandia, New Guinea, to Leyte when attacking Japanese aircraft sank SS "Antoine Saugrain", a cargo ship laden with valuable radar material, and severely damaged SS "Marcus Daly". She brought the rest of the convoy safely into Leyte the next day.


Pollock Rip Lightship

A number of vessels served as the Pollock Rip Lightship first located to mark the junction of Pollock Rip and Pollock Rip Slue channels. The area was heavily used and subject to heavy fog. The station itself changed within the locality. From 1889 to 1913 the red hull was marked in white with Pollock Rip and then simply Pollock from 1913 to 1969. A nearby station, occupied from 1902 to 1923 by Lightship No. 73 before it was assigned to Pollock Rip station in 1923, was marked Pollock Rip Slue. The station was not occupied between February 16 and October 16, 1924 and was replaced by a buoy 1942 — 1945.
In addition to the light the vessels were equipped with fog bells, horns, guns and sirens over the 120 years of operation. In addition to the surface acoustic signals the station was equipped between 1910 and 1930 with a coded submarine signal bell. In 1928 the vessels were equipped with a radio beacon coded -..- for recognition.


SS Anne Hutchinson

SS "Anne Hutchinson" (MC hull number 238) was a Liberty ship built by the Oregon Shipbuilding Company of Portland, Oregon, and launched on 31 May 1942 The ship was named after the Anne Hutchinson, a 1600 Massachusetts Bay Colony Puritan.
The ship was operated by the Sudden and Christenson Steamship Company of San Francisco, under contract from the War Shipping Administration (WSA) during World War II. On 26 October 1942, she was torpedoed and sunk by submarine U-504 off South Africa, in the Indian Ocean at position .
Sinking.
SS "Anne Hutchinson" was traveling unescorted from Aden, Yemen, to Cape Town, South Africa. She had passed through the Suez Channel and was 59 miles off East London Harbour on 26 October 1942 when German submarine U-504 torpedoed her at about 7:00pm. U-504 commanded by Hans-Georg Friedrich Poske, fired a group of torpedoes. "Anne Hutchinson" lookouts saw one torpedo and it passed ahead of the ship. There was no time to avoid the other torpedoes. Two torpedoes hit near the engine room and the cargo hold number 4. The explosion blew the cargo hold number 4 hatch covers off and killed three men sitting on it. The explosion created a 16-foot (5 meter) hole in the side of the ship, that broke the propeller shaft and stopped all the ship's power. The bulkheads of cargo hold number 4 stopped the flooding of the ship and she remained afloat. Some of her cargo of 8,000 gallons of oil leak out. All the crew and United States Navy Armed Guards loaded into four lifeboats. The lifeboats rigged the sails to sail to South Africa. One lifeboat lost the group and was separated, but the crew of 10 was rescued by the merchant ship, the SS "Steel Mariner" and were taken to Durban, South Africa, arriving on 28 October, have only been in the lifeboat for six hours. The other three lifeboats were spotted by a fishing boat near Port Alfred and rescued on 27 October. After resting at Port Alfred the 44 men traveled to Port Elizabeth.
On 29 October, the HMSAS "David Haigh" (T 13), a South African navy armed trawler and a harbour tug tried to tow the "Anne Hutchinson". Due to her partial flooding, the ships were not able to move her. With no other ships available to help, explosives were set to break the "Anne Hutchinson" in two. The forward section was towed to Algoa Bay, making port on 1 November. The explosives sank the aft section of the ship. The forward section was scrapped as it was a total loss. The "David Haigh" crew was able to retrieve confidential papers from the "Anne Hutchinson" that Captain John Stenlund should have removed before abandoning ship.


USNS Able

USNS "Able" (T-AGOS-20) is a "Victorious"-class oceanographic survey ship in the service of the United States Navy's Military Sealift Command.
Construction.
"Able" was laid down on 23 March 1989, at McDermott Shipyard, in Morgan City, Louisiana. Launched on 16 February 1991; sponsored by Mrs. Dorothy E. Thompson, wife of Rear Adm. William Thompson (Ret.); and placed in service with the Military Sealift Command (MSC) on 22 July 1992.
"Able" is an MSC-manned ocean surveillance ship that uses surveillance towed-array sensor system equipment to gather underwater acoustical data. The command operates the ship as part of its Special Mission Ships Program, using her to support the antisubmarine warfare mission of the commanders of the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets. In addition, "Able" carries electronic equipment to process and transmit that data via satellites to shore stations for evaluation. She is built on a small-waterplane, twin-hull design for greater stability at slow speeds in high latitudes under adverse weather conditions. She deploys primarily to the Western Pacific.
In August 2004, "Able" was taken out of service and laid up in the Reserve Fleet at the Naval Sea Systems Command’s Inactive Ships On-site Maintenance Office at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The service reactivated the ship in 2007, and transferred her to a commercial shipyard in Charleston, South Carolina, where she was converted for AN/UQQ-2 Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System (SURTASS) low frequency active-array capabilities. "Able" completed her conversion and reactivation the following year after steaming to the West Coast, and then deployed again to the Western Pacific.
Bibliography.
Online resources


