U-Boats & Battleships

Italian submarine Cobalto before sinking, showing massive gun-fire damage to its conning tower inflicted by the British destroyer HMS Ithuriel. August 12th, 1942. Operation Pedestal was an attempt by the British Royal Navy to carry supplies, particularly fuel, to Malta. It took place between 3-15 August 1942. The convoys were …

The forward magazine of the Mahan-class destroyer USS Shaw exploding during the Pearl Harbor bombing on December 7th, 1941. The ship was repaired a few months after the attack, and served in the Pacific for the rest of the war. It was decommissioned in October 1945, and was sold for …

Kaiten manned torpedoes, stacked on top of a departing Japanese submarine sometime during World War Two (likely 1944-1945). The Kaiten were fast manned torpedoes used by the Imperial Japanese Navy in the later stages of WWII, and intended to be piloted straight into their target in suicide / kamikaze missions. …

Italian battleships Vittorio Veneto (left, foreground) and Littorio (right, background) firing their main batteries in the Mediterranean during World War Two, sometime between 1940 and 1943. Vittorio Venetto and Littorio were sister battleships, and both saw extensive service during the war – particularly Vittorio Venetto. Both ships were surrendered to …

View from the HMAS Sydney light cruiser with ocean liners RMS Queen Mary (right) and RMS Queen Elizabeth (left) in the background. Wilson’s Promontory, Victoria, Australia, September 4th 1941. HMAS Sydney was sunk in a half hour single ship battle with the German Auxiliary cruiser Kormoran on November 19th 1941. …