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Navy General Board

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!

HMS Dreadnought – revolution or evolution?

In early 1907, the battleship HMS Dreadnought sailed on her shake-down cruise to the Caribbean under Captain Reginald Bacon. She was a remarkable vessel in many ways, one whose name became synonymous with all battleships during the First World War period, and whose...

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...

The loss of Prince of Wales and Repulse – Part 3: the 70-year mystery

The loss of Prince of Wales and Repulse off the Malayan coast on 10 December 1941 – described in the previous two articles - set alarm bells going in Britain. It marked the first time heavy ships had been lost to air attack, while fully operational and manoeuvering at...

Best Battleship : Anti-Aircraft Guns

I'm working on a comprehensive ranking system to establish a hierarchy in the effectiveness of each class of battleship, basically finding what was the best battleship. This post will kick off the series by looking at the anti-aircraft guns of each battleship to...

CSS Manassas : A Hellish Machine

From the very onset of the Civil War, the Confederacy knew they were overmatched by the industrial might of the Union. The Union Navy operated with near impunity along the shores of Confederate territory. Seeking a way to challenge this mighty foe, the Confederacy...

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...

Was ‘cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey’ a naval phrase?

The unprecedented cold that swept parts of the United States in early 2019 could be called 'brass monkey weather', though with the temperatures reported, that might be an understatement. According to legend, the term - in full, 'cold enough to freeze the balls off a...

Oddities at Sea : A Foreword to the Suicide Club

We are honoured to present a piece by our contributor Andy South! Andy touches on a few of the naval oddities at sea, specifically the infamous K class submarines of the Royal Navy. Andy has been hard at work putting together a book on these submarines. This article...

How battleship secondary armament evolved

The mastless steel battleship essentially emerged from the engineering chaos of mid-nineteenth century technological change and evolved – fairly steadily, but with occasional jumps – through to the end of the classic battleship era after the Second World War. One...

History by influence: Winston Churchill, HMS Indomitable and Force Z

"For my part, I consider that it will be found much better by all parties to leave the past to history, especially as I propose to write that history myself." - Winston Churchill in speech to the House of Commons, 23 January 1948.[1] In October 1941 Britain’s new...

HMAS SYDNEY A Chronological History

If you were wondering where Andy South has been recently, he has been working on his latest book detailing the career of HMAS Sydney! His first volume of H.M.A.S SYDNEY: A chronological history is completed. Andy wanted to share some of his book so he as kind enough...

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...

Montana Class Battleships : Armor Examination

This will be the first in a new series where we examine the armor schemes of various battleships throughout history. We will start off this series with the never-built American super dreadnoughts, the Montana class battleships. During the Montana class armor post we...

HMS Dreadnought and Admiral Sir John Fisher’s naval revolution – part 1

by Matthew Wright One of the received truths of naval history is the idea that HMS Dreadnought of 1905-06 was a game-changer, the ship that divided naval construction between ‘before’ and ‘after’.[1] And in many respects, that is true. She was the first all-big-gun...

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. 

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...

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...

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...

Canada’s Next Generation Submarine

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

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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