USS Maine (ACR-1)

The USS Maine (ACR-1) was an American, pre-dreadnought battleship that was in active service with the US Navy only three years, from 1895 to 1898. She was sunk by a massive explosion while she was lying at anchor in Havana harbor. This incident would be the spark that ignited the Spanish-American War. The USS Maine was an advanced, well-protected capital ship of the time, which was fitted with a modern propulsion system capable of generating 9,293 horsepower. She was a symbol the American steel industry of the second industrial revolution and its sinking remained a source of controversy ever since.

The USS Maine (ACR-1) was ordered in August 1886 as a need to modernize the US Navy and catch up with the European nations', which were competing in the arms race for the European and world geopolitical hegemony. Designed by the US Navy Department, she was laid down on October 17, 1888, at New York Naval Shipyard, and launched on November 18, 1890. After five years of sea trials, the USS Maine would be commissioned for service with the US Navy on September 17, 1895. In January 1898, the USS Maine paid a good-will visit to Cuba in an attempt to lower the US-Spanish political tension. On February 15, she was anchored in Havana harbor when she was suddenly destroyed and sunk by a powerful explosion which killed 260 men. Without tangible proof, a US court of inquiry quickly concluded on April 21 that the ship had been sunk by the explosion of a mine that had been placed beneath the ship. This conclusion led the United States to declare war on Spain.

Technical Description

With a length of 96.9 m (318 feet) and a beam of 17.4 m, the USS Maine was slightly larger than the Brazilian battleship Riachuelo, which was a modern warship that had been built in the United Kingdom. The American capital ship was armed with four 254-mm main guns, which were mounted in two twin turrets, en echelon, with the forward one set up to starboard and the after one to port. They were sponsoned to fire dead ahead and astern. She also featured six 152-mm guns as secondary naval ordnance. The ship was propelled by two vertical, triple-expansion steam engines, with the boilers combustion gases being exhausted through two smokestacks.

Specifications

Type: pre-dreadnought battleship

Completed: 1895

Number in Class: 1

Displacement: 6,682 tons (standard); 7,180 tons (full-loaded).

Length: 96.9 m (318 feet)

Beam: 17.4 m (57 feet)

Draft: 6.6 m (21.5 feet)

Propulsion System: two triple-expansion steam engines, with two shafts, fed by 8 boilers, generating 9,293 iHP.

Maximum Speed: 16.45 knots (30.47 km/h, or 18.93 mph)

Range: 3,600 nautical miles (6,670 km) sailing at 10 knots.

Armor: Harvey and nickel steel; ship belt: 305-mm; deck: 76 and 51-mm; barbetts: 305 and 254-mm thick.

Armament: four 254-mm main guns; six 152-mm secondary guns.

Compliment: 374 men.

Above, starboard view of the USS Maine, showing two of her four 254-mm naval guns.

The USS Maine battleship sailing into Havana harbor in 1898.

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Cruiser (warship)

A cruiser is a surface warship used by modern navies for doing battle against light enemy naval forces. One of its main tasks is to escort and defend aircraft carriers and other capital ships. Along with destroyers, the cruiser also protects convoys, supporting marine landing parties. This modern war vessel also provides fire support for the coastal flanks of ground forces, laying minefields, and performing other combat missions.

Cruisers (as a class of warships) had first appeared in Great Britain in the 1860’s, while the Russian Navy introduced its first cruiser in the 1870’s. In Russia, cruisers were subdivided in 1892 into first-rank cruisers (armor-clad and armor-decked) and second-rank cruisers, which were called light cruisers. During World War II (1939–45) the class of cruisers was divided into the sub-classes of heavy and light cruisers. In the navies of certain nations (the United States of America and Great Britain) there was a class of line cruisers (the largest armor-clad ships after battle-ships, with heavy turreted artillery). In the 1960’s missile cruisers, air defense cruisers, anti-submarine cruisers, and other types appeared in the navies of various countries. In the anti-submarine role, this type of warship has partially replaced the destroyer.