MOL Bravo-class container ship

The "MOL Bravo" class is a series of 10 container ships built for Seaspan Corporation. They were initially chartered to Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and later to Ocean Network Express (ONE). The ships were built by Jiangsu Yangzi Xinfu Shipbuilding in China. The ships have a maximum theoretical capacity of around 10,100 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU).


COSCO Hellas

Cosco Hellas is a container ship owned by Caravokyra Maritime Corp and operated by Costamare Shipping. Its port of registry is Piraeus, Greece. "Cosco Hellas" is a sister ship of the "COSCO Beijing". "Cosco Hellas" has three other sisters: "Cosco Ningbo", "Cosco Yantian" and "Cosco Guangzhou". Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said on July 28, 2006, during the christening ceremony for the Chinese-leased container ship in Piraeus, that the "Cosco Hellas" emphasized the close bonds of friendship between the Greek and Chinese peoples in the best possible way.
On July 11, 2006 Wei Jiafu, captain of "Cosco Hellas", attended China Maritime Day at the port of Shanghai. The purpose of the celebration was to honour the ten distinguished leaders in Chinese maritime industry. The event was mastered by the Vise-Minister of the Ministry of Communications of China, Xu Zuyuan.
Hull and engine.
The "Cosco Hellas" has a length of 350 m and a beam of 43 m. It was built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan, South Korea. It is a fully cellular container ship with a capacity of 9469 TEU, including 700 refrigerated containers. The dimensions of the "Cosco Hellas" are just small enough to allow to sail through the Westerschelde slaloms near Antwerp.
The "Cosco Hellas" is powered by a MAN-B&W 12K98MC, a 2 stroke 12 cylinder engine, capable of producing 74,760 kW. This engine drives a single fixed prop propeller that can sustain a speed of 25 kt.


HMS Medway (P223)

HMS "Medway" is a Batch 2 offshore patrol vessel for the Royal Navy. Named after the River Medway in Kent, she was the second Batch 2 River-class vessel to be commissioned and is assigned long-term as Royal Navy guardship in the Caribbean.
Construction.
On 6 November 2013, it was announced that the Royal Navy had signed an agreement in principle to build three new offshore patrol vessels based on the "River"-class design (more specifically, the larger derivative) at a fixed price of £348 million, including spares and support. In August 2014, BAE Systems signed a contract to build the ships on the River Clyde in Scotland. The ships, which were designated Batch 2 of the "River"-class, were to be globally-deployable and capable of carrying out constabulary tasks, such as counter-terrorism, counter-piracy and anti-smuggling. As the first ship of the new batch, "Medway" included some 29 modifications and enhancements over the baseline "Amazonas" design.
Steel was cut, marking the start of construction of "Medway", on 8 June 2015 at BAE Systems Govan shipyard in Glasgow. Rather than being launched in the traditional manner, "Medway" was rolled onto a semi-submersible barge and lowered into the water on 23 August 2017 and was officially named a few weeks later on 20 October 2017. Builder's sea trials began on 9 November 2018 and were completed by 11 December 2018. Her sea trials were completed in only 75 days, a record not seen since World War II. She was then transferred to the Royal Navy on 5 March 2019.
Operational history.
"Medway" was commissioned into the Royal Navy on 19 September 2019. Arriving via her namesake river, her commissioning ceremony took place at the former Royal Navy Chatham Dockyard in Kent with her sponsor, Lady Fallon, the wife of former Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon in attendance. In the following month, her first operational tasking saw her escorting a Russian Navy cruiser through the English Channel.
Caribbean.
In January 2020, "Medway" embarked on her first overseas deployment, assigned to Atlantic Patrol Task (North) on long-term guardship duties in the Caribbean. She made a stop for final supplies and fuel in Gibraltar in what was her first visit to the territory. After arriving in the Caribbean, "Medway" joined Royal Fleet Auxiliary support ship to form a task group, offering nearby British Overseas Territories a range of support from disaster relief during the hurricane season to tackling all forms of illicit trafficking. The deployment also coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and both ships were reported to be on standby to offer any support, if required. The Governor of the British Virgin Islands subsequently requested the assistance of "Medway" in securing the territory's borders in an effort to control the spread of the virus in late September. Mid-September also saw the involvement of "Medway" in a large counter-narcotics operation in conjunction with "Argus", 47 Commando (Raiding Group) Royal Marines and the United States Coast Guard. The operation lead to the seizure of cocaine with a UK street value of £81 million, according to the National Crime Agency. Currently HMS Medway is in Hamilton, Bermuda.


