Waldemar Goralski Libri

Covers the USS Stevens (DD-479), one of the 175 Fletcher-class destroyers, and considered one of the finest world War II warships of that type. číst celé

The Japanese cruiser Chikuma According to the provisions of the Treaty of London light cruisers could be armed with cannons with a maximum caliber of 155mm in quantities up to 15 pieces. Japanese engineers, admirals and Fukuda Fujimoto developed a draft of the ship classified as "medium cruiser type". His task was to guard the main force fleet from attacks by enemy light forces and the fight against cruisers. The ship was ordered under the Second Fleet Expansion Program of 1934roku. Funds for the construction of the cruiser entered in the budget for 1935/1936. The ship, which was named Chikuma River (in Nagano Prefecture on the island of Honshu) was built in the shipyard of Mitsubishi Nagasaki.

The design work on the new carrier commenced as early as 1937 and the initial design was unveiled on 27 November and received the number "02". On 21 July 1938 corrections were done to the design and it was approved. The ship of displacement of 27.800 tons was ordered. It was included into Navy development program, approved on 8 December 1938. After the acceptance of the main specifications of the carrier work on the detailed design could be commenced (the work began in December 1939). Due to several delays the ship was laid down as late as 10 July 1941 at Kawasaki shipyard in Kobe. Until 5 March 1943, when the ship was named, she was known as the hull number 130. The official christening took place before launching on 7 April 1943. The ship was named Taiho (Great Phoenix). On 3 February 1944 the ship was towed to the Navy Shipyard in Kure for further equipping. On 7 March 1944 the ship was commissioned and entered service.

USS Arizona was a Pennsylvania-class battleship built for and by the United States Navy in the mid-1910s. Named in honor of the 48th state's recent admission into the union, the ship was the second and last of the Pennsylvania class of "super-dreadnought" battleships. Although commissioned in... číst celé

When, in the early 1930s, the Americans began modernizing their navy, they considered the replacement of old destroyers from the Great War as one of the most urgent tasks. However, the new projects, disappointed and dissatisfied the sailors. Some of these vessels were heavily overloaded (e.g. Sims class and early Benson ships), as a result some of the weaponry had to be removed. By proceeding with the design of subsequent series of destroyers, efforts were made to respect the Treaty restrictions (London, 1936). The originally formulated requirements envisaged a destroyer with a displacement of 1,600 tons and armament consisting of not less than 4.5-inch (127 mm) guns and 10 x 533mm torpedo tubes and a speed of 36 knots. There were six variants of vessels slightly different from earlier Benson and Sims classes. It soon became apparent that additional requirements could not be met within the limits of this displacement. This mainly concerned making space for a 28-mm quadruple automatic cannon and more powerful ASuW weapons.

The battleship “Nagato” was the first dreadnought equipped with a main artillery with a caliber exceeding 400 mm. It was armed with eight 406 mm (16 in) guns. The keel of “Nagato” was laid in 1917 in the naval shipyard in Kure. The ship was launched in 1919 and incorporated into service on November 15, 1920. The sister unit was “Mutsu”. Before the war, “Nagato” underwent many modifications and repairs increasing combat value of the ship. With the outbreak of World War II, “Nagato” became the flagship of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. The attack on Pearl Harbor was ordered from this battleship’s deck.

Clearly illustrated and effectively described; an excellent guide to the Japanese Battleship Kongo from WWII.

An enlarged Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser which served with the Kriegsmarine of Germany during World War II, Prinz Eugen was launched on 22 August 1938 and commissioned on 1 August 1940. She survived to the end of the war, only to sink following Operation Crossroads, a nuclear weapon test at Bikini Atoll in 1946.

This book follows on from the Super Drawings in 3D Battlecruiser, Fast Battleship Haruna The book contains 3D drawingsof the battleship Haruna as she appeared in 1944.

This is an in-depth look the heavy cruiser Haruna. Amply illustrated with full color profiles. English text; Super Drawings in 3D.