The main weapons of present-day cruisers are rifled (102–203 mm) artillery and missile complexes, composed of surface-to-air, anti-ship, and land-attack missiles. In addition, this modern warship is also armed with torpedoes (six to eight tubes), and mines (up to 200–300). Most cruisers have one or two light aircraft, which are launched by catapults, or one or two helicopters, which are used for reconnaissance and adjustment of fire. Today, drones are also used. The basic dimensions of cruisers are as follows: length, up to 200–220 m; width, 20–23 m; draft, up to 8 m. The displacement of light cruisers is 7,000–9,000 tons, and for heavy cruisers it is up to 20,000–30,000 tons. The main engines are steam turbines with a capacity of 44.2–88.4 megawatts (60,000–120,000 horsepower), crew sizes range from 600 to 1,300, and cruising speeds go up to 30–35 knots (55–65 km/hr). The full cruising range is 9,000–12,000 miles (17,000–22,000 km).

Above, a Slava-class cruiser of the Russian Navy sailing in the Black Sea.

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Battleship

The battleship was a heavily armored and massively armed capital ship employed as a front line war vessel in a naval engagement. This type of warship first entered service in 1895 with the British Royal Navy. She was HMS Majestic, which was the lead vessel of her class of 9 pre-dreadnought battleships. These early battleships were armed with four 305-mm and twelve 152-mm naval guns, while her belt armor was 229-mm thick. They were the first naval vessels to be propelled by 3-cylinder, triple expansion, steam engines, fed by 8 boilers. This class was followed by the King Edward VII-class of 8 pre-dreadnought battleships, the first of which was commissioned in 1905; these were also armed with 305-mm naval guns.

Commissioned in 1906, HMS Dreadnought introduced advanced technical innovation. She was the first battleship to be propelled by the modern and more efficient Parsons direct-drive steam turbines fed by 18 boilers instead of 8. Her number of main guns was increased to ten 305-mm (12-inch) naval ordnance, instead of the four on the Majestic and King Edward VII class. HMS Dreadnought was also faster and had thicker armor. The Imperial Japanese Navy was the first navy to acquire a dreadnought type battleship when the battleship Satsuma was commissioned in 1910. However, the Satsuma was still powered by the older triple-expansion steam engines. Meanwhile Germany introduced her first dreadnought type battleship in 1911, when the SMS Helgoland was commissioned along with three other battleships of her class. Most of the European navies took part in World War I deploying dreadnought type battleships. The United States Navy, on the other hand, had been reinforced with the New York-class battleships. The 1916 Battle of Jutland was famous because of the number of battleships involved in this naval engagement.

By the start of World War II battleships had a standard displacement of 20,000–64,000 tons and were armed with up to 12 turret guns of the main caliber (between 356 and 406 mm), up to 20 torpedo-defense, antiaircraft, or multipurpose artillery guns with calibers of 100–127 mm, and up to 80–140 small-caliber automatic antiaircraft cannons and large-caliber antiaircraft machine guns. The US Navy entered World War II equipped with the Iowa-class battleship, which was more advanced and faster war vessel and it was armed with more powerful guns; 406-mm (16-inch). The British Royal Navy deployed the King George V class battleships in World War II; however, HMS Vanguard, which was completed in 1946, would be the last battleship used by the Royal Navy. During Word War II, however, because of the increased role of naval aviation (especially carrier-based) and submarine forces and the loss of many battleships to aviation and submarines, these ships lost their importance. After the war all navies scrapped almost all their battleships.

Above, Pennsylvania-class battleships sailing in the North Atlantic.

IJN Mikasa a pre-dreadnought battleship, which took part in the Russo-Japanese War.

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Destroyer (warship)

A destroyer is a class of surface warship specially designed to fight submarines, torpedo boats, and aircraft, to conduct reconnaissance, to escort aircraft carriers, battleships and cruisers, and to carry out torpedo attacks on large ships. The development of the destroyer was the direct consequence of the invention of the self-propelled torpedo in the second half of the 19th century. The first destroyer, 'el destructor', was invented by Spanish naval officer Fernando Villaamil Fernández-Cueto in 1885 to cope with a new threat in the sea waters against large war vessels: the torpedo boat that launched the new self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes.

The first destroyers had displacements of 1,000 and 1,500 tons and maximum speeds of 35–36 knots (64–66 km/hr). They were armed with 8–12 torpedo launchers and three or four artillery guns with calibers ranging from 100 mm to 120 mm. During the war, the role of this warship was expanded, and they were fitted with additional artillery guns and with mechanisms for releasing antisubmarine depth charges. The destroyer was first used in combat during the Russo-Japanese War on February 8, 1904, during the naval battle of Port Arthur.

