Two Supercarriers Meet at Sea — One’s Missing Airplanes
The Royal Navy’s new supercarrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and her battle group met the U.S. Navy’s carrier USS George H.W. Bush in the North Atlantic for an exercise beginning on Aug. 1, 2017. The 10-day exercise Saxon Warrior 2017 “allows both U.S. and U.K. naval forces a chance to... Read more
The Battlecarrier Was Part Battleship, Part Aircraft Carrier
This story originally appeared on Dec. 6, 2013. In the early 1980s, four Iowa-class fast battleships originally built during World War II—Iowa, Missouri, New Jersey and Wisconsin—were taken out of mothballs and returned to active duty. Nearly 900 feet long and displacing close to 60,000 tons, the battlewagons could... Read more
A Grim Future For Russia’s Nuclear Sub Fleet
In March 2017, Russia’s new Yasen-class nuclear attack submarine Kazan launched at the northern port city of Severodvinsk. Perhaps the quietest Russian submarine ever, the event was further evidence the Kremlin can still build capable and lethal subs capable of a variety of missions, including cruise-missile attack. But it... Read more
Forget ‘God-Damned Steam,’ the U.S. Navy’s Digital Catapult Actually Works
On July 28, 2017, a U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter became the first fixed-wing airplane to land on and launch from the Navy’s new aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford. The Super Hornet belonged to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23, based at Patuxent River in Maryland. Lt.... Read more
The Soviet Cruiser ‘Kaganovich’ Navigated Political Purges
In 1938, the Soviet Navy laid down the Kaganovich, the fifth of six Kirov-class cruisers. Survivors of World War II, the Kirovs were responsible for mine-laying operations in the Baltic Sea and escorting troop ships reinforcing the besieged Black Sea port city of Sevastopol. The cruisers represented the Soviet... Read more
China Can Blast Almost Every U.S. Warship Docked in Japan With Ballistic Missiles
While U.S. defense strategists have been focused on China’s so-called “carrier-killer” ballistic missile, as well as Beijing’s aircraft carriers, a new report suggests China’s greatest threat to the United States may be something less eye-catching. “The greatest military threat to U.S. vital interests in Asia may be one that... Read more
In the Future, U.S. Navy Assault Ships Will Face More Threats in More Places
The USS Portland, or LPD 27, recently completed a series of at-sea tests including full power runs, self-defense detect-to-engage exercises, evaluations of combat and communications systems, rapid ballast/de-ballast operations, steering checks and anchor handling demonstrations. Portland is part of a broader Navy and Marine Corps strategy to prepare amphibious... Read more
This Little Warship Blew Up, Burned and Saved America
Royal Savage was a tiny warship, but she went out with a big bang. Her quick destruction bought the early Continental Army some much needed time to build up reinforcements in 1776. On Oct. 11 of that year, she fought in the Battle of Valcour Island, a naval clash on... Read more
Joint Russian-Chinese Naval War Games Grow More Sophisticated
Russia and China are in the midst of the operational phase of their first ever European joint naval exercises in the Baltic Sea. The exercise is an indication of the growing strategic partnership between the Kremlin and Beijing. For China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy, the Maritime Cooperation-2017 exercise is an... Read more
In ’Nam, the U.S. Army Turned Truck Drivers Into Maritime Cops
The 458th Transportation Company wasn’t supposed to be the U.S. Army’s river police force. The soldiers were truck drivers America, and didn’t know much about patrolling hostile waterways. But the Army thought better  —  and in a maddening and unusual story from the Vietnam War, transformed the truckers into... Read more