October 04, 2025    Dr. Carl Wayne

The Yorktown class carriers were the three American aircraft carriers that took part in the Battle of Midway in early June 1942, during World War II. They were the USS Yorktown (CV-5), the lead ship of the class, the USS Enterprise (CV-7), and the USS Hornet (CV-8). The first one was struck and sunk by a Japanese submarine on June 7, 1942, the last day of the Battle of Midway, while Hornet was sunk on October 27, 1942, during the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands. Meanwhile, Enterprise was the only one that survived World War II, being decommissioned in 1947 and scrapped in 1958. This class was succeeded by the Essex class.

Preceded by the USS Ranger (CV-4), which was the only one of its class, the Yorktown class aircraft carriers were the best of the US Navy's pre-war carrier designs. Thus, they were larger and better protected. One curious feature of these new carriers was that the ship was designed to operate almost as fast astern as ahead, and there were sets of arrester wires at both end of the flight deck. The USS Yorktown was commissioned in 1937, followed by Enterprise in 1938, and Hornet in 1941. All three had three catapults, two on the flight deck, and one on the hangar deck. Their flight deck was part of the superstructure rather than integral with the hull, with three centerline elevators. Their armor belt and deck were twice as thick as the Ranger's, with a number of water-tight compartments greatly increased.

Following the construction of Yorktown and Enterprise, the next carrier, the USS Wasp (CV-7),  was constrained by the Washington Naval Treaty tonnage limits. Thus, it was smaller. Then, in 1938, when another carrier was required quickly, it was decided to save time by returning to the five year old Yorktown design to produce a third one, the USS Hornet, which would have a wider flight deck. Their wooden flight deck was a distinct liability against attack by dive-bombers. Nevertheless, all three ships had an exceptionally tight turning circle maneuver, which often enabled them to avoid being hit.

Above, the bow of the USS Enterprise, at Puget Sound Navy Yard.

In April 1942, USS Hornet, which was escorted by USS Enterprise, carried the B-25 bombers for the famed Doolittle Raid that bombed Tokyo. In May 1942, the USS Yorktown was damaged during the Battle of the Coral Sea, but she was repaired and able to take part in the Battle of Midway, during which it was sunk by the Japanese submarine I-168 on June 7, 1942. Meanwhile, the Hornet was so heavily damaged on October 26, 1942, during the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands that she had to be abandoned and she was sunk the following day by the Japanese on October 27. The USS Enterprise took part in most of the major naval actions in the Pacific Theater and survived the war; she would be scrapped in 1958.

Specifications

Type: aircraft carrier

Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding

Displacement: 19,875 tons (standard); 25,484 tons (full load)

Length: 251.4 m (825 feet)

Beam: 33.4 m (109 feet)

Draft: 7.9 m (26 feet)

Propulsion: 4 shafts, Parsons geared turbines, 9 Babcock & Wilcox boilers, generating 120,000 HP.

Maximum Speed: 32.5 knots

Range: 12,500 nautical miles (23,200 km)

Armament: eight 127-mm and sixteen 28-mm AA guns.

Compliment: 2,175 sailors and officers.

Above, the USS Yorktown at Naval Air Station (NAS), San Diego, California, on March 29, 1940.

This photo was taken from the rear seat of a SBD Dauntless dive-bomber as it took off the flight deck of the Enterprise.

The flight deck of the Enterprise in August 1944. You can see Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters.

The USS Yorktown (CV-5) in late July 1937, prior to being commissioned, moored at Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock.

The Yorktown just after bombs hit the flight deck, during the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942. She would be repaired, but she would be sunk the following month during the Battle of Midway on June 7.

Air view of the Enterprise in 1945, at the end of the war.

  

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  October 01, 2025    Dr. Carl Wayne

The USS Enterprise (CV-6) was an iconic aircraft carrier used by the US Navy in the Pacific Theater of World War II. She belonged to the Yorktown class of three carriers, and she was the only one that survived the war, as USS Yorktown (CV-5) and Hornet (CV-8) were hit and sunk by a Japanese submarine and dive-bombers respectively. The Enterprise was the most decorated warship in naval history, with a Navy Unit Commendation, twenty battle stars for her World War II service, and a Presidential Unit Citation.