In World War II, destroyers were used to protect transport convoys and tactical units of large naval vessels from attack by German or Japanese submarines and light surface ships. Although they were armed with depth charges and torpedoes, the most important part of a destroyer's anti-submarine warfare was the sonar, which is a position-finding device to detect the presence of an enemy submarine by transmitting acoustic waves and picking up the reflected sounds from enemy submarine hull. At the beginning, destroyers were light warships with little endurance for unattended ocean operations. This is the reason they had to operate together in packs, supplied by the tender, or depot ship.

Today, they are used to search and destroy submarines and to lay minefields. After the war, with the development of missiles and atomic weapons, the destroyer class of vessels evolved into separate classes of medium-tonnage, narrow-purpose warships with anti-aircraft and antisubmarine capabilities. Vessels of the US Navy’s Arleigh-Burke class are representative of the modern destroyer. Such vessels have a displacement of 5,800 tons and travel at speeds of up to 35 knots. They are equipped with one 127-mm gun, two triple torpedo launchers, and one 8-tube rocket launcher.

Above, the first modern US Navy destroyer; the USS Wickes DD-75, which was commissioned in 1918.

Above, four US Navy Allen M. Sumner destroyers moored alongside their tender. Commissioned in 1943, they were the first American destroyers fitted with a modern effective sonar.

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Bellerophon-Class Battleship

The Bellerophon-class battleship was one of a series of three British dreadnought battleships, which were in service with the Royal Navy between 1909 and 1921. The class consisted of the HMS Bellerophon, HMS Superb, and HMS Temeraire. They were built between 1906 and 1909 by the Royal Navy Dockyards and Armstrong-Whitworth shipbuilding company. As soon as they were commissioned in 1909, they were assigned to the 1st Division of the Home Fleet in Scapa Flow. In 1916, all three warships took part in the Battle of Jutland, under Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. Having survived World War I, they were scrapped in 1921.

Technical Description

The Bellerophon class battleship was a virtual repeat of the HMS Dreadnought, with the same main armament and propulsion system. Her main battery consisted of ten 12-inch (305-mm) naval guns, which were mounted in five twin turrets. Her power plant was composed of two sets of Parsons steam turbines, with four shafts. These turbines featured a direct drive mechanism. These steam engines were fed by eighteen water-tube boilers. Although her armor belt was slightly thinner than that on the HMS Dreadnought, it was better disposed.

The overall protection of the Bellerophon class battleship was considerably enhanced by new armored anti-torpedo bulkheads, which covered the machinery spaces and magazines, extending down to the double-bottoms. Her conning towers were also protected by 11-inch steel armor plate. Combustion gases were exhausted through two funnels. The tripod foremast was located ahead of the forward funnel and the tripod mainmast was in front of the rear funnel.

Specifications

Type: Dreadnought-type battleship

Displacement: 18,800 tons; 22,100 tons (full load)

Length: 160.3 m (526 feet)

Beam: 25.2 m (82 feet, 5 inches)

Draft: 8.3 m (27 feet, 3 inches)

Propulsion: four Parsons steam turbines, with 4 shafts and 18 boilers, generating 23,000 sHP.

Maximum Speed: 20.8 knots (39 km/h)

Range: 5,720 nautical miles (10,590 km), sailing at 10 knots.

Armor: belt between 250 and 130-mm thick; bulkheads: 203-mm

Armament: ten 305-mm (12-inch) naval guns; sixteen 102-mm guns.

Complement: 733 sailors and officers

Above, HMS Superb at the end of the war.

HMS Bellerophon in May 1914.

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Suffren class submarine

A Suffren class submarine is one of a series of nuclear attack boats in service with the French Navy since 2020. She is extremely stealthy and she carries inside a wide array of weapons, which include anti-ship and anti-submarine torpedoes as well as anti-ship and land-attack cruise missiles. She was designed for open sea operations to sneak through enemy fleet without being detected, with its nuclear propulsion system enabling it to carry out long-range missions. The Suffren will replace the Rubis class boats, which had been designed and developed during the Cold War.

