Battleship Ise

The battleship Ise was a dreadnought battleship in service with the Imperial Japanese Navy between 1917 and 1945. It was one of the most powerful war vessel of WW1 and WW2 as it was fitted with twelve 356-mm (14 in) naval guns, which were mounted in six twin turrets, and twenty 140-mm (5.5 in) guns. Her belt armor was 300-mm-thick at water line level. She was the lead ship of her class, the other being the Hyuga.

The battleship Ise was built between 1915 and 1917 by Kawasaki, at the Kobe shipyard. She was commissioned during World War I as a "superdreadnought", ending her career as a battleship carrier. This was due to the fact that her original configuration was modified in 1943, after the Battle of Midway; the Japanese engineers replaced the rear gun turrets with a flight deck to accommodate an air group of floatplanes. Since it was not long enough, the flight deck was equipped with forward catapults. Twenty two aircraft could be carried, with nine in the hangar.

Taking part in the Battle of Midway of June 1942, Ise also participated in the naval Battle of Cape Engano in 1944. At the end of the WW2, she was transferred to the South China Sea. Having survived this armed conflict, she was scrapped in 1946.

Specifications

Type: Dreadnought battleship

Length: 208.18 m (683 ft)

Beam: 28.65 m (94 ft)

Draft: 8.93 m (29 ft, 4 in)

Displacement: 31,750 tons

Power Plant: 4 steam turbines, with 4 shafts, fed by 24 coal-fired, water-tube Kampon boilers.

Maximum Speed: 25 knots

Crew: 1,360 men, and 1,463 sailors after carrier conversion.

Below, a photo of the battleship Ise taken around 1937, during the Japanese invasion of China.

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Battleship Tirpitz

The German battleship Tirpitz was launched on April 1, 1939. Although she was almost identical to her class sister KMS Bismarck, she had undergone a series of improvement, such as the addition of two sets of quadruple torpedo tubes and updated aircraft handling arrangement. Her main armament consisted of eight 380-mm naval guns, which were set up in four, twin turrets.

After sea trials, the KMS Tirpitz was finally commissioned on February 25, 1941, entering operational service in September that year. Her first mission was cruising the Gulf of Finland to prevent any breakout by the Soviet Baltic Fleet. Next, she was sent to Trondheim, in Norway, to attack and disrupt Allied convoys to Murmansk.

In September 1943, she would be damaged by torpedoes fired from a midget submarine. In April and August 1944, she was damaged again by an bombers scrambled from a British aircraft carrier. Finally, on November 12, 1944, she was permanently destroyed and capsized by an Avro Lancaster bomber. Two direct hits had ripped a massive hole in her hull. Tons of water poured in, making her to list. She finally capsized as 971 sailors were trapped and drowned.

Specifications

Type: Battleship class Bismarck

Length: 253 m

Beam: 36 m

Displacement: 53,500 tons

Draft: 11 m

Power Plant: 3 Brown-Boveri geared turbines, with 3 shafts, developing 150,170 HP.

Maximum Speed: 30 knots

Range: 19,000 km

Armament: Eight 38-cm (380-mm) main guns; twelve 15-cm (150mm) guns; and sixteen 10.5-cm (105-mm) Flak guns.

Below, KMS Tirpitz being towed by a tug boat into her mooring dock in Kaafyord, Norway, in late 1941.

Broadside view of Tirpitz anchored at the coast of the Scandinavian country in the Summer of 1942.

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Battleship Bismarck

The battleship Bismarck was one of the most famous warships in World War II. Together with her sister Tirpitz, she left her mark on naval history, even though she had a short life. She was launched on February 14, 1939, and she was commissioned on August 24, 1940. Her main weapons consisted of eight 380-mm naval guns.

The Bismarck was the first full scale battleship, which was built for the new German Kriegsmarine after Adolf Hitler rescinded the Treaty of Versailles. She was developed following the designs used before and during the First World War. However, she would be fitted with considerably higher installed power.

Right after she was commissioned, the Bismarck sailed into the North Sea in late August, 1940, escorted by the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. The two warships left Korsfjord, Norway, sailing southward. When they reached the Denmark Strait, they met the Royal Navy's battleship Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser Hood. Using her 380-mm guns, the Bismarck opened fire and sank Hood within minutes, seriously damaging Prince of Wales.

Since the Bismarck had also been damaged during this naval battle, she was forced to seek shelter in the German-occupied port of Brest. However, an armada of British warships and aircraft carriers had just been assembled and were waiting for the Bismarck, which was seriously damaged. As she undertook evasive maneuver and tried to resume her voyage, she was hit by a torpedo dropped by a British carrier-borne bomber. Partially destroyed, she would be sunk by the British battleships King George V and Rodney on May 27, 1941.

Specifications

Type: Battleship

Length: 251 m (823 ft, 6 in)

Beam: 36 m (118 ft)

Displacement: 50,153 tons (full load)

Draft: 9.3 m (29 ft, 5 in)

Power Plant: 3-shaft, Blohm & Voss geared steam turbines, delivering 138,000 HP. Turbines were fed by 12 boilers.

Speed: 30 knots

Crew: 2,092 sailors and officers

 

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North Korea Nuclear Submarine

North Korea nuclear submarine was launched on September 6, 2023. Christened Hero Kim Kun OK, it is a complete reconstruction of an already existing Soviet-made Project 633 underwater vessel (Romeo-class). It was rebuilt in such a way as to be able to carry tactical nuclear weapons. Thus, technically speaking, it is a tactical nuclear attack submarine, which was fitted with stealth technology, being able to surreptitiously sail off the coast of the USA (without being detected.

Below, a photo of the first nuclear-powered attack and tactical submarine being launched by the North Korean Navy.

Specifications

Length: 76 m

Beam: 6.7 m

Displacement: 1,855 tons (submerged)

Draft: 5.6 m

Speed: 16 knots

Crew: 57

Armament: eight 533mm torpedo tubes; medium-range nuclear missiles.

Below, the nuclear attack submarine of the Republic of North Korea.

 

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