MV St James Park

St. James Park is a chemical tanker.
Hijacking.
On 28 December 2009, the MV St. James Park was hijacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden.
It was traveling from Tarragona, Spain to Tha Phut, Thailand, with 26 crew members from the Philippines, Russia, Georgia, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Poland, India and Turkey. Its cargo was 13,175 tonnes of EDC (1,2-Dichloroethane). The answered a distress call from the tanker.


Bird-class container ship

The Bird class is a series of 15 container ships built for NYK Line. The ships have a maximum theoretical capacity of around 14,000 TEU. The ships were built by Japan Marine United at their shipyard in Kure.


SS Tuskegee Victory


Battleships in World War II

World War II saw the end of the battleship as the dominant force in the world's navies. At the outbreak of the war, large fleets of battleships—many inherited from the dreadnought era decades before—were one of the decisive forces in naval thinking. By the end of the war, battleship construction was all but halted, and almost every remaining battleship was retired or scrapped within a few years of its end.
Some pre-war commanders had seen the aircraft carrier as the capital ship of the future, a view which was reinforced by the devastating Pearl Harbor attack in 1941. The resultant Pacific War saw aircraft carriers and submarines take precedence. There were just two engagements in the Pacific Theater where battleships fought each other, and only three such engagements in the Atlantic. Instead, they were used to add to fleet air defense, for shore bombardment, and in several cases as fixed port defense batteries.
Battleships remained the most heavily protected ships afloat; nonetheless, sixteen were sunk or crippled by bombs or torpedoes delivered by aircraft, while three more were sunk by submarine-launched torpedoes. The war also saw the development of the first guided bombs, which would make it much easier for aircraft to sink battleships in the future.
Operations.
The German pre-dreadnought battleship fired the first shots of World War II with the bombardment of the Polish garrison at Westerplatte; and the final surrender of the Japanese Empire took place aboard a United States Navy battleship . Between the two events, it became clear that battleships were now essentially irrelevant, and aircraft carriers were the new principal ships of the fleet.
Still, battleships played a part in major engagements in Atlantic, Pacific and Mediterranean theatres. In the Atlantic, the Germans experimented with taking the battleship beyond conventional fleet action, using their pocket battleships as independent commerce raiders. Although there were a few battleship-on-battleship engagements, battleships had little impact on the destroyer and submarine Battle of the Atlantic, and aircraft carriers determined the outcome of most of the decisive fleet clashes of the Pacific War.
In June 1940 and surprised and sank the lightly escorted aircraft carrier off western Norway This engagement marked the first and last time surface gunnery sank a fleet carrier. In the Attack on Mers-el-Kébir, British capital ships opened fire on the French battleships harboured in Algeria with their own heavy guns, and the fleeing French ships were then pursued by planes from aircraft carriers.
Taranto and Matapan.
In late 1940 and 1941, a range of engagements saw battleships attacked by carrier aircraft.
The first example of the power of naval aviation was the British air attack on the Italian naval base at Taranto that took place on the night of 11–12 November 1940. A small number of Royal Navy aircraft attacked the Italian fleet at harbour, succeeding in sinking one Italian battleship and damaging two others.
Importantly, the attack forced the Italian navy to change tactics and seek battle against the superior British navy, which resulted in their defeat at the Battle of Cape Matapan. In that battle, British carrier-deployed torpedo bombers damaged an Italian battleship sufficiently to force it to withdraw from the main force, and then at night British battleships sank the Italian force's three heavy cruisers.
"Scharnhorst class".
The "Scharnhorst" class were the first capital ships, alternatively referred to as battlecruisers or battleships, built for Nazi Germany's "Kriegsmarine" after World War I. The class comprised two vessels: the lead ship and . "Scharnhorst" was launched first, and so she is considered to be the lead ship by some sources; however, they are also referred to as the "Gneisenau" class in some other sources, as "Gneisenau" was the first to be laid down and commissioned. They marked the beginning of German naval rearmament after the Treaty of Versailles. The ships were armed with nine 28 cm (11 in) SK C/34 guns in three triple turrets, though there were plans to replace these weapons with six 38 cm (15 in) SK C/34 guns in twin turrets.
"Scharnhorst" was sunk at the Battle of North Cape by a British force of destroyers, cruisers, and the battleship "Duke of York". "Gneisenau" was bombed while in dry dock and never repaired.
"Bismarck".