With a total of six submarines having been planned, the first of the class, the Suffren S635, was laid down in December 2007 and launched on July 12, 2019, being commissioned with the French Navy on November 6, 2020. The Duguay-Trouin S636 was launched in September 2022 and commissioned in July 2023. The Tourville S637 entered service in November 2024. Meanwhile the De Grasse S638 has already been launched and is undergoing sea trials. The remainder two subs have been laid down and are being built by the French firm Naval Group at the Cherbourg-en-Contentin's shipyards.

Technical Characteristics

The Suffren class submarine is the largest attack submarine in Europe (with the exception of the Russian ones), with a hull length of almost 100 m and a hull diameter of 8.8 m. Her pump-jet propulsion system, her internal vibration absorbing materials, and the hull low magnetic signature make the Suffren boat one of the stealthiest in the world. The submarine is powered by one K15 nuclear reactor, which generates 150 MW. Aside from its anti-ship, anti-submarine, and land-attack warfare capabilities, the Suffren class is equipped with an advanced electronic system to carry out intelligence gathering operations while operating in enemy coastal regions.

Specifications

Type: nuclear-powered attack submarine

Displacement: 5,300 tons (submerged); 4,770 tons (on surface).

Length: 99.5 m (326 feet, 5 inches)

Beam: 8.8 m (28 feet, 10 inches)

Draft: 7.3 m (23 feet, 11 inches)

Propulsion: one K15 nuclear reactor, with two turbogenerator groups; two emergency diesel generators; one electrically-driven pump-jet propulsion system.

Maximum Speed: 28 knots

Range: unlimited

Endurance: until the food supply runs out.

Compliment: 60 men

Armament: four 533-mm torpedo tubes, with F21 Artemis heavyweight torpedoes; Exocet SM39 anti-ship missiles; sub-launched Storm Shadow cruise missiles; anti-ship naval mines.

The Suffren S635 cruising in the North Atlantic in 2023.

The Duguay-Trouin during sea trials in the Mediterranean.

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USS Indianapolis (CA-35)

USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was an American warship used by the US Navy during World War II and sunk by a Japanese submarine in 1945. Being a Portland-class heavy cruiser, she was equipped with nine 203-mm (8-inch) and eight 127-mm guns. Like her sister ship of the class, she was a fast and modern vessel that was powered by four Parsons steam geared turbines. She welcomed aboard the US President Franklin D. Roosevelt on three different occasions. However, she would become famous for other reason; when she was torpedoed and sunk, almost a third of her compliment were eaten alive by sharks that roamed the Pacific waters. She had participated in several naval engagements and earned ten battle stars.

The USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was laid down as a cruiser in 1930. However, on July 7, 1931, she would be re-designated as heavy cruiser. Built by the New York Shipbuilding Co at Camden, New Jersey, she was launched on November 7, 1931, and commissioned on November 15, 1932. She was assigned to the Pacific Fleet. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, she was away from the naval base, sailing off Johnson Island, west of Hawaii. In late 1943, she became the flagship of Raymond Spruance, the commander of the Fifth Fleet. Thus, Indianapolis took part in the US invasion of Tarawa, Saipan, Peleliu, and Okinawa, with her guns pounding the beaches to soften the terrain. In June 1944, she also took part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

A month and half before the war ended, USS Indianapolis carried out a secret mission. She transported Little Boy atomic bomb from the United States to Tinian. However, on her way to Leyte, Philippines, she was struck by two torpedoes launched from the Japanese submarine I-58 on July 30, 1945. It took her only fifteen minutes to sink, taking in tons of waters through the torn bow. Most of her crew got killed, drowned or eaten by sharks.

Specifications

Type: Portland-class heavy cruiser

Displacement: 10,258 tons (standard); 12,755 tons (full load)

Length: 185.9 m (610 feet)

Beam: 20.1 m (66 feet)

Draft: 6.4 m (21 feet)

Propulsion: four Parsons geared turbines, with four shafts, and eight White-Forster water-tube boilers, generating 107,000 sHP.

Maximum Speed: 32.7 knots

Range: 10,000 nautical miles, sailing at 15 knots.

Compliment: 1,250 sailors and officers (in 1944)

Armament: nine 203-mm (8-inch) naval guns mounted in three triple turrets (two on bow deck, and one on aft deck) set up at ship center-line; eight 127-mm AA guns.

Above, the USS Indianapolis in May 1945. The circles mark the additions during her last refit.

The heavy cruiser on December 9, 1944, during refit and equipment recalibration.

USS Indianapolis sailing in the Pacific in July 1942.

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