Posted in 1870 Fleets 1870 Italian Fleet

Re d’Italia class Ironclads (1863)

Italian Regia Marina, US Built 1861-1875: Re d’Italia, Re di Portogallo The Re d’Italia class were two ironclad warships built…

Posted in ww1 US Navy ww2 US Navy

O class submarines (1917)

USA (1916-46) O-1 to O-16, small oceanic submersibles The “O” class USN submersibles were of group of 16 boats completed…

Posted in Cold war British Ships

HMS Bristol (1969)

Guided Missile Destroyer D23, sole of her class (1973-2020, preserved). The Type 82 destroyer only had a single ship in…

Posted in ww2 US DDs ww2 US Navy

Allen M. Sumner class destroyers (1943)

US Navy Fleet Destroyers (1942-80s): 58 Ships; DD-692 to DD-790 The Sumner were about the last US destroyers of WW2…

Posted in 1870 Italian Fleet Industrial-era-Navies

Formidabile class ironclads (1861)

Italian Regia Marina, French Built 1860-1904: Formidabile, Terribile The very first Italian ironclads were the Formidabile class. They were at…

Posted in Coldwar Soviet Ships soviet submarines

Zulu class submarines (1952)

Project 611 (NATO “Zulu”) conventional attack submarines 26 submarines 1952-57 The Project 611 (NATO Zulu class) were an early postwar…

Posted in Website News

The Polish Navy in the Cold War

Polish Day ! The story of the cold war Polish Navy is both sad and revealing in general of what…

Posted in ww2 USN Aviation

Curtiss SC Seahawk (1944)

Catapult-launch observation floarplane, Curtiss 97B USN Carrier Fighter (1944-1949, 577 built) The USN last onboard floatplane The Curtiss SC Seahawk…

Posted in Coldwar Soviet Ships

Petya class Frigates (1960)

Project 159 class, Strozhevoi Korabl (light escort) Frigates 8 General Purpose Frigates 1948-1970: 54 completed. One aspect of the Soviet…

Posted in Cold war British Ships

HMS Hermes (1953)

Fleet Aircraft Carrier 1944-2017: HMS Elephant (1944), HMS Hermes (1959-85), INS Viraat (1986-2021) The story of HMS Hermes is one…

Naval Encyclopedia

Naval Encyclopedia provides a one-stop place for everything related to naval warfare through ships classes, going back to antiquity to the present day, with particular focus on WW1, WW2 and the cold war, with weekly articles and new fleets every month. This is a long endeavour, with future entries in opacity both in the top and side menus. Naval encyclopedia also goes through some civilian aspects (clippers, liners, oil platforms, naval tech in general) and battles/tactics as well.

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⚒ Tech

Naval-related technology,
associated tactics & statistics


naval battles from the XIX to WW1, WW2 and cold war sea fights

⚔ Battles

Full history of naval battles,
strategies, tactics, fleets and ships


merchandisiding, plans, photos, illustrations

☘ Medias

Photos, blueprints, illustrations,
and Merch to support this site !


About Naval Encyclopedia

Naval Encyclopedia is the first online warship museum. She was laid down in St Nazaire Yard back in September 1995, launched in December 1996 and completed in March 1997, with 1000+ crew for now, and counting. Dedicated to the history of all ships of the industrial era and 20th century, so 1820 to 1990, but also earlier times. The main difference for this early period is to study ships types through some famous examples. After her last refit in 2023, the present ship has been repainted anew, modernized and made more appealing, ready for even more extensive service, hopefully staying in the current state for the next five years of service. Further improvements will be made if practicable. Numerous additions over the years also led to a complete machinery overhaul, new steam turbines and propellers.

Other ships from the same Yard