The USS Enterprise (CV-6) was laid down on July 16, 1934, launched on October 3, 1936, and commissioned on May 12, 1938. As soon as she entered service with the US Navy, she was assigned to the Pacific Fleet. When the Japanese launched the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, she was returning to port after delivering fighter aircraft to the Wake Island. She saw combat action for the first time on February 1, 1942, when she scrambled her aircraft, launching a full deck strike of 67 aircraft against Japanese facilities on Kwajalein Island in the Marshals.

The Enterprise took part in the Battle of Midway in early June 1942, when her air group played a key role in the most decisive naval engagement of the war in the Pacific Theater. Several of her dive-bombers (SBD Dauntless) sank the Japanese carriers Akagi and Kaga, and contributed to the destruction of Hiryu. The Enterprise also participated in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in August 1942, during the invasion of Guadalcanal. In this military engagement as well as in the Battle of Santa Cruz, she sustained damage inflicted by Japanese dive-bombers. On June 19, 1944, she took part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, during which the Japanese Fleet was severely mauled and defeated. She would be decommissioned from service after the war in 1947 and scrapped in 1958.

Above, the USS Enterprise sailing in the Pacific around 1939, with the letters ''EN'' painted in white on her flight deck. She carries TBD Devastators torpedo bombers, F3F fighters, and SB2U dive-bombers.

Technical Characteristics

The USS Enterprise was a modern carrier for the time, with 20,000 tons displacement and she had enough size to allow a real degree of protection against torpedo attacks, with a 4-inch (102-mm) thick armor belt over the machinery spaces, magazines, and gasoline storage tanks. However, her flight deck had no armor protection. Like her sisters of her class, she was fitted with three catapults and sets of arrester wires at both ends of flight deck, which was much longer than the Wasp (CV-7) 222-m length, with 252 m (827 feet). She was powered by four Parsons steam turbines fed by 9 boilers.

Specifications

Type: aircraft carrier

Displacement: 19,875 tons; 25,484 tons with full load.

Length: 252 m (827 feet)

Beam: 33.4 m (109 feet)

Draft: 7.9 m (26 feet)

Propulsion: 4 Parsons geared turbines, with four shafts, and 9 boilers, delivering 120,000 sHP.

Maximum Speed: 32.5 knots

Range: 12,500 nautical miles (23,200 km = 14,400 miles)

Aircraft: 96

Armament: eight 127-mm (5-inch) and sixteen 28-mm (1.1-inch) AA guns.

Compliments: 2,175 sailors and officers.

The Enterprise at Noumea, near Guadalcanal in November 1942.

Above, the USS Enterprise CV-6 on the foreground, with Lexington CV-16, an Essex-class carrier.

The USS aircraft carrier in March 1944, during raids against the Palau islands.

Below, the USS Enterprise during flight operations in WW2 (footage)


  

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  September 27, 2025    Dr. Carl Wayne

The Essex class carriers were a series of twenty four capital ships in service with the US Navy between 1942 and 1991. They were used during World War II and the Cold War. Being more advanced than the Yorktown class that preceded them, they provided the United States of America with the powerful striking force it needed to win the war in the Pacific. After the war, they were modernized, with a new propulsion system, radars, and a larger flight deck. The last one to be decommissioned from service was the USS Lexington (CV-16) in 1991.

The Essex class aircraft carriers formed the core of the US Navy's Fast Carrier Task Force, which played a major part in the defeat of the Japanese fleet in the Pacific Theater of Operations. The design was essentially an enlarged Yorktown, unrestrained by the Washington Naval Treaty restrictions. The Essex class was built in three groups: Group 1 comprised 5 ships; Group 2, 18 ships; and Group 3, only 1 ship, totaling 24 aircraft carriers. The original plan was to build 32 ships, but 8 were cancelled in March 1945 as the United States was already winning the war.

Although they were involved in major combat actions, none of the Essex class aircraft carriers was lost during the war. Some of them had been damaged by kamikaze attacks, but they were repaired and put back into action. The USS Franklin was hit by two 500-lb (225-kg) bombs on March 19, 1945. These bombs penetrated the flight deck, landing on the hangar deck, causing fuel to explode, but the carrier did not sink. It would later be repaired.