The battleship war in the Atlantic was driven by the attempts of German capital ship commerce raiders—two battleships, the and the , and two battlecruisers—to influence the Battle of the Atlantic by destroying Atlantic convoys supplying the United Kingdom. The superior numbers of British surface units devoted themselves to protecting the convoys, and to seek-and-destroy missions against the German ships, assisted by both naval and land-based aircraft and by sabotage attacks. On 24 May 1941, during its attempt to break out into the North Atlantic as a commerce raider, "Bismarck" engaged the British battleship and the battlecruiser . Due in part to the "Bismarck"s superior range-finding and accuracy, it soon sank "Hood" with an apparent hit to her magazines. "Bismarck" and "Prince of Wales" hit each other three times, the damage compelling "Prince of Wales" to withdraw and "Bismarck" to call off its commerce raiding operation, as part of its fuel reserve had been contaminated with salt water. While the "Bismarck" was heading for St. Nazaire, the Royal Navy continued to hunt it, and eventually an attack by Swordfish biplane torpedo bombers from the aircraft carrier disabled "Bismarck"s rudder and significantly reduced her speed. This enabled two Royal Navy battleships, cruisers and destroyers to close in for the kill.
The Pacific battles.
In many of the crucial battles of the Pacific, for instance Coral Sea and Midway, battleships were either absent or overshadowed as carriers launched wave after wave of planes into the attack at a range of hundreds of miles. The primary tasks for battleships in the Pacific became shore bombardment and anti-aircraft defense for the carriers. The two largest battleships ever constructed, Japan's , which carried a main battery of nine 18.1-inch (460 millimetre) guns were designed to be a principal strategic weapon, but "Yamato" fired her main guns in only one engagement, while "Musashi" never fired her main guns in an engagement. They were hampered by technical deficiencies (slow battleships were incapable of operating with fast carriers), faulty military doctrine (the Japanese waited for a "decisive battle", which never came), and defective dispositions (as at Midway).
Pearl Harbor.
Before hostilities broke out in the Pacific Theatre, extensive pre-war planning centered around dreadnoughts. The Royal Navy could not achieve parity with the estimated nine Japanese capital ships in Southeast Asia, since doing so would leave only a handful of ships to use against Nazi Germany. However, Prime Minister Winston Churchill was optimistic about the improving situation in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean and allocating two ships to the defense of Singapore was seen as a compromise. Furthermore, the U.S. Navy later agreed to send its Pacific Fleet with its eight powerful battleships to Singapore in the event of hostilities with Japan.
On 7 December 1941 the Japanese launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Five out of eight U.S. battleships were quickly either sunk or sinking, with the rest seriously damaged (of those sunk two were total losses). The Japanese thus neutralized the U.S. battleship force in the Pacific by an air attack and showed the vulnerability to air attack of warships lying at anchor, as at Taranto. The loss of the battleships led the US Navy to rely on aircraft carriers as capital ships to make counterattacks against the Japanese, such as the Doolittle Raid in April 1942, and to engage Japanese naval forces at the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942 and the Battle of Midway in June 1942.
The sinking of the British battleship and her escort, the battlecruiser , further demonstrated the vulnerability of a battleship to air attack, in this case while at sea without air cover. Both ships were on their way to assist in the defense of Singapore when Japanese land-based bombers and fighters found and sank them on 10 December 1941. "Prince of Wales" had the unwanted distinction of being the first modern battleship sunk by aircraft while underway and able to defend herself.
Midway.
Commonly understood as a victory of carriers, Midway showed up deficiencies in Japanese operational planning. Yamamoto, considering his battleships the most valuable units, kept them far to the rear, in line with traditional practice. This placed them too far away to assist Nagumo (and they would have been too slow to keep up with him in any case). Yet, when Nagumo's carriers were sunk, Yamamoto lost an opportunity to salvage something. Carriers, for all their evident potency, were virtually defenseless at night, and Fletcher might have been dealt a crushing blow by "Yamato" the night of 6–7 June, had Yamamoto stayed closer.
Guadalcanal.
Initially, when the U.S. entered the war in December 1941, none of the nine Pacific Fleet battleships were available. One was being overhauled at Puget Sound Navy Yard from June 1941 until March 1942. Of the eight at Pearl Harbor, two were total losses and six had been sunk or crippled and were sent to West Coast shipyards for repair and reconstruction. With a top speed of only 21 knots, they would not have been able to keep up with the fleet carriers in any case. The new fast battleships of the and were still undergoing trials. "North Carolina" and "South Dakota" were ready by summer of 1942 and provided anti-aircraft defense during the Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz Islands carrier battles.
By contrast, the Imperial Japanese Navy had the advantage of a dozen operational battleships early in the war, but chose not to deploy them in any significant engagements. The two and two s, despite their extensive modernization and respectable speeds, were relegated to training and home defense, while the two and two were being saved due to fuel limitations for a "decisive battle", which never came. In fact, the only Japanese battleships to see much action in the early stages were the four s, which served mostly as carrier escorts due to their high speed and antiaircraft armament. U.S. fast battleships "North Carolina" and were available after the Battle of Midway and played key roles in defending U.S. carriers against air attacks, though "North Carolina" was temporarily put out of action by , which was credited with sinking escorting her.
