Warship Drama
@DramaWarship
Battleships, cruisers, coastal defence ships and derived aircraft carriers here. We admire the art of naval engineering and mourn for every single life lost.
Date: Winter 1927. Location: The Manila Bay, Philippines. Event: Recently appointed flagship of the USN Asiatic Fleet, armored cruiser Pittsburgh (former Pennsylvania) is loading supplies in her new home port of Manila. Current status: Scrapped in 1932-33, lifespan of 32 years.
Date: April 1931. Location: The Bay of Kiel, Germany. Event: Flagship of the Royal Navy's 2nd Cruiser Squadron, heavy cruiser Dorsetshire pays a friendly visit to Kiel. Current status: Intact wreck at appr. 01°54′ N, 77°45′ E, depth of ca. 4300 m.
Date: June 07, 1942. Location: Scapa Flow, UK. Event: Flagship of the USN Task Force 99, battleship Washington is hosting a visit by King George VI during a break from her convoy escort duties in North Atlantic. Note Vought OS2U Kingfisher floatplane on the starboard catapult.…
Date: May 04, 1895. Event: Recently assigned to the German Navy's East Asia Squadron, armored cruiser Kaiser is departing from the Wilhelmshaven Naval Base for Tsingtau, China. Current status: Scrapped in 1920-21, lifespan of 50 years.
Date: Mid-July 1939. Location: New York City, NY, USA. Event: Light cruiser Georges Leygues of the French Navy's 4th Cruiser Division is representing France at the New York's World Fair. Note a Loire 130 reconnaissance flying boat on a telescopic catapult. Current status:…
Date: June 28, 1945. Location: Port Jackson, Australia. Event: Assigned to the Allied Task Force 37, battleship King George V of the British Pacific Fleet is departing from Sydney for a series of gunnery exercises. Note her paravanes being deployed. Current status: Scrapped in…
Date: June 14, 1942. Location: The Gulf of Taranto, Italy. Event: Battleship Vittorio Veneto is following sister ship Littorio as both capital units of the Italian Navy's IX Division are sailing to intercept the Allied Convoy MW 11, en route from Alexandria to Malta.
Date: September 12, 1917. Location: The Kii Channel 紀伊水道, Japan. Event: Battleship Ise 伊勢 is performing machinery trials on the 29th month of construction works by the Kawasaki Shipyard. She will be commissioned into the IJN 3 months later. Current status: Scrapped in…
Date: March 23, 1912. Location: Washington D.C., USA. Event: Protected cruiser Birmingham of the USN Atlantic Fleet has just arrived in the Washington Navy Yard with the bodies of crew members of armored cruiser Maine on board. Current status: Scrapped in 1930-31, lifespan of 26…
Date: December 08, 1914. Location: Port Stanley, the Falkland Islands. Event: Part of the Royal Navy's squadron under vice-admiral Doveton Sturdee, armored cruiser Kent is coaling soon after the Battle of the Falkland Islands. Current status: Scrapped in 1920-22, lifespan of 22…
Date: Winter 1935. Location: The Bay of Kiel, Germany. Event: Commissioned into the German Navy in November, heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer commences her extensive tests in the Baltic Sea. Current status: Large hull fragments at 54°19'16"N, 10°09'49"E, under 5 m of rubble.
Date: March 02, 1913. Location: 47°33'43.5" N, 122°37'58.6" W. Event: USN battleship Oregon has entered brand new Dry Dock No. 2 of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard to be transferred to the Reserve Fleet. Scrapped in 1956-57, lifespan of 66 years; foremast is on display at…
Date: Fall 1944. Location: Portsmouth, UK. Event: Battleship Lorraine of the Free French Naval Forces shows her tripod foremast while undergoing a brief refit at HM Dockyard, Portsmouth. Current status: Scrapped in 1954, lifespan of 42 years.
Date: June 1900. Location: 35°53'21" N, 14°30'32" E. Event: Recently commissioned into the Royal Navy and assigned to the China Station, protected cruiser Argonaut makes a stopover in Valletta on her way from Portsmouth to Hong Kong. Current status: Scrapped in 1921-22, lifespan…
Date: Fall 1914. Location: Mykolaiv, Ukraine. Event: Battleship Imperatritsa Mariya is fitting out on the 37th month of construction works at the Russud shipyard. She will be commissioned into the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet as the new flagship 9 months later. Current status:…
Date: Fall 1898. Location: New York City, NYC, USA. Event: Berthed in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, battleship Massachusetts of the USN Atlantic Fleet shoes her new 20″ General Electric search light with a signal function. Current status: Hull at 30°17′49″ N, 87°18′43″ W, depth of 5 m.
Date: October 12, 1945. Location: The Tokyo Bay off Yokosuka 横須賀市, Japan. Event: Surrendered on August 30, battleship Nagato 長門 of the former Imperial Japanese Navy is waiting for her ultimate fate. Note gasoline tanker Waupaka on the left and rescue ocean tug ATR-35 in…
Date: July 13, 1950. Location: The Marmaris Harbour, Turkey. Event: Light cruiser Gambia is arriving in Marmaris at the beginning of her 5-year-long service with Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet. Current status: Scrapped in 1969-70, lifespan of 31 years.
Date: August 29, 1945. Location: The San Francisco Bay, CA, USA. Event: USN light cruiser Vincennes (former Flint) is departing from the Mare Island Navy Yard upon completion of her 2-month long refit. Current status: Intact wreck at 34°03′57″ N, 119°08′35″ W, depth of ca. 210 m.
Date: August 24, 1933. Location: The Tokyo Bay off Yokohama 横浜, Japan. Event: IJN light cruiser Kitakami 北上 is participating in parade rehearsal the day before the fleet review by Emperor Hirohito 裕仁. Current status: Scrapped in 1946-47, lifespan of 28 years. Photo by…
