The Emden sailing up the Yangtse en route to Nanking, 1931
"Miracle ship" Yukikaze (1939) off Sasebo, Japan (1941)
The Great Fire of Smyrna in 1922, (at modern day Izmir) and HMS Iron Duke (1912) as seen from the HMS King George V
1st Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet in Kiel, before WW1
Propaganda poster depicting the U-9 sinking the cruisers Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy
On the 20th of February 1945, the Chihaya group of Kaiten-carrying submarines departed for Iwo Jima. It consisted of the submarines I-44 (pictured), I-368 and I-370. The latter two were respectively sunk by Mk 24 mines and the USS Finnegan. I-44 was hunted for two days and had to remain underwater, carbon dioxide saturation reached 6% before it finally escaped.
(8 November 1944, Otsujima Naval Base) I-47 carried the very first four Kaiten kamikazes to be sent into combat. Only the first one, piloted by the designer Lt. Sekio Nishina, hit a target (the USS Missisinewa). He carried with him in an urn the ashes of his friend and fellow designer Lt. Hiroshi Kuroki on this final mission.
23 May 1945, I-361 in the Todoroki Group
The HMS Li Wo was a civilian riverboat built for service on the Yangtse river. In 1940 it was requisitioned by the Royal Navy. On the 13th of February 1942 it hurriedly left a Singapore under heavy fire from the Japanese. It was attacked a few times but suffered only superficial damage. However its companion Fuh Wo's hull was wrecked by a Japanese bomb. The latter was beached on Bangka island while Li Wo continued heading to Batavia (modern Jakarta). Unfortunately their hopes were dashed when ships were spotted on the horizon. A Japanese transport column and some warships to the invasion of Sumatra. Li Wo attacked a transport using its sole 4-inch gun and only 13 shells, and machine-gunned another. When the 13 shells did not suffice, Temporary Lt. Thomas Wilkinson ordered the transport to be rammed. Finally the Japanese cruiser Yura and the destroyers Fubuki and Asagiri opened fire, and Li Wo was sunk with a loss of 77 crew, the remaining 7 captured by the Japanese.
The Nagara-class light cruiser Yura, Shanghai, 18 August 1932
8 May 1913, the first battleship with 14-inch guns, the Japanese battleship Kongō, on full power trials
Anti-aircraft gunners on the USS New Jersey (BB-62) watch as a kamikaze prepares to strike the USS Intrepid
7 September 1943, the USS New Jersey (BB-62) and the French battleship Richelieu (left) at Hampton Roads
The USS New Jersey (BB-62) fires at North Korean targets near the 38th parallel
Russian cruiser Zhemchug, after 1909
French destroyer Le Fantasque on trials after refitting and requalification as a light cruiser. Photographed by a US Navy aircraft in Casco Bay, 13 June 1943.
Japanese destroyer Chidori, notice the Japanese translation on the hull.
The Japanese heavy cruiser Suzuya in Kure Naval harbour. Photographed from the battleship Fusō, 5 January 1939.
The badly damaged tanker SS Ohio being supported by Royal Navy destroyers, enters Grand Harbour, Malta after numerous attacks by German and Italian aircraft during Operation Pedestal. It wasn't abandoned because it was carrying 10000 tons of fuel, which would enable the aircraft and submarines at Malta to attack the Axis invaders. The captain was awarded the George Cross, unfortunately the Ohio sank in the harbour.
Italian battleships Vittorio Veneto and Littorio fire on enemy cruisers during the daytime phase of the Battle of Cape Matapan, near the island of Gavdos.
Vittorio Veneto (right) and Italia (left, formerly Littorio) following the sinking of the battleship Roma.
The River-class frigate HMS Nadder (K392). It was transferred to the Royal Indian Navy in 1945, renamed HMIS Shamsher, and witnessed the 1946 Royal Indian Navy Mutiny. Then it was a test ship with Indian officers, and the commanding officer delivered a "charismatic speech" where he used his Indian identity to maintain peace on the ship. It was the only RIN ship in Bombay which did not join the mutiny.
Vickers Crossley armored cars and a Type 93 Kokusan (second from left) in the Battle of Shanghai
Japanese soldiers in Shanghai, 1937
A German A7V tank at Roye, France, 21 March 1918
126 German aircraft, or "Adolfs" were shot down by RAF Squadron 303 in the Battle of Britain
Zygmunt Bieńkowski and Jan Zumbach with the "trophy" of RAF Squadron 303
Japanese destroyers (L-R) Sagiri, Amagiri and Asagiri, of the Type II Fubuki-class destroyers during exercises. Photographed from the destroyer Yugiri, October 16, 1941.
The first M26 Pershing to be destroyed in combat is credited to this Tiger I. The latter then backed into a heap of rubble and became stuck, consequently the crew abandoned it.
The largest ground-based armored vehicle, the Tsar or Lebedenko tank. The project was cancelled in 1915 after tests deemed it underpowered and vulnerable to artillery.
A Soviet Ilyushin Il-38 passes low over the USS Midway, 18 May 1979
A formation of Ilyushin Il-2 strike aircraft near Leningrad, 1943
USSR stamp depicting a Petlyakov Pe-8, the only four-engine bomber developed by the Soviets during WW2. The title reads "Post USSR," the text on the bottom left reads "1 Rub," and the text below the bomber reads "Petlyakov-8" on the top line and "Heavy bomber" on the bottom.
Highest scoring Finnish ace Ilmari Juutilainen and his Brewster BW-364 during the Continuation War at Tiiksjärvi Airfield, winter of 1942-43. Fun Fact: Ilmari's brother was Army Captain Aarne Juutilainen, aka the "Terror of Morocco" for his service in the French Foreign Legion against Berber rebels in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Aarne also became a legend for the Finnish victory at the Battle of Kollaa, and what's maybe even more interesting is that Simo Häyhä would see his first combat on the Kollaa front.
The British cruiser HMS Achilles as seen from the HMS Ajax during the Battle of the River Plate
Russian battleship Sevastopol during WW1
A6M3 Model 22, being flown by Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, Japanese ace and Tainan Kōkūtai's "clean-up trio" member along with Saburō Sakai and Toshio Ōta, over the Solomon Islands, 1943.
A Lancaster B.I of RAF Squadron 101. First it releases chaff to confuse German rader, then drops 30 lb incendiaries and finally a 4000 lb "cookie" bomb over Duisburg.
A Lancaster of RAF Squadron 617 drops a "Grand Slam" bomb over the Arnsberg Viaduct during the first Grand Slam bomb raid, 14 March 1945. The bomb weighed 22000 lb, carried some 9135 lb of Torpex explosive, and was called the "Big Brother" of the Tallboy.
Cargo being offloaded from landing ships during the Battle of Normandy. Note the barrage balloons raised by the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion.
Royal Australian Air Force personnel pose with the Me 110 of highest scoring German night fighter pilot, Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer, at Schleswig. 19 June 1945.
IJNAS Mitsubishi G3M bombers doing their job in the Bombing of Chongqing
