The Influence of History

The numerous rigs that defined ship type in the age of sail Today there is some confusion about how modern warships should be described. Terms such as "destroyer," "frigate," and "corvette" are commonly thrown around, but it is impossible to find any agreed upon definition as to what they actually mean. It becomes even more complicated when attempting to compare warships from multiple nations, such as the Franco-Italian  Horizon -class - which are known as "frigates" ( frégate ) by the French and "destroyers" ( cacciatorpediniere ) by the Italians, and are the product of the "Common Next Generation Frigate" program but have NATO "D" for destroyer hull numbers. However, before attempting to lay out a rational system for comparing modern warships, let us first briefly examine the history behind warship classifications. Beginning in ancient days with the development of dedicated warships, classification was large...

The World War II ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy are often criticized for their inadequate air defense armament. Now, this critique is somewhat arguable for a variety of reasons, but this post is instead going to look at the more neglected subject of how Japanese air defense guns reached the point they were at when the war began. Popular military history loses a lot of context by focusing on wars rather than peacetime developments, and nowhere is that more true than in the subject of aircraft World War II. It must always be remembered that aircraft evolved rapidly over the interwar period and much of what they accomplished during World War II would have been impossible just a few years earlier. Contrary to popular belief, the major navies of the world were quite forward-looking when it came to aircraft, and this includes the matter of air defense. The Royal Navy introduced its first dedicated antiaircraft gun (the 12 pounder QF HA Mk 1) in 1913, and the Imperial German Navy and U...