Above, the USS Intrepid (CV-11) sailing off the coast of the Philippines at the end of 1944.

The aircraft carriers of the Essex class

The USS Essex (CV-9), the lead ship of the class, was commissioned in December 1942. The USS Yorktown (CV-10); Intrepid (CV-11); Hornet (CV-12); Franklin (CV-13); Ticonderoga (CV-14); Randolph (CV-15); Lexington (CV-16); Bunker Hill (CV-17); Wasp (CV-18); Hancock (CV-19); Benington (CV-20); Boxer (CV-21); Bon Homme Richard (CV-31); Leyte (CV-32); Kearsarge (CV-33).

Technical Description

The Essex class carrier was of convention design, with a long, unobstructed flight deck, an open bow, and a large island to starboard. This included the funnel, which was smaller than the ones in previous carriers. The Essex class carriers also had much better protection than the ones that preceded them. They had an additional armored deck at the hangar level, but it still did not have an armored flight deck as in the British Royal Navy carriers. The flight deck was fitted with two catapults. The carriers were equipped with three large elevators, with one of them being a deck-edge elevator, which proved extremely useful and popular. They had a heavy defensive armament, such as twelve 127-mm AA guns. During World War II, each one of them carried 36 fighters, 36 dive-bombers, and 18 torpedo-bombers, totaling 90 aircraft aboard.

In the postwar period, the Essex class carriers underwent a complicated series of modifications and rebuilds, almost all of them aimed at trying to keep pace with the introduction with ever larger and heavier jet aircraft. These modifications included an angled flight deck, new steam catapult, and new and more powerful propulsion systems, with new high-pressure boilers and geared steam turbines. The upgrade allowed some of these carriers to take part in the Vietnam War.

Specifications (original design)

Type: aircraft carrier

Displacement: 27,208 tons (standard); 34,881 tons (full load)

Length: 265 m (872 feet)

Beam: 45 m (147.5 feet)

Draft: 8.4 m (27.7 feet)

Propulsion System: 4 Westinghouse geared steam turbines, with 4 shafts, and 8 boilers, generating 150,000 sHP.

Maximum Speed: 32.7 knots

Range: 14,100 nautical miles (26,110 km)

Armament: twelve 127-mm (5-inch) and thirty two 40-mm AA guns.

Aircraft: 90

Compliment: 2,682 sailors, officers, and pilots

The USS Essex (CV-9), the first of the series and lead ship of her class.

The USS Lexington (CV-16), fully modernized and upgraded, with an angled flight deck.

  

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  September 20, 2025    Dr. Carl Wayne

The Yermak was the world's first icebreaker. This ship was also the first vessel to sail through the Arctic. Launched in 1899, it was designed by Admiral Stepan Makarov, who was an engineer and inventor. He was convinced Russia needed a strong and powerful vessel capable of forcing its way through the Arctic and even reaching the North Pole.

The Yermak entered service with the Russian Navy, under the Russian Empire, in 1900. It would endure the storms of revolutions, wars, and political upheavals, and it was still in service when the Soviet Union launched its first nuclear vessels. Before sailing through the Arctic, its first mission was to rescue the battleship Apraksin, which ran aground on the rocks of Gogland Island in the Gulf of Finland, taking on hundreds of tons of water. Trapped in the ice, the vessel faced destruction. Only the first icebreaker could reach it and save the crew.

During World War I, the Yermak led warships convoys from Reval to Helsingfors (Helsinki), carving channels for the Russian Navy's vessels to sail through and escape from the powerful German fleet. Later, when the Germans closed in, the Russian ships had to be evacuated from Helsinki itself. At the head of the icebound column stood the black hull of the icebreaker, dragging Russia’s warships through frozen seas to safety. Within weeks, the city fell, but, by then, the Russian fleet had gone.

By the 1930s, the Soviet Union was slowly recovering from civil war and chaos. The government needed to revive Arctic shipping, and the old icebreaker was called back into service. In 1934, for the first time since Makarov’s era, the Yermak pushed north into the Kara Sea. The ship had aged, but it was far from obsolete. Engineers fitted it with an amphibious aircraft – a striking innovation for its time. With aerial reconnaissance, the icebreaker could scout floes and channels far ahead, dramatically improving its effectiveness.

