British Royal Navy
Lieutenant-Admiral Michiel de Ruyter was a man of action, but he could be formidable even in repose On June 7, 1667, de Ruyter was sitting in the great cabin of the Dutch flagship Harderwijk listening stolidly while Cornelius de Witt finally revealed his plans for a raid on England to a group of assembled naval officers. Read more
British Royal Navy
Today restored to museum quality and lovingly cared for by a U.S. Navy crew, the USS Constitution, “Old Ironsides,” is the living symbol of America’s first generation of warships, built in response to external threats that a young United States would have preferred to ignore. Read more
British Royal Navy
By the autumn of 1797, revolutionary France had been at war with the combined forces of the First Coalition for four long years. Read more
British Royal Navy
When most Americans think of the triumphant ending of the Revolutionary War, they almost exclusively credit George Washington for the miraculous outcome, forgetting that the war was part of a much larger worldwide contest of which the revolution in the colonies was only a part. Read more
British Royal Navy
In the summer of 1814, the residents of the District of Columbia and surrounding counties in Maryland and Virginia had considerable cause for concern. Read more
British Royal Navy
Admiral General George Monck, first Duke of Albemarle, walked into the great cabin of his flagship Royal Charles with a calm and determined air, tersely greeting his assembled captains before they all sat down at a large table. Read more
British Royal Navy
In the harbor of Tripoli, the 38-gun frigate USS Philadelphia, pride of the Mediterranean Squadron, lay at anchor. Read more
British Royal Navy
On June 6, 1944, as the massive Allied naval armada made its way from ports in England across the English Channel to launch the projected D-day invasion at Normandy, a German fleet sortie swept down from its home ports on the North Sea and from occupied Norway. Read more
British Royal Navy
On the morning of February 16, 1940, two Royal Air Force Lockheed Hudson aircraft lifted off from Thornaby Airfield in northern England. Read more
British Royal Navy
In the early months of World War II, Altmark, Graf Spee, and HMS Cossack all had important roles in a sea drama of epic proportions. Read more
British Royal Navy
It was spring 1944, and the morning sun was glinting off the face of the water as the Landing Ship, Tank (LST) transports chugged their way through the choppy surf and headed in close toward shore, their destination a gravel-strewn stretch of beach on the English Channel code named “U” for Utah. Read more
British Royal Navy
Following the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 (and roughly four years prior to the construction of the HMS Cornwall), cruisers became a focus of the interwar naval arms race, no less keenly felt by the British, whose survival depended on the sea-lane. Read more
British Royal Navy
On June 26, 1858, crowds packed the narrow streets of Tianjin to witness an awesome spectacle: A British diplomat was about to sign a treaty between his country and China. Read more
British Royal Navy
Union General Benjamin Butler was baffled. Every night a picket guard went to an outpost 1½ miles from Fort Monroe, Virginia. Read more
British Royal Navy
By the summer of 1940, Hitler’s Nazi war machine had advanced from victory to victory, crushing Poland, overrunning France and the Low Countries, and ejecting Allied forces from the continent of Europe at Dunkirk. Read more
British Royal Navy
By the time Imperial Russia and Great Britain concluded the Anglo-Russian Convention on August 31, 1907, effectively establishing the alliance known as the Triple Entente, the Russian Empire was in the midst of decades of upheaval. Read more
British Royal Navy
Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson was not a happy man, and his sour mood was made worse by the weather. Read more
British Royal Navy
On a dark night in September 1941, moving at periscope depth, an Italian submarine edged into Gibraltar Bay near the British harbor. Read more
British Royal Navy
Germany operated surface auxiliary cruisers, sometimes termed commerce raiders, in both world wars. The defeat of France in June 1940 opened Atlantic Ocean ports to the Germans for the first time, greatly facilitating access to the high seas by such raiders. Read more
British Royal Navy
She was a beautiful ship, long and sleek and very fast. She was christened Scharnhorst,named for Prussian General Gerhard Scharnhorst,one of the revered founders of the Prussian Army. Read more