During the later part of the Guadalcanal campaign in fall 1942, Japan and the U.S. were both forced to commit their battleships to surface combat, due to the need to carry out night operations, and because of the exhaustion of their carrier forces. The Japanese used battleships a single time for shore bombardment, sending and against Henderson Field. In the most successful Japanese battleship action of the war, this action killed 41 defenders and put the airfield out of action for about 12 hours. During the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, battleships and attempted a second bombardment of Henderson Field but were driven off by a force of U.S. cruisers and destroyers. Several USN ships were lost and others were crippled, but they inflicted critical damage on "Hiei", which was abandoned after being subject to repeated air attacks that made salvage impossible. The following evening, at the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 15 November 1942, the United States battleships and fought and defeated a bombardment force centered around "Kirishima". Although "South Dakota" was incapacitated early on by a faulty circuit breaker and suffered moderate damage, "Washington's" accurate radar-directed fire fatally crippled "Kirishima".
Leyte Gulf.
By the time of the Battle of the Philippine Sea in 1944, heavy aircraft losses had left the Japanese carrier fleet ineffectual and forced the Japanese to finally commit their dreadnoughts, both old and new, to the upcoming Leyte Campaign. The objective in this "decisive battle" was to stop the Allies from capturing the Philippines, which would cut off the Japanese oil supply and render their navy useless.
In the Battle of Leyte Gulf, two Japanese battleship forces converged on the American landing forces at Leyte Gulf. The Center Force of five fast battleships attacked from the north; the Southern Force of two slower old battleships attacked from the south. In the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea on 24 October 1944, the Center Force came under attack by American aircraft and , sister ship to "Yamato", was sunk long before she could come within gun range of the American fleet. At the Battle of Surigao Strait early on 25 October, the Japanese Southern Force which included the battleships and encountered a force including six American battleships (five of them raised and repaired from Pearl Harbor), led by Admiral Jesse Oldendorf of the U.S. Seventh Fleet. "Fusō" was sunk by torpedoes from US destroyers before the opposing battleships fired. "Yamashiro" was hit by the US battleships and retired without being able to fire on them. After the battleships had ceased fire she was sunk by a torpedo fired by a US destroyer. This engagement marked the last time in history when battleship faced battleship.
In the Battle off Samar later on 25 October 1944, the remaining four powerful battleships of the Center Force, , , and and their cruiser escort, surprised and attacked the seemingly much weaker American task force "Taffy 3", consisting of destroyers, destroyer escorts, and escort carriers. American destroyers and aircraft attacked the battleships, enabling Taffy 3 to disengage and forcing the Center Force to withdraw, This battle marked the only time "Yamato" engaged enemy ships with her primary or secondary batteries.
Japanese Coast.
During July and August 1945 several American battleships and conducted naval bombardments of several Japanese coastal cities. These attacks targeted major factories as well as the cities' harbors and nearby rail infrastructure.
Soviet and Finnish battles.
During the Soviet-Finnish Winter War, the Soviet battleships "Marat" and "Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya" made several attempts to neutralize the Finnish coastal batteries to facilitate a full naval blockade. The Soviets inflicted little damage on the Finnish positions, and the defenders hit back, claiming at least one hit on "Marat".
During the German assault on the Soviet Union, the Soviet battleships served as convoy escorts during the evacuation of Tallinn, and as floating batteries during the siege of Leningrad. The dense German and Finnish minefields and the submarine nets effectively restricted Soviet traffic in the Gulf of Finland, forcing the larger vessels to remain at port. The German Stuka pilot Hans-Ulrich Rudel eventually sank "Marat" at her moorings on 23 September 1941. Still, the vessel was able to serve as a battery for the remainder of the siege. The Soviets later refloated "Marat" and both it and "Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya" served until the 1950s.
Capabilities and tactics.
Fire support.
With the German capital-ship raiders sunk or forced to remain in port, shore bombardment became the focus of Allied battleships in the Atlantic. It was while covering the Allied invasion of Morocco that the fought and disabled Vichy French battleship on 27 October 1942. Six battleships came together as part of Operation Neptune, in support of the D-Day landings in June 1944. D-Day also saw the deliberate sacrifice of two old dreadnoughts ( and ), which were scuttled as part of the breakwater around the Allied Mulberry harbours.