Specifications

Type: icebreaker

Displacement: 8,730 tons

Length: 97.5 m

Beam: 21.6 m

Draft: 7.3 m

Propulsion: 8 steam engines, with four shafts, fed by 6 boilers, generating 9,000 HP.

Maximum Speed: 12 knots

Compliment: 101.

Above, design drawing of the Yermak.


The first ice breaker. Photo taken in 1916.

  

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  September 01, 2025    Dr. Carl Wayne

The USS Wasp (CV-7) was an American aircraft carrier which was used by the US Navy in World War II. She was the last of the pre-war carriers to be limited on tonnage by the 1922's Washington Naval Treaty. When she was ordered, the only requirement was to have the same capabilities as the Yorktown-class carrier on a 14,700-ton hull. With 219.5 m (720 feet) in length, Wasp's hull was shorter than the USS Ranger's by some 12 m (40 feet). However, she had a slightly greater beam. After only two years of service, she would be sunk by the Japanese submarine I-19 on September 15, 1942, off the coast of Guadalcanal Island.

Technical Description

The USS Wasp had an asymmetrical hull to offset the weight of the starboard-side island without the use of ballast and the fitting of the first deck-edge elevator. An unusual machinery arrangement was used with the forward and aft engine rooms being separated by two set of three-abreast boiler rooms. The boiler uptakes were vented out of a stack which was part of the starboard-side island.

Aside from her two flight deck catapults, the Wasp had catapults installed in both ends of her hangar deck, not just forward as in Yorktown. In addition to her two deck elevators, a deck-edge elevator was fitted on the port side of the forward hangar bay. She was powered by two Parsons steam turbines, with two shafts, and six water-tube boilers. As designed, she had an air group of 72 aircraft. This US Navy's carrier was fitted with one CXAM-1 radar.

Operational History

USS Wasp (CV-7) was laid down in 1936 and launched on April 4, 1939. After one year of sea trials, she was commissioned on April 25, 1940. She was first assigned to the Atlantic Fleet. In August 1941, she ferried P-40 aircraft to Iceland. After the United States entry into the war, she was used to escort high-value convoys from her base in Main to England.

By late May 1942, Wasp was transferred from the Atlantic Fleet to the Pacific to take part in the first phase of the island-hopping campaign of the Pacific Theater of Operations. Arriving too late for Midway, she was part of the covering force for the landings on Guadalcanal in August 1942. Thus, she remained in the Solomons area throughout August. On September 15, 1942, USS Wasp was hit by the Japanese submarine I-19, with three torpedoes which struck the ship near the forward gas tanks and magazines, while she was refueling aircraft.

Specifications

Type: aircraft carrier

Builder: Fore River Shipyard (General Dynamics)

Displacement: 14,700 tons standard; 18,450 tons full-load.

Length: 219.5 m (720 feet)

Beam: 30.5 m (100 feet)

Draft: 7.1 m (23.3 feet)

Propulsion: two Parsons steam turbines; two shafts; six water-tub boilers, generating 70,000 shp.

Maximum Speed: 29.5 knots

Range: 12,000 nautical miles (22,000 km/ or 14,000 miles)

Compliment: 2,167 sailor and officers

Armament: eight 127-mm (5-inch) AA guns; sixteen 28-mm (1.1-inch) AA guns.

USS Wasp (CV-7) - flight operations during WW2 (footage)


Above, aerial view of USS Wasp in May 1942. Her flight deck full of aircraft.

USS Wasp after being struck by torpedoes on September 15, 1942. The fuel tanks and ammo have just blown up.

USS Wasp in late 1939, during sea trials.

  

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  July 01, 2025    Dr. Carl Wayne

The Chinese Navy has one of the largest and most powerful array of warships in the world. This fleet is only equaled or barely surpassed by its American or Russian counterpart. It was created in 1949 by the Chinese Communist Party when Mao Tse-Tung took power after a long civil war against the Chang Kai Shek's nationalist forces. During the first two decades, China was almost fully dependent on the Soviet Navy for assistance and supply of warships and weapons, but it never had a nuclear-powered vessel until the 1980s, when the Type 091 nuclear attack submarines were introduced.

