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Home of Naval History and News

Welcome to the home page of the Navy General Board website! This is your portal to all things navy, whether it be current events or historical topics. You can find a wide range of news stories or historical articles on the website. You can also connect with fellow readers on the website forum.

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History Articles

Navy General Board was created to help share all aspects of naval history from throughout the ages. Here you will find our collection of history articles. It has come a long way and has something for everyone. Take your time and browse them all!

Room 40 : Cryptanalysis during World War I

The sailor in Room 53 has never, it's true, been to sea but though not in a boat he has served afloat — in a bath in the Admiralty' Dillwyn ‘Dilly’ Knox, Cryptographer Room 40 . BEGINNINGS In London there is a building that has stood on its site since 1726. A two...

Designing Britain’s oddest looking battleships

In the mid-1880s the British began building two new battleships as part of the so-called ‘Northbrook’ programme, a massive burst of naval expenditure to which government reluctantly agreed in early December 1884. What then emerged from the drawing boards of the...

New photos of HMS Hood in 1924

It is not often that previously unknown photos of HMS Hood are discovered. A set were found recently in a New Zealand archive, and are reproduced here for the first time on a naval website. The quality is typical of the day: the slightly blurred imagery typical of the...

The Washington Treaty and the Royal Navy’s scrapping programmes

The naval treaty of 6 February 1922 negotiated in Washington – technically the ‘Five Power Treaty’, but afterwards simply called the ‘Washington Treaty’ - included lists of the ships that signatories were required to dispose of. The longest was British. A significant...

The other HMS Hood – Britain’s last turret ship

Mention HMS Hood and just one ship usually springs to mind. However, there was another HMS Hood, a battleship laid down for the Royal Navy in August 1889, which survived long enough to be given one last - and decisively final - role a few months after the outbreak of...

The Oberon class quiet and capable

The distinguished O boats over 40 years of service

Triple Turrets vs. Three-Gun Turrets : Quick Read

Perhaps one of the most common simplifications when discussing warships occurs when discussing their turret styles. For instance, a battleship might be described as having twin turrets, triple turrets, or even quadruple turrets. This of course refers to the number of...

The origins of the American battlecruiser – part 2: the road to the Lexington

In 1916 the United States authorised the construction of six battlecruisers of significant size, fire-power and speed. They were the first such ships ordered for US Navy service and remain the only battlecruisers the US Navy ever ordered.[1] None were completed as...

Four Great Features of the Richelieu Class Battleships

Battleships are amazing pieces of engineering. Technological masterpieces that were unique to the Navy that developed them. As Navies honed their designs and introduced newer classes, they incorporated several design features that often set them apart from their...

Top 10 Biggest Battleships of All Time

Battleships were the largest warships that utilized gun based weaponry as their main armament. Hundreds of feet in length and displacing tens of thousands of tons, their size allowed them to carry the largest guns and the thickest armor. While battleships are massive...

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary

The Fleet that keeps the navy moving

The Sinking of HMS Victoria

In many ways the 1890s were the high noontide of Britain’s globe-spanning Empire. It was also when they suffered their worst naval disaster of the late nineteenth century with the sinking of HMS Victoria – and it occurred not as a dramatic outcome of some storm or...

Did Admiral Sir John Fisher try to launch a battlecruiser revolution?

by Matthew Wright There is no question that Admiral Sir John Fisher, Britain's First Sea Lord from 1904 to 1910 and the effective head of the Admiralty, was instrumental in driving a sea-change in the nature of heavy warships. What has puzzled historians, though, is...

Skegs? What do they do? – Warship Tech

Skegs are an unusual feature of warship construction. Some warships had them, others did not. Some warships buried only a few of their shafts inside of skegs, others buried all of them. This seemingly random use of skegs has made them the subject of considerable...

THE TEGETTHOFF CLASS: Austria-Hungary’s Dreadnoughts

Foreword - Andy South has revised his book on the Tegetthoff class dreadnought. He was kind enough to share some information about the Tegetthoff class, giving you a small taste of what's in store. Enjoy his examination of one of the First World War's least known...

News and Current Events

A relatively new addition to the Navy General Board website. While we remain focused on sharing history, we also want to examine naval current events that are occuring across the world. This section is still new, but more articles are coming. 

The Navy’s FFG(X) Program : Foreign and Domestic Options

The Navy has all but admitted that the Littoral Combat Ships are a flop. Therefore, they have started looking at potential ships to fulfill requirements for a new frigate design known as the FFG(X) Program. Make makes things interesting is that this time the US Navy...

Why China’s Island Bases are Not a Big Deal

Over the past few years, the media has made a big deal of the artificial island bases that China has built in the South China Sea. Several of these islands are well fortified, featuring harbors, airstrips, and formidable land-based weaponry. Some in the media have...

Canada’s Next Generation Submarine

My own opinion and hypothesis on what class of submarine could become Canada’s next generation submarine

China’s Newest Warship : The Type 55 Destroyer

At a time when the United States Navy is struggling to determine the future of its Navy, China has been quietly building up its naval forces. The People’s Liberation Army Navy has risen to be the second largest navy in the world by tonnage. It’s not just quantity that...

Want to go a little bit further than simply reading an aritcle? Interesting in writing your own and sharing it with Navy General Board? Check out our about us page for information on becoming a guest writer for the Navy General Board website! We are looking for both historical pieces and current events happening with navies across the World. 

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