Aerial defense.
The sinking of "Prince of Wales" and "Repulse" off the coast of Malaya in 1941 demonstrated that even the most modern battleships could not hold off aerial attacks without decent aerial defenses. The British HACS fire control system had been rendered inoperable by the extreme heat and humidity of the Malaya tropical climate, and the anti-aircraft artillery had managed to shoot down only a handful of attackers.
An aircraft carrier's combat air patrol proved to be the most effective form of defense against enemy bombers. Nonetheless, a modern fast battleship could provide point defense against attackers that broke through the fighter screen. The "North Carolina" and "South Dakota" demonstrated just that in the battles of the Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz Islands, respectively, with "North Carolina" downing between 7 and 14 planes, while "South Dakota" shot down between 26 and 32. The battleships' presence was crucial during these engagements in 1942, as the U.S. were still months from being able to realize their material advantage, with too few planes and ships to interdict enough of the skilled Japanese pilots. No American battleships were lost or seriously damaged by aerial attacks in open seas in World War II.
By 1944, Admiral Raymond A. Spruance had arrayed his forces in a complex defense formation. The first line of protection was a radar-vectored combat air patrol, and any attackers who managed to get through would face anti-aircraft fire from a line of screening battleships and cruisers. This exacted such a heavy toll on the Japanese during the Battle of the Philippine Sea that they failed to cause any significant damage to their main targets, the aircraft carriers. The most damage that the Japanese caused was a bomb hit on "South Dakota" which caused many casualties but did little damage to the battleship.
AA guns.
At the outbreak of World War II, most battleships had large anti-aircraft batteries. The battleships used the same light AA guns (the Allies used autocannons such as the Bofors 40 mm gun and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon) as those on smaller ships, but in greater number. The later development of proximity fuses and radar vastly increased the effectiveness of these batteries.
Post–World War I battleships, particularly British and American, had discarded single purpose secondary batteries mounted in casemates used to engage surface targets in favour of turret-mounted dual purpose secondary batteries (5-inch or 6-inch caliber). Secondaries were initially designed to deal with rushing destroyers and torpedo boats, but there arose a need for heavy anti-aircraft armament as the potency of aircraft grew, particularly dive bombers and torpedo bombers. The rationale was that it is unlikely that a battleship would be simultaneously facing both destroyers and aircraft, but it would take up too much space to have separate types of guns to deal with both threats. Both weapons had similar calibers and so they could be merged into a single battery type, and the turret mountings were less susceptible to flooding and had a better firing arc than casemates. The space saved from combining the two types of guns added to simplification of supply, increased deck armor coverage, stowage of other equipment, more light anti-aircraft batteries, and other needs.
The , incorporating many concepts from the G3 battlecruiser, was the first design to include a dual-purpose secondary battery, useful against both surface and airborne attacks. Compared to light AA they had a slower rate of fire, but they had a greater range and sufficient punch to knock enemy planes out of the sky. This proved a crucial defense against Japanese kamikazes in the latter years of World War II. They could also fire into the sea to create waterspouts that slapped low-flying torpedo bombers with tonnes of water. Battleships could mount many more of these DP batteries than cruisers or carriers.
German vessels such as the "Bismarck" class possessed dedicated secondary anti-ship batteries as well as dedicated heavy anti-aircraft batteries, rather than adopting the dual-purpose secondaries like the British or Americans. "Bismarck" for instance had a battery of twelve 5.9 inch (150 mm) cannon and another sixteen 4.1 inch (105 mm) battery was mounted to deal with air threats. The cannon could be used against ships only, as they could not be elevated to fire on high-level targets. This tended to complicate ammunition supplies, take up more space, and reduce the numbers of both guns (reducing the anti-ship "or" anti-aircraft broadside). The Imperial Japanese Navy suffered similar problems to the Germans', as their secondaries were too slow to track aircraft.
The Japanese even used the "San Shiki" (the Beehive) Model 13 anti-aircraft shell for the main gun armament of the s, which would have in theory functioned as a super-sized "shotgun", though this was not considered a success.
HMS "Prince of Wales" had one of the most advanced naval anti-aircraft systems of the time, the High Angle Control System, which demonstrated accurate long range radar directed AA fire during Operation Halberd in August and September 1941. However the extreme heat and humidity in Malayan waters in December of that year rendered her AA FC radars unserviceable and her 2 pounder ammunition had deteriorated as well. Royal Air Force technicians were called in to examine the "Prince's" radars but did not have sufficient time to make the repairs, rendering her HACS ineffective.
Armor.