The People's Liberation Army Navy began to modernize and expand its fleet in earnest in the 1990s, developing its own advanced shipbuilding industry. In this decade the surface vessel fleet was considerably expanded, with the introduction of the destroyer class Type 052 and 956E, along with the frigate class Type 53 and new nuclear attack submarines. Thus, China developed a powerful navy. This was a consequence of the fall of the Soviet Union and the need to have its own ship designs, and the production of higher quality steel.

Surface and submersible warships of the Chinese Navy

Submarines- The Chinese Navy has in its arsenal a total of 65 active submersible boats: 8 nuclear-powered (Type 094 and 94A) and 1 conventional (Type 032) ballistic missile submarines, totaling 9 nuclear deterring boats; 10 nuclear attack submarines (Type 091, 093, and 093A); and 45 high-tech conventional attack boats armed with anti-ship and land-attack cruise missiles (Type 039, 039A, 039B, 039C, 39G, 035, as well as Russian designed Project 636M/Improved Kilo class).

Aircraft Carriers- China has a force of 4 active carriers: one Type 001 (a Soviet-made Kuznetsov class capable of carrying up to 50 aircraft); one Type 002, which was domestically designed and built; and two Type 003 (Fujian) super carriers, fitted with electromagnetic catapults and capable of transporting up to 70 combat aircraft.

Destroyers- There are 52 modern destroyers: Type 052, 052B, 052C, 052D, 051B, 051C, as well as Type 956E and 956EM, which are Soviet designs. They are all equipped with advanced sonars and other modern detection means to hunt enemy submarines.

Frigates- 47 modern and fully updated ones, armed with anti-ship, land-attack, and surface-to-air missiles.

Corvettes- 52 advanced fast ships also equipped with anti-ship missiles. These have been commissioned between 2017 and 2025.

Missile Boats- China has a powerful armada of 110 coastal missile boats armed with two torpedoes and 4 anti-ship missiles.

Source: People's Liberation Army military magazine, which is published yearly.

Type 003/Fujian aircraft carrier during trials in the China Sea.

  

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  June 17, 2025    Dr. Carl Wayne

A Trafalgar class submarine was one of a series of seven nuclear-powered boats in service with the British Royal Navy between 1981 and 2009. They were all developed and built by Vickers Ship Building firm at the shipyards in Barrow-in-Furness. The first submarine of the class to be laid down was HMS Trafalgar (S107), which was launched on July 1, 1981. She would be commissioned in 1983. The other boats were the HMS Turbulent (1984), Tireless (1985), Torbay (1987), Trenchant (1988), Talent (1989), and HMS Triumph (1991). All seven boats were armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles and with wire-guided, homing Tigerfish torpedoes.

Technical Description

The Trafalgar class submarine was a medium-size fleet boat (attack submarine), with a crew of 130 sailors and officers. It was built with a single hull made of steel, with a low magnetic signature, and it was powered by one Rolls-Royce pressurized-water nuclear reactor, with two steam turbines and two generators. This class was fitted with anechoic tiles on the outer surface of hull to deaden the sound waves of enemy active sonars, sharply reducing the return signal and also to insulate the submarine inner vibrations produced by machinery. You must remember that noise is the main source of submarine detection. Thus, this class was much quieter than their predecessors, the submarines of the Swiftsure class.

Specifications

Type: nuclear attack submarine

Displacement: 5,208 tons (submerged); 4,700 (surfaced)

Length: 85.4 m (280 feet)

Beam: 9.8 m (32 feet)

Draft: 9.5 m (31 feet)

Propulsion: one Rolls-Royce PWR1 nuclear reactor; two GEC geared steam turbines; two Westing House Allen turbo generators; two diesel generators, with a total 18,000 SHP generation.

Maximum Speed: 30 knots (56 km/h) submerged.

Range: unlimited; food supplies holds out 85 days.

Compliment: 130 men

Weapons: five 533-mm (21-inch) torpedo tubes, with 30 torpedoes; Tomahawk Block IV cruise missiles.

Above: the launch of HMS Trafalgar (S107). The angular metal cover on her bows is a security measure to conceal the torpedoes exits.

The Trafalgar Class Submarine HMS Trenchant (S91) sailing in the North Atlantic in the late 1980s.

HMS Torbay.

  

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