In the aftermath of the Battle of Jutland and post–World War I era, designers began drawing up armor schemes that protected against ordnance dropped by aircraft or submarines. World War I ships fired at direct 90 degree trajectories. The introduction of high-angle battleship fire and plane bombings forced shipbuilders to consider adding significant armor to the top of battleships. The five ships of the American and es had considerably improved underwater hull protection over previous battleships, as the result of extensive experimentation and testing. The new class of Battleship was to include 40" of armored plating. The proposed G3 battlecruiser was planned to incorporate a thoroughly tested torpedo defense scheme, which was later used in the "Nelson" class. Not surprisingly, as many World War I battleships lacked such a protection system, they fared poorly against torpedoes, which in World War II were increasingly being delivered by submarines and aircraft.
Battleships had an armored belt along the waterline. It was intended to stop shells that hit their sides and to prevent flooding by underwater explosions due to near misses. World War I battleship, German and Italian World War II battleships had lighter upper armored belts to protect sides up to the main or weather deck. Main belt thickness along the waterline ranged from 10" to 15", upper belt thickness ranged from 4" to 10". Most ships of the World War II period had a sloped main belt (internal in some classes), to increase resistance to incoming shells; and no upper belt, to save weight. Thicknesses of belt armor ranged from 10" for "Strasbourg" class - large battlecruisers rather than pure battleships - or from 12" "South Dakota" and "Iowa" classes) to 16" ().
World War I ships had a light upper armored deck to protect the secondary guns and a main armored deck whose sides sloped down to meet the lower edge of the belt, but their thickness was usually no more than 1.5", or 2" for the slopes. As soon as long-range engagements became common and aerial threats increased, crash programs to improve deck and turret roof protection started. US Navy "all-or-nothing" armor layout introduced a flat heavy armor deck, which abutted the upper edges of the armored belt, and light armored weather and lower decks: this design was used by all World War II ships except Reichsmarine units, that kept a heavier lower deck and a lighter upper deck. Main deck armor thickness ranged from 4" to 6" or even 9" for , usually increased over magazines: lighter decks were 1.5" to 2" thick.
From the lessons of Jutland, the protection scheme incorporated a sophisticated torpedo defense system (TDS). By adopting a turbo-electric drive, this allowed a wholesale rearrangement and close subdivision of the machinery spaces, while simultaneously narrowing them and permitting more space outboard for a layered system of voids, liquid-filled tanks and thin armored bulkheads. By contrast, "thin-skinned" cruisers and carriers relied only on numerous compartments to prevent flooding from spreading. Some were upgraded with anti-torpedo blisters, though these were much inferior to the battleship's armored belt. During the Pearl Harbor attack, TDS and damage control counterflooding saved "West Virginia" from nine torpedo hits, while , which lacked it, capsized after just three.
For the Attack on Pearl Harbor the JNAF adapted 16" shells from s into an aerial bomb specifically designed to penetrate the deck armor of the American battleships. It was one of these weapons, dropped from a Nakajima B5N level bomber, which resulted in the destruction of the .
During the attack on , according to a PBS documentary, U.S. torpedo bombers were taught to aim for either the bow or the stern, where the protective belt did not extend. For torpedo bombers to make their runs successfully, fighters strafed the battleship to suppress AA guns, and dive bombers wreaked havoc on the upper decks, destroying AA weapons and fire control systems. Pilots were also instructed to focus on one side of the ship, causing massive flooding which was difficult to counteract, leading to the ship capsizing. A bow hit was deadly, since the onrushing water from the battleship's high speed could wrench the hole open wider and collapse compartment bulkheads, which was why "Yamato"s sister, , foundered at Sibuyan Sea. The stern attacks are best demonstrated by the cases of "Bismarck" and "Prince of Wales"; the rudders and screws were similarly vulnerable.
Fleet Air Arm planned to release their armor-piercing bombs from above a certain height so they would penetrate "Tirpitz"'s thick armor during Operation Tungsten. As the British pilots did not release their ordnance from the optimal altitude, "Tirpitz" suffered extensive damage to her upperworks but her deck armor remained intact. While the suicide air attacks—the so-called kamikaze—struck many U.S. battleships, none were seriously damaged due to their thick armor. "Kamikaze" were much more successful against lesser-armored ships.
There were limits to the battleship's protection scheme, since it could not keep pace with the faster pace of developments in ordnance. For instance, the TDS in the "South Dakota" and s were designed to absorb the energy from an underwater explosion equivalent to 700 pounds (317 kg) of TNT — the Navy's best guess in the 1930s about Japanese weapons. But unbeknownst to U.S. Naval Intelligence, the Japanese 24-inch (60 cm) Type 93 torpedo, carried a charge equivalent to 891 pounds (405 kg) of TNT. And no amount of armor that could be practically incorporated would have saved the from the massive 12,000 lb (5.4t) Tallboys dropped by RAF Lancaster bombers during Operation Catechism. Notably a Tallboy bomb that hit "Tirpitz" amidships between the aircraft catapult and the funnel blew a massive hole into the ship's side and bottom, destroying the entire section of belt armour abreast of the bomb hit, which caused significant flooding and contributed to the ship's rapid list and eventual capsizing.
Coordination and waves.
In a well-planned attack, fighter planes strafed the battleship to suppress the AA guns, while dive bombers used their armor-piercing bombs to cause topside damage and havoc. The fighters and dive bombers, however, were diversions to allow the delivery of aerial torpedoes.
Battleships were able to sustain more punishment and had fewer vulnerable spots than cruisers and carriers, so it was difficult to rely upon scoring a critical hit (the cases of the "Bismarck" and "Prince of Wales" are considered exceptional). Instead, the way to defeat battleships was by attrition, by overwhelming them with repeated waves of attacks inflicting accumulating damage. This is best demonstrated at the Battle of Leyte Gulf; at the Sibuyan Sea where the super-dreadnought eventually succumbed to her damage, after being beset by waves of U.S. carrier aircraft and with her being the primary focus of their attacks. The U.S. planes would have accomplished less if they spread out to attack the rest of the ships in Kurita's powerful force. By contrast, the 24 October air attack on Nishimura's southern pincer did little damage, even though both of his s were slow World War I-era dreadnoughts and his force had far fewer screening ships, as he only faced a single wave from U.S. carriers and .
Innovative attacks.
The Axis powers implemented some unconventional methods. The Italians used with success their tested method of having frogmen delivering explosive charges to the ships, managing to severely damage and to a lesser extent in the shallow waters of the harbor of Alexandria, putting "Valiant" out of action until mid-1942 and "Queen Elizabeth" until mid-1943. Other more or less successful Italian methods included manned torpedoes and small motor assault boats, which were filled with explosives, aimed at the target, sped up to full speed, while the pilot catapulted himself out from the dashing craft.
The Germans developed a series of stand-off weapons, e.g., the guided bomb Fritz X, which scored some early successes. On 9 September 1943, the Germans managed to sink the Italian battleship and severely damage her sister ship, the "Italia", while they were underway to surrender. The first one hit "Roma" amidship between 90 mm AA gun mounts, piercing deck and side, then exploded, halving her speed; the other one hit above deck between turret #2 and the conning tower. It caused an explosion that threw the turret overboard and affected the boilers, starting a major fire that detonated the main magazines. 1,353 lives were lost; only 596 survivors, most badly burned, were rescued. Among those killed was the Italian Commander in Chief of Naval Battle Forces, Admiral Carlo Bergamini. One week later, the Germans scored another hit on the British battleship . The bomb penetrated six decks before exploding against the bottom of the ship, blowing a large hole in her. The ship took in a total of 5,000 tonnes of water, lost steam (and thus all power, both to the ship herself and to all her systems), and had to be taken in tow. She reached Malta but was out of action for the next 12 months.
The British further developed their ability to sink battleships in harbour with minisubs and very heavy bombs dropped by strategic bombers. The last active German battleship, , lurked until late into the war in Norwegian fjords protected by anti-submarine weapons and shore based anti-aircraft guns. She was severely damaged in September 1943 during Operation Source, a daring covert attack by British mini-subs. After several air strikes, including Operation Tungsten, which was made with carrier aircraft, "Tirpitz" was finally sunk in harbour by RAF heavy bombers carrying massive Tallboy bombs. During that action, codenamed Operation Catechism, two of the bombs penetrated her armor, one holing her portside and the other starting a fire that eventually detonated her magazines and blew off her Caesar turret, causing her to capsize and killing 1,000 of the 1,700 men aboard.


Kaiman-class submarine

The "Kaiman" class were a class of submarines built for the Imperial Russian Navy before World War I. They were designed by Simon Lake and built at the W:m Crichton & C:o Okhta shipyard in Saint Petersburg. The boats had numerous defects resulting in a legal battle between Lake and the Russian Government. The boats were impounded in 1910 and rebuilding work took place to remedy some of the defects. The boats finally commissioned in 1911 and served in the Baltic Fleet.
Ships.
All four ships were built by Crichton Yard, Saint Petersburg, served in the Baltic Fleet and were scuttled in Reval in February 1918 to prevent capture by the Germans.


MOL Creation-class container ship

The "Creation" class is a series of similar sized container ships built for Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and now operated by Ocean Network Express (ONE). The ships were built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki Shipyard and Koyo Dockyard in Japan and have a maximum theoretical capacity of around 8,110 to 8,560 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU).