Draw 1: Aircraft Carriers from Seaplane carriers
During WW2 it was essential to supply air cover for convoys and for amphibious landings and smaller ‘escort carriers’ were built in huge numbers to cover this deficiency. The US Commencement Bay class was one of the most numerous and were active as a stop gap until 1945. The Royal Navy had escort carriers such as the Archer (No 1, model number 785) and Dasher (No 15, model number 784).
By the end of WW2 carriers had to change with the introduction of Jet powered planes. carriers became even larger and the flight decks had to change also. The Royal Navy modified the carrier Victorious (No 12, model number 1711, unreconstructed No 2, model number 788), giving it an angled deck so that the deck protruded over the port side allowing aircraft to make a loop around without the danger of running into parked aircraft.
In the 1970s and 80s the Royal Navy introduced the Invincible (No 10, model number 793) and Ark Royal, often referred to as ‘through deck cruisers’ to satisfy government strategy, designed to operate the VSTOL Harrier. At the same time they introduced the ‘ski jump’, a deck which angles up to aid take-off and reduce the amount of fuel used in vertical take-off. These were smaller than the Victorious and eventually, with the withdrawal of the Harrier, they were phased out.
The United States, in the meantime, had developed ever larger carriers, adding the angled deck and more catapults, culminating in the massive nuclear powered carriers of the Nimitz class and the most modern Gerald R Ford. The Royal Navy’s two new carriers Queen Elizabeth (No 9, model number 855) and Prince of Wales are the largest warships ever built in the UK. They will operate VSTOL aircraft from a flight deck with a ski jump and catapults, when the aircraft, a development of the Harrier, are delivered in the 2020s.
During WW2 it was essential to supply air cover for convoys and for amphibious landings and smaller ‘escort carriers’ were built in huge numbers to cover this deficiency. The US Commencement Bay class was one of the most numerous and were active as a stop gap until 1945. The Royal Navy had escort carriers such as the Archer (No 1, model number 785) and Dasher (No 15, model number 784).
By the end of WW2 carriers had to change with the introduction of Jet powered planes. carriers became even larger and the flight decks had to change also. The Royal Navy modified the carrier Victorious (No 12, model number 1711, unreconstructed No 2, model number 788), giving it an angled deck so that the deck protruded over the port side allowing aircraft to make a loop around without the danger of running into parked aircraft.
In the 1970s and 80s the Royal Navy introduced the Invincible (No 10, model number 793) and Ark Royal, often referred to as ‘through deck cruisers’ to satisfy government strategy, designed to operate the VSTOL Harrier. At the same time they introduced the ‘ski jump’, a deck which angles up to aid take-off and reduce the amount of fuel used in vertical take-off. These were smaller than the Victorious and eventually, with the withdrawal of the Harrier, they were phased out.
The United States, in the meantime, had developed ever larger carriers, adding the angled deck and more catapults, culminating in the massive nuclear powered carriers of the Nimitz class and the most modern Gerald R Ford. The Royal Navy’s two new carriers Queen Elizabeth (No 9, model number 855) and Prince of Wales are the largest warships ever built in the UK. They will operate VSTOL aircraft from a flight deck with a ski jump and catapults, when the aircraft, a development of the Harrier, are delivered in the 2020s.
Draw 2: Battleships from Line-of-Battle ships (HMS Victory)
The name of this class of ship – the Battleship – comes from the term ‘Line of Battle Ship’ denoting ships of 74 guns or more which could fight in the ‘Line of Battle’ indicating how the ships were supposed to fight. The guns on such ships were on 2 or 3 decks, the lowest deck carrying the heaviest (32 pounders), the middle deck 24 pounders and the top deck 18 pounders. The strength in the ship was its broadside though as Nelson’s flagship Victory (No 12, model number 815) demonstrated cutting the enemy’s line and fighting at close quarters tended to bring about a more definite result.
The design of battleships did not change a great deal from the mid-1600s right through to the mid-1800s, where sailing warships were in use during the Crimean War. In the mid 19th century the introduction of steam power (using paddles or a screw propeller) threatened to change the nature of sea warfare altogether. In response to the French armoured ship ‘Gloire’ the Royal Navy introduced the biggest, fastest and heaviest gunned ship of all, the Warrior (No 9, model number 814). In Nelson’s day ships were constructed entirely of wood and the danger during battle was from splinters as solid iron shot crashed through the sides of the ship. Iron armour was effective to some degree, however the iron was also liable to disintegrate, creating iron splinters. Warrior had an outer skin of wrought iron 4.5 inches thick with 18 inches of teak behind it as protection. It retained its masts for general use and had engines as auxiliary power. Engines were rather unreliable at the time and expensive on coal which had to be carried.
Throughout the rest of the 19th century there were many experiments made on gunnery. Even the Warrior retained its broadside though with much heavier guns which could be rotated. The next stage was to develop ships with guns in barbettes or turrets, placed along the centre line giving greater flexibility. There were many different developments as seen in the Captain (No 11, model number 1853), Cyclops (No 8, model number 1854), Devastation (No 7, model number 1855) and the 1875 Dreadnought (No 10, model number 1856) with various arrangements of armament until a more or less standard pattern was arrived at. An example is the Canopus (No 6, model number 914) which carried 4 12 inch breach loading guns in 2 turrets on the centre line, one forward and one aft. Additionally, there was usually a secondary armament of 6 inch or 9 inch guns for protection from smaller faster vessels at close quarters.
The biggest jump was in 1906 when the Dreadnought (No 5, model number 915) was completed with an armament of 10 12 inch guns in 5 turrets and a 6 inch secondary armament. Three of the turrets were on the centreline being able to fire on either side with one further turret on either side giving a broadside of 8 12 inch guns. Later, the guns were mounted with one turret superimposed above the other using only 4 turrets (two fore and two aft) once issues of stability had been addressed. This arrangement became standard in later ships such as the Agincourt (No 3, model number 925) and the Resolution (No 2, model number 795) class and the Queen Elizabeth class consisting of the Queen Elizabeth (No 20, model number 800), Warspite (No 1, model number 799), Barham (No 17, model number 797), Valiant (No 18, model number 798) and Malaya (No 19, model number 796) which were to survive through to the end of World War 2 though each after several refits.
To work with the fleet, battle cruisers had been built and the Invincible (model number 919) of 1908 which were supposed to be faster, heavily armed but not so heavily armoured. They proved to be too frail to work with the battlefleet and most of the big ship losses in battle were of such ships. The final development of this class of warship were the Repulse, Renoun and Hood (No 16, model number 812) and both the Repulse and the Hood were sunk, the Hood by the German Battleship Bismarck in 1941 and the Repulse by Japanese aircraft also in 1941.
After the First World War most of these larger ships were scrapped after the Washington agreement and Britain retained only the Queen Elizabeth class, heavily refitted, the Resolution class but without modification and one or two other individual ships for training purposes. Many battlecruiser hulls were converted into aircraft carriers, examples of which are the Glorious, Courageous and Furious (see Aircraft Carrier Development).
Monitors were small ships with a shallow draught and usually a pair of very heavy guns, 12 inch or 15 inch for bombardment. Erebus (No 13, model number 1357), with her 2 15 inch guns, was such a ship and was used throughout World War 2, her sister ship Terror being sunk in 1941. She was scrapped in 1946 and this class of ship disappeared with the battleship. Bombardment, particularly in support of amphibious landings was taken over by battleships, cruisers, destroyers and, of course aircraft.
In the 1920s with tonnage restricted to 35,000 tons Britain built two capital ships, the Nelson and the Rodney (No 15, model number 811). These ships had their guns mounted in 3 turrets all on the foredeck in triple turrets (16 inch). Both of these ships survived World War 2 and were heavily engaged throughout. They were given a heavy anti-aircraft armament to supplement their main armament and secondary 6 inch turrets. They were heavily used in bombardment during amphibious landings, a role at which they were very effective. They were joined by the five ships of the King George V class, King George V, Prince of Wales (No 14, model number 1291), Duke of York, Anson and Howe. Only the Prince of Wales did not survive the war, being sunk by Japanese aircraft in 1941 when in company with the Repulse. These ships carried 10 14 inch guns in 3 turrets, 2 quadruple turrets fore and aft and a twin turret superimposed on the forecastle.
By the end of World War 2, the battleship had become obsolete and the Navy only built a single battleship after the war, the Vanguard (model number 809). Her guns were 15 inch calibre from World War 1 and though completed in 1946, she was, in fact, the last battleship to be launched by any nation and was scrapped in 1960.
Draw 3: Transatlantic Liners – 20th century and Draw 4: Transatlantic Liners from S.S. Great Britain
Travel to America from the UK, France, Germany or Holland became important in the early 19th century. Originally sailing ships took part in what was an incidental trade, set up to supplement income from cargo by carrying a small number of passengers. They travelled in the same discomfort as the officers in general and faced the dangers of a very stormy North Atlantic.
This changed with the introduction of steam ships, normally with a full set of sails, which could guarantee a swift passage (average speed of 8.5 knots) in some sort of comfort. Brunel’s two ships Great Western, 1838 (No 29, Model number 1227) and the even larger Great Britain 1845 (No 28, Model number 1226) transformed the trade with larger ships, specialising in the passenger trade and with steam power as well as sails. Great Western had paddle wheels but Great Britain changed to screw propulsion which was a great advantage especially in rough weather (paddle steamers rolled and the paddles came out of the water making control difficult).
Ships continued to grow in size and comfort and by the turn of the century the Cunard Line’s Campania, 1892 (No 17, Model number 1272) and White Star Line’s Oceanic, 1899 (No 8, Model number 1227) were competing for the transatlantic trade. The German liner Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, 1897 (No 39, Model number 1371) set the transatlantic speed record at 22 knots. In 1906 Cunard introduced the Mauretania (No 36, Model number 1276) which set the speed record for a crossing, which it held for over 20 years, of 23.69 knots. At such a speed it was possible to run a weekly transatlantic service with just 2 ships, Mauretania with sister ship Lusitania.
The Atlantic continued to be the site of the competition between the Great Powers, as Germany, France, the UK and the USA, through White Star line fought it out. Speed and luxury were the issues.
Titanic 1912 (No 16, Model number 842) with White Star’s Corinthic (No 25, Model number 1267), and Adriatic (No 9, Model number 1266), Shaw Saville’s Ionic, 1902 (No 26, Model number 1205) the German Imperator (longest liner at the time), which was passed to Cunard in 1918 as Berengaria (No 31, Model number 1092) and Kronprinz Wilhelm 1901 (No 38, Model number 1372), the French France 1910 (No 37, Model number 1370) the Cunarders Lusitania and Mauretania, and the older Dutch Rijndam 1901 (No 19, Model number 1725) and Statendam 1898 (No 20, Model number 1726) competed for the transatlantic trade. The 1912 disaster to the Titanic with the loss of 1,500 lives, involving the Californian 1902 (No 27, Model number 1114) and Carpathia 1902 (No 1, Model number 1113) set back the trade but the approach of World War 1 set it back even more. These large liners were seen as national strategic investments, seen later in the century with the development of even larger liners.
At the end of WW1 the large German liners were given to allied nations as reparations and the trade continued to expand. The crash in the 1920s left many shipping lines short of a market and the introduction of ‘Booze Cruises’ from the USA during prohibition was a godsend for the shipping lines. Ships such as the Dutch Statendam, 1929 (No 20, Model number 1726), the French Bretagne 1922, (No 21, Model number 1736) and Lafayette, 1916 (No 23, Model number 1738) joined the transatlantic trade until, at the end of the 20s and beginning of the 30s serious competition erupted once again.
Germany with Nord Deutsche Lloyd’s Bremen, 1929 (No 30, Model number 1090) and Europa (after WW2 Liberte), 1930 (No 32, Model number 1739), France’s Normandie, 1935 (No 14, Model number 1090), Ile de France, 1927 (No 35, Model number 1257), Champlain, 1932 (No 3, Model number 1737) and Ville d’Oran, 1936 (No 24, Model number 1740), Holland’s Nieuw Amsterdam, 1937 (No 34, Model number 879), the United States’ America of 1939 and Britain’s Empress of Scotland (ex Empress of Japan), 1930 (No 5, Model number 880), the new Mauretania, 1938 (see Williamson collection, Model number 974) built by Cammell Laird, Queen Mary, 1938 (No 12, Model number 829) and Queen Elizabeth, 1939 (No 11, Model number 846) joined the liners plying the Atlantic.
Draw 5: Ships on display in this gallery – comparative sizes
The models here are of the builder’s models in this gallery, to the same scale as the model of Birkenhead docks (1:1200 scale, 100 ft to the inch).
Draw 6: Tankers – Very large crude oil carriers and Draw 7: Tanker development – 20th century
What is a tanker? In the early days it was necessary to carry flammable liquids in barrels in wooden sailing ships. This was a dangerous job and many vessels sank as a result of fires and explosions. As the use of internal combustion engines increased, the need for ships to transport these fuels increased. Originally it was transported in ordinary cargo vessels, then the specialised tanker came into being.
Early tankers were developed with a ‘three island’ design. The after part for engines and a midship section with the bridge and a forecastle. Such tankers are illustrated by British Tommy, 1921 (No 14, Model number 1374), Queda (No 7, Model number 827) and Rapana, 1935 (No 9, Model number 1270) and this continued with mass production during WW2 with ships such as ESSO Sao Paolo, 1943 (no 8, Model number 1269), British Dragoon, 1943 (No 12, Model number 1375) and Empire Arrow, 1945 (No 13, Model number 1373). After the war tankers simply became bigger with tankers such as British Queen, 1959 (No 24, Model number 826) and Mobil Brilliant 1963 (No 6, Model number 895).
Soon this arrangement became uneconomical and ships were built with their accommodation, engines and bridge in a single structure aft. This has become standard for all tankers since. Examples are Reina Fabiola 1965 (No 23, Model number 821) rising in size to the largest ever built Jahre Viking, 1979 (No 1, Model number 821). Eagle Barents (No 19, Model number 1681), Amundsen Spirit (No 20, Model number 1087), V8 Stealth II (No 21, Model number 1075) and British Merlin (No 22, Model number 1065) are all mid-sized, all aft tankers which we see, day in and day out, at Tranmere terminal. The VLCC tankers having reached 550,000 tons with Jahre Viking have fallen in size slightly and the most modern are around 350,000 tons or less. Such are Stena Vision, 2001 (No 4, Model number 864), T1 Europe, 2010 (No 3, Model number 966), Kanchenyunga, 1975 (NO 5, Model number 1827) and Batillus, 1976 (No 2, Model number 1634). Such colossal ships cannot use regular ports and require special facilities. Size gives a huge financial advantage but also creates a huge risk, particularly of piracy around the middle east and the Horn of Africa.
There is a need for specialist tankers, particularly in coastal waters to keep the wheels of industry moving. Such are Amur Star, 2010 (No 11, Model number 980), Stolt Kittiwake, 1993 (No 17, Model number 979) and Northern Ocean, 1960 (No 10, Model number 953) seen regularly in the Mersey. With the introduction of natural gas there was a need for tankers to serve this trade. Celestine River, 2007 (No 18, Model number 1081) is a very large gas carrier with its equivalent Omegagas, 2011 (No 15, Model number 970) covering the coastal trade. Mersey Spirit, 1996 (No 16, Model number 1431) can be seen on the River Mersey supplying diesel fuel to cruise ships and others.
Draw 8: Cruise liners – 21st century and Draw 9: Cruise liners from WW2 onwards
As the larger passenger liners ceased to be a profitable means of transport they needed a new purpose. They needed to entertain and in the 1920s we began to see the cruise liner appearing. Starting with the booze cruises in the 1920s during prohibition in the USA and continuing in times of hardship, transatlantic liners began cruising as a means of covering costs and keeping ships busy. The first true cruise liners were designed specifically for the job of entertaining ‘das Volk’ – the people – in a one class ship – cheap and cheerful! Part of Adolf Hitler’s ‘strength through joy’, the Robert Ley, 1939 (No 10, Model number 1705) and the Wilhelm Gustloff, 1938 (No 11, Model number 1706) were constructed specifically for this role and no other. They were smaller than the huge transatlantic liners but had the facilities we expect of a comfortable way of life. The USSR’s Admiral Nakhimov, 1925 (No 8, Model number 2091), the former German liner Berlin, taken after WW2, was used in the cruise trade in the same manner as the Ley and Gustloff.
By the 1970s cruises around the coasts of Europe and Scandinavia had become popular using ships such as the Boudicca, 1973 (No 7, Model number 899) and Shota Rustaveli, 1968 (No 9, Model number 2089). The rapid explosion of cruising from the 1990s saw the introduction of specially built ships – almost floating blocks of flats with shopping centres added – which became bigger and bigger, restricted only by the size of canals and harbours and their capacity to handle a large number of these vessels. Smaller vessels such as Europa, 1999 (No15, Model number 1260) and Trollfjord, 2002 (No 16, Model number 1026) served specific tours with restricted channel depths and access. These tended to be the ‘city tours’ and tours to exotic coastlines, particularly in Northern Europe, Scandinavia and Iceland.
However, many wanted sun, sand and sea with the comfort of home and this was provided by ships such as Celebrity Infinity, 2001 (No 5, Model number 2120), Crystal Serenity,2003 (No 13, Model number 2118), Royal Princess, 2013 (No 4, Model number 1680), and Allure of the Seas, 2014 (No 1, Model number 964), particularly in the Carribean. Others preferred the Mediterranean in Costa Fascinosa, 2012 (No 6, Model number 1679), Aida-Cara (No 14, Model number 2118) some further east in Britannia, 2015 (No 3, Model number 1076), some to Scandinavia in Norwegian Epic, 2010 (No 2, Model number 1091) and some a theme park such as Disney Magic, 1997 (No 12, Model number 1225).
Cruise liners seem to have reached their size limit at 300m long and they depend on the capacity of destinations to handle several such ships at once.
Draw 10: British destroyer development – 20th to 21st centuries
The destroyer was a type of warship introduced around 1890 to counter small fast torpedo boats. When Whitehead’s modified design of torpedo became available, larger navies saw it as a threat to their larger warships – a weapon capable of sinking a large vessel but delivered by a much smaller, cheaper one. Many navies began to build torpedo boats – fast, nimble craft which could attack by surprise. TB1, 1906 (No 10, Model number 1692) is such a vessel. To counter the threat navies began to build larger, faster, more heavily armed ‘torpedo boat destroyers’ or destroyers.
Ultimately, they became the general-purpose warship, just as the frigate was the general purpose warship in the age of sail. Eden, 1903 (No 9, Model number 1691) and Cossack, 1907 (No 8, Model number 1693) are early designs. Destroyers became faster and more heavily armed and Scourge, 1910 (No 4, Model number 1694) and the much larger Swift, 2010 (No 1, Model number 1695) were the largest built at the time. Swift was a destroyer leader which suggests that destroyers would work together in squadrons with a senior officer controlling strategy.
Hundreds of destroyers were built during WW1 and these would vary slightly depending on who built them but, basically they had a 4 inch gun armament (4 or 5 in number) and 2 sets of triple or quadruple torpedo tubes which we can see in Patrician, 1914 (No 5, Model number 1697) Ithuriel, 1914 (No 2, Model number 1698), Oracle, 1916 (No 6, Model number 1696), Faulknor, 1917 (No 3, Model number 1700) Sepoy, 1918 (No 7, Model number 1699), Wyvern, 1919 (No 15, Model number 741) and Wolverine 1919 (No 16, Model number 742).
Throughout the 1930s, after the reduction of the navy during the 1920s, British destroyers were built to a more or less consistent plan with 2 funnels, 2 sets of quadruple torpedo tubes and 4 4.5 inch guns in open shields. There were, year on year, destroyers of the A, B, C , D, E, F, G, H and I classes, for example Hyperion, 1932 (No 21, Model number 745), to this design with added destroyer leaders Duncan, 1932 (No 23, Model number 755), Faulkner 1934 (No 22, Model number 756) and Hardy 1936 (No 20, Model number 757) with and extra 4.5 inch gun between the funnels. An additional class, the Tribals, such as Cossack, 1937 (No 19, Model number 706) was introduced at this time with three twin turrets but otherwise similar.
Despite the success of this design, even against much heavier gunned German destroyers, with a totally new design, classes J, K, L, M, N and S were built from 1939 onwards. The single funnel design included guns in twin turrets but the same torpedo tube arrangement initially. With the need for anti-aircraft capacity several of these ships had one or two of their torpedo tube sets replaced with AA. We have examples Kimberley, 1939 (No 11, Model number 737) Laforey, 1941 (No 18, Model number 738) Lookout, 1940 (No 17, Model number 739) Stord, 1943 (No 13, Model number 699) Saumarez, 1942 (No 14, Model number 700) and Savage, 1942 (No 12, Model number 701) all to similar designs.
The Battle class of 1947 and Daring class of 1949 were much larger versions of the wartime designs but with new automatic twin turrets before the County class, begun in 1962, introduced guided missiles to the destroyer with a twin ‘Seaslug’ launcher on the after deck. Bristol, 1970 (No 26, Model number 909) was a later version differing from the earlier ships by having twin side by side funnels aft where in the earlier ships there was a single funnel.
The type 42, Sheffield, 1975 (No 29, Model number 763), Broadsword, 1976 (No 28, Model number 912) and Liverpool, 1981 (No 31, Model number 886) were all a natural development with SAMs, an automatic rapid firing 5 inch turret and a helicopter and landing platform aft to provide anti-submarine capability. As a result of the Falklands war and the loss of the Sheffield and her sister ship Coventry there were upgraded replacements – the type 22 Sheffield, 1986 (No 25, Model number 762), Norfolk, 1987 (No 32, Model number 884) and Chatham, 1990 (No 30, Model number 885).
The latest classes, the D class Dragon, 2012 (No 24, Model number 854) and the type 26 Plymouth, 2016 (No 27, Model number 992) and their sister ships, add stealth features which make them much less of a target than in the past. These will be the main defence for the new large carriers being built – the Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales.
Draw 11: Cruisers development – UK, Germany, Sweden and Spain
The cruiser came into being because of the large extent of empires needing trade protection. Originally it was the frigate which took this role in the age of sail, however, a larger, long range, heavily gunned ship was required to carry naval power to the outer reaches of empire. The German Blucher, 1907 (No 25, Model number 1282) and Scharnhorst, 1909 (No 26, Model number 1283) and the British Aboukir, 1902 (No 15, Model number 1284) represent the early stages of development to the end of WW1. These ships generally mounted a main armament of 8 or 9 inch guns with a smaller secondary armament of 4 or 5 inch. As they were coal-powered they had to have the capacity for a large store of coal for the distances they were to travel. Coaling stations were spread throughout the world where the ships could coal.
None of these ships survived WW1 and the replacement ships were oil fired with a much sleeker design. The Spanish Navarra, 1920 (No 17, Model number 1400) and Galicia, 1925 (No 28, Model number 1398), the British Enterprise, 1926 (No 13, Model number 1286) and the German Emden, 1925 (No 23, Model number 1327), Leipzig, 1929 (No 24, Model number 1328) and Karlsruhe, 1927 (No 21, Model number 1329) are such a development and they still retain some of the features of the older vessels, particularly the hull shape. In Britain a large class of 10,000 ton vessels were constructed of which Cumberland, 1928 (No 4, Model number 766) and Norfolk, 1930 (No 3, Model number 768) are examples. This 3 funnelled design was very robust and they were the basis of the cruiser fleet throughout WW2. They were armed with 8 8 inch guns in four turrets, 2 fore and 2 aft. York, 1930 (No 6, Model number 780) and Exeter, 1932 (No 7, Model number 781) were based on the ‘county’ class but were slightly smaller armed with only 6 8 inch guns in 3 turrets, 2 fore and 1 aft.
Neptune, 1934 (No 9, Model number 776), Achilles, 1934 (No 8, Model number 777) of the numerous Leander class and the slightly different Arethusa, 1935 (No 5, Model number 779) were examples of a smaller group of light cruisers, armed with 8 6 inch guns. The Achilles, along with the Ajax a sister ship and the Exeter are renowned for their part in the sinking of the German pocket battleship Graf Spee in 1939. German cruiser development was slightly different and the Nurnberg, 1934 (No 22, Model number 1326) represents the single funnelled cruisers developed at the time. Although they were robust, they were thrown away in the invasion of Norway in 1940 and afterwards played little part in WW2. The Spanish Canarias, 1931 (No 30, Model number 1397) and Mundez-Nunez, 1933 (No 16, Model number 1399) were very similar to their English equivalents but played little part either in their own civil war or in WW2.
Germany developed a class of three heavy cruisers Prinz Eugen, 1938 (No 20, Model number 264), Admiral Hipper, 1937 (No 18, Model number 265) and Blucher, 1937 (No 19, Model number 266). After some initial success these cruisers were bottled up in the Baltic or in Norwegian fjords. They played a distant secondary role to the U-Boat. Blucher was sunk during the invasion of Norway – by Norwegian shore batteries in Oslo – and Prinz Eugen and Hipper, after being damaged and repaired ended their lives in the Norwegian Fjords.
As aircraft took a greater role in war at sea, a large class, the Didos, were designed as anti-aircraft cruisers, armed with 10 5 inch high angle guns in 5 turrets, 3 fore and 2 aft. Euryalus, 1938 (No 12, Model number 770) was heavily involved in the war in the Mediterranean, particularly protecting convoys to Malta.
The numerous ‘town’ class 6 inch cruisers such as Sheffield, 1938 (No 2, Model number 771) and Belfast, 1939 (No 1, Model number 908) were the mainstay of the war effort alongside the ‘county’ class heavy cruisers and a large number were built. During WW2 a number of passenger liners were armed with 6 inch guns to fill a gap in the provision of cruiser escorts for convoys. The Jervis Bay, 1922 (No 14, Model number 1272) was such an armed merchant cruiser and engaged the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer in 1940 while escorting a convoy in the North Atlantic. Although the Jervis bay was sunk by the much more powerful Scheer, the time it took enabled the convoy to scatter and the Scheer only managed to sink 5 of the convoy’s ships. There were only 68 survivors of the crew of 250. The captain was awarded a posthumous VC.
After WW2 Britain built just two advanced ‘town’ class ships – Swiftsure and Superb – and the next development was the ‘Lion’ class – Lion, Tiger, 1959 (No 10, Model number 917) and Blake, 1961 (No 11, Model number 918). These were very much experimental and were modified to carry helicopters. Subsequently the cruiser disappeared as a warship, replaced by destroyers of a larger size and greater capacity and flexibility. Two ‘cruisers’ were built, the through deck Ark Royal and Invincible, but they were really small aircraft carriers designed to operate harrier VSTOL jump jets and helicopters. Ark Royal played a significant role in the Falklands war but not as a cruiser.
Germany’s Deutschland, 1963 (No 27, Model number 1828) and Sweden’s Gote Lejon, 1949 (No 29, Model number 1829) are the last gasps of cruiser building in Europe.
Draw 12: Cruiser development – USA, Italy, France and Japan
The Japanese cruiser Nagara, 1922 (No 19, Model number 1030) displays the design of vessel reflecting WW1 building. Japan was heavily influenced by British ship-builders, many ships being built in UK yards for the Japanese navy. The big change is seen in the huge heavy cruisers built from 1924 onwards. Aoba, 1924 (No 18, Model number 1029), Mogami, 1934 (No 21, Model number 1032), Tone, 1937 (No 17, Model number 1028) and Oyodo, 1943 (No 20, Model number 1031) represent the development of Japanese building to their own very specific designs. These ships were much larger than European built vessels which probably reflected the distances involved in warfare in the Pacific arena. They all had a distinctive modern silhouette with a single or double funnel amidships and double or triple 8 inch turrets in various arrangements. Together with a significant secondary armament and sets of 24 inch torpedo tubes they were very powerfully armed. During WW2 their power was never really demonstrated as they were fighting battles against air attack and submarines rather than other surface warships.
Early development of US cruisers mimics Japanese development. The Omaha, 1920 (No 6, Model number 1287) is clearly of an earlier era whereas New Orleans, 1933 (No 4, Model number 1300), Fargo, 1941 (No 3, Model number 1298), Brooklin, 1936 (No 7, Model number 1288), Flint, 1944 (No 5, Model number 1289), Cleveland, 1945 (No 2, Model number 1299) are large, heavily armed vessels with a distinctive 2 funnel layout and an armament of 6 or 8 inch guns in double or triple turrets, very similar to the Japanese. After WW2, cruiser development was limited and the colossal Long Beach, 1968 (No 1, Model number 1045) shows the final cruiser development with a missile armament and nuclear propulsion. Subsequent American developments tended to be towards larger destroyers, almost as big as the cruisers they replaced.
The Italian navy’s San Giorgio, 1908 (No 28, Model number 1379), Bari, 1911 (No 30, Model number 1377), Taranto, 1913 (No 16, Model number 1378) and Luigi Cadorna, 1914 (No 15, Model number 1376) were all designs from WW1 which remained in service throughout WW2. Designed towards the end of the 1920s Trento, 1929 (No 23, Model number 1346), Giovanni delle Banda Nere, 1931 (No 27, Model number 1344), Bolzano, 1933 (No 22, Model number 1345), Raymondo Montecuccoli, 1935 (No 26, Model number 1343), Giuseppe Garibaldi, 1937 (No 25, Model number 1341) and Eugenia di Savoia, 1937 (No 24, Model number 1342) represented a new style of large, heavily armed warship. Few ships were completed throughout WW2, Attilio Regolo, 1942 (No 29, Model number 1340) being a smaller light cruiser. Italian ships lacked an effective radar and in March 1941 at the battle of Cape Matapan, a night engagement, British forces sank the three cruisers Zara, Fiume and Pola and two destroyers for the loss of 1 British aircraft.
The French navy retained cruisers from WW1 like the Duguay-Trouin, 1923 (No 12, Model number 1388). Development reflected the changes in other navies, particularly the Italian navy, so Duquesne, 1928 (No 11, Model number 1384), Jeanne d’Arc, 1930 (No 14, Model number 1387), Suffren, 1930 (No 10, Model number 1383), Algerie, 1932 (No 8, Model number 1382), La Galisonniere, 1933 (No 9, Model number 1385), Emile Bertin, 1933 (No 13, Model number 1386) were the strength on which the French navy was built. After the French capitulation in 1940, part of the fleet played a role in bombardment with the allies. There was little development post WW2.
Draw 13: Container ships and RoRo ferries (roll on – roll off) and Draw 14: Container ships and RoRo ferries (roll on – roll off)
Roll on roll off container ships
RoRo ships have been essential when transporting wheeled vehicles across water. Car ferries have always been part of this technology but today they are combined with container capacity to transport a useful mixture making the ships ever more profitable.
During WW2 the need for such capacity led to the creation of LCTs (Landing Ships Tank) and, post war, there was an expansion in this sector. Atlantic Song, 1967 (No 8, Model number 1274) is an early version of this mixed role ship, rapidly followed by Atlantic Conveyor, 1970 (No 6, Model number 874), lost to an Exocet missile during the Falklands War of 1982. Skulptor Konenikov, 1976 (No 7, Model number 2111) is a Soviet version of the same technology but with a strengthened hull to break through ice.
After the loss of the Atlantic Conveyor, ACL ordered a new group of RoRos to be built of which Atlantic Compass, 1984 (No 4, Model number 873) is one. Finally these ships have been replaced by Atlantic Star, 2014 (No 5, Model number 963), which was built to access the locks into ACL’s RoRo facility in Liverpool’s Seaforth dock. These ships have reached their maximum size due to the size of the entrance locks from the Mersey. Loading such ships involves a complicated series of calculations involving the weights of the vehicles and their positioning. The vehicles are used, to some degree, as ballast thus increasing the efficiency of the vessels. Containers make up the balance of the ships’ cargo.
An alternative design is Grande Dakar, 2015 (No 12, Model number 1464) which can also use the same facilities as the ACL RoRos. Access to the RoRo decks on all of these ships has become a ramp at the starboard side aft. It has to be remembered that such ships require special facilities at the destination ports.
An example of the use of RoRo is Red Kestrel, 2019 (No 11, Model number 2135), which, like many similar local car ferries enable vehicles to navigate the road system in areas crossed by narrow strips of water. This is a modern design based on a design which has existed for years if not centuries.
Container ships
The containers we refer to here are 12m by 2.5m or 6m by 2.5m with strengthened frames which allow stacking and the locking of the containers together. The contents of a container can vary depending of the requirements of a shipper. The container itself weighs 4 tons and its contents up to 26 tons normally. The problem as far as shipping is concerned is the variation of weight in objects identical in appearance. As containers enter a port they are weighed and when loaded a computer system takes account of which containers have to be unloaded first and their weights. With the largest ships taking in excess of 18,000 containers it is clear that manual calculation for loading is impossible.
Gateway City, 1943 (No 10, Model number 1463) of WW2 vintage is a very early version of a container ship with a deck cargo of containers. By the 1970s ships such as Remuera Bay, 1973 (No 14, Model number 1243), Anna Maersk, 1976 (No 15, Model number 1486) were becoming common and such ships were capable of carrying cargos several times larger than the conventional cargo ships alongside which they were working. Their advantage was their ability to carry a large mixture of cargos in one load. This development was parallel to the development of special ships – bulk carriers – which nowadays transport oil, grain, biofuel, coal and other fluid materials in ever larger quantities up to 400,000 tons in one cargo.
These ships have reached huge proportions and have a maximum length around 400 metres with a beam of 60 metres, drawing 15 metres. These figures are dictated by the dimensions of the Panama Canal and the depth of channels into ports. Such ships also require specialist facilities such as those available in Liverpool 2, recently completed. Most of these ships, examples being Maersk’s Maersk McKinney Moller, 2013 (No 2, Model number 816), CMA CGM’s Marco Polo, 1995 (No 1, Model number 961) and NYK’s (Nippon Yusen Kaisha) Helios, 2013 (No 3, Model number 1720) all of the dimensions indicated.
Travelling between smaller facilities are feeder container ships such as OOCL Belgium, 2004 (No 13, Model number 931) seen commonly in Liverpool and the much smaller Pantonia, 1998 (No 9, Model number 930) and a host of other very much smaller feeder ships which ply the waters around the British Isles and the Continent of Europe.
Containerisation is on the rise as transfer to road or rail creates a simple solution to the transport of goods generally. We see these containers either on the back of articulated lorries or on trains on our motorways and railways.
Draw 15: Submarine development – 20th and 21st centuries
By the time of WW1 the submarine had developed, in just 20 years, from an experimental type of vessel to a true warship. With diesel engines and electric motors the style had been set until ten years after WW2 and the introduction of nuclear power, when submarines became true submarines rather than ships which could stay underwater for short periods of time.
The standard design with a hull and conning tower is the same today as when the first submarines became operational. The Finnish Saukko, 1930 (No 13, Model number 2056), Vesikko, 1934 (No 12, Model number 2057) and Vetehinen, 1930 (No 11, Model number 2058) represent the standard design and size of submarines in the period up until the end of WW2. Submarines in the pacific were designed larger than those in European waters with the need for much longer range. Guavina, 1943 (No 31, Model number 276) and Tunny, 1942 (No 32, Model number 277) were typical of US submarines operating in the Pacific War 1941 to 1945.
I-400, 1944 (No 9, Model number 1292) was the largest Japanese submarine built but was not typical. Japan and the USA both produced effective large submarines, much larger than the German and British submarines operating in European waters. Many specialist submarines were also built and each nation had midget submarines such as X3, 1942 (No 4, Model number 2142) but which were of only limited value in combat.
The US submarine Nautilus, 1954 (No 14, Model number 333) was the first of many designs of nuclear submarine produced by the USA from the 1950s onwards. The use of a nuclear reactor to produce steam to drive turbines means that the submarine has power which can be used when submerged without the need for air. The power unit can also recycle air and water so the ships can remain at sea, submerged, as long as they have food supplies.
Further experimental submarines were produced such as Skate, 1957 (No 35, Model number 273), the small Tullibee, 1960 (No 36, Model number 294), the huge Triton, 1959 (No 15, Model number 334) and the Halibut, 1960 (No 34, Model number 314) all tested different aspects of the advantages of nuclear power. The Skipjack, 1959 (No 16, Model number 327), Snook, 1961 (No 17, Model number 328), Shark, 1961 (No 18, Model number 329), Sculpin, 1961 (No 19, Model number 330) Scorpion, 1960 (No 20, Model number 331) and Scamp, 1961 (No 21, Model number 332) were from a large class of attack submarines.
Alongside these were large conventionally powered attack submarines such as Sailfish, 1956 (No 37, Model number 315) and Salmon, 1956 (No 38, Model number 316) and the conventional guided missile submarines Grayback, 1958 (No 33, Model number 312) and Growler, 1958 (No 30, Model number 313) which took missiles to sea before the introduction of Polaris and Trident which required much larger hulls.
Today, submarines come into two types – guided missile submarines and attack submarines. Such ships, following the US’s George Washington, Ethan Allen and Ohio designs appear in many other navies. The Russian Typhoon class Dmitriy Donskoy, 1981 (No 5, Model number 125) is the biggest ICBM submarine ever built and the Alexander Nevsky, 2014 (No 7, Model number 998) continues the pattern. The Kursk, 1994 (No 6, Model number 126) was a cruise missile submarine famous for its demise and Severodvinsk, 2013 (No 8, Model number 999) is a more modern version.
China has produced the 098 type, 2015 (No 22, Model number 1118), Xia, 1981 (No 24, Model number 1014), Shang, 2014 (No 25, Model number 1015) and Jin, 2010 (No 23, Model number 1016) all fall into the ICBM category, similar to the British Vanguard, 1993 (No 1, Model number 849) and Resolution, 1967 (No 2, Model number 850).
Nuclear powered attack submarines are numerous and include the British Astute, 2010 (No 3, Model number 667), the Chinese Ming, 1950 (No 27, Model number 1010), Song, 1999 (No 28, Model number 1011), Yuan, 2014 (No 29, Model number 1012) and Han, 1974 (No 26, Model number 1013) and even the Indian Arihant, 2016 (No 10, Model number 1652).
Countries at present with nuclear submarines are the USA, UK, France, Russia, India and China. The complexity and vast costs suggests that this will remain the case for the foreseeable future.
Draw 16: Special bulk carriers – 21st century – and large sailing ships – early 20th century
Great Eastern, 1859 (No 1, Model No 839) designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was the largest ship built at the time several times larger than his previous ships the Great Western, 1843 and Great Britain, 1838. At 20,000 gross tons but 32,000 tons displacement she was designed to trade with Australia and thus had to carry around 8,000 tons of coal as fuel for the journey there and back as coaling stations were not available on route. After a delay in her launching on the Thames she was too late to meet the deadlines and became a loss to her owners. She was scrapped in 1889 though she did lay transatlantic telegraph cables. Around 1888 she was on the Mersey as an advertising hoarding for Lewis’s (Stores in Liverpool (next to Central Station) and Manchester – no connection to Jon Lewis in Liverpool 1). Great Eastern had both paddle wheels and screw propulsion, the former for when the ship was in shallower water where the screw propeller could not be used.
Vale Brazil, 2011 (No 8, Model No 1222) is the largest bulk ore carrier built – 402, 000 DWT – length over 360m. Such ships are economic simply because of their size. They can berth only in specially designed facilities as they draw over 30m when fully laden.
Walter J McCarthy Jr, 1977 (No 9, Model No 1242) is a Great Lakes bulk carrier, notable for its self-loading and unloading capacity. Of over 80,000 DWT its main cargo is coal. Note the extreme length to beam ratio.
Mozah, 2008 (No 10, Model No 1437) is designed as a Liquid Natural Gas tanker of 130,000 DWT. She has a length of 345m and a beam of 54m. Celestine River (display 9 – tankers) has a storage system using large spherical containers. Mozah uses an alternative diaphragm storage system.
Berge Stahl, 1986 (No 11, Model No 1678) of 360,000 DWT was the largest ore carrier in the world until the arrival of Vale Brazil (above) and her sister ships.
Paris II, 1890 (No 4, Model No 1119) was the biggest steel hulled fully square rigged ship ever built. The need for a large crew to handle the sails was a limiting factor in its efficiency. The similar sized Thomas W Lawson, 1902 (No 5, Model No 1125) was a topsail schooner, with 7 masts and huge fore and aft sails which could be handled by a much smaller crew using steam winches or donkey engines.
Cutty Sark, 1869 (No 6, Model No 840), now on display at Greenwich, London, was of composite construction having an iron/steel frame and wooden planking. This improved on the cargo carrying capacity as less space was taken up by the ribs and deck beams. Ships of this type, normally described as clippers, dominated the tea trade to China and the wool trade to Australia even up to the 1930s. These ships were faster than the steamships of the time but were dependent on the strength and direction of the wind.
Black Pearl, 2017 (No 7, Model No 2134) is a very modern development in sailing technology which can use its sails both to recharge batteries and to drive the ship. With modern electronic systems such ships may be efficient built are very expensive to build. We may see cargo carriers using such technology in the future. Naturally the ship requires only a very small crew as sails are managed by automatic systems.
Draw 17: Destroyer development – USA, Japan, Italy, Germany, Australia – 20th and 21st century and Draw 18: Destroyer development – USSR, Russia, China, Portugal, S America – 20th and 21st century
Destroyers today are substantially the same as in earlier days getting bigger and more heavily armed. Generally modern developments in missile technology and radar electronics give a capacity previously unavailable. Torpedo tubes have disappeared and helicopters are carried in hangers aft next to the helicopter landing deck. They take on anti-submarine, anti-missile and anti-aircraft roles as well as maintaining their role against smaller craft with shorter range weapons which would be familiar to sailors of WW2.
Draw 19: Cargo liner development – 20th century
Cargo liners generally had their accommodation and bridge halfway with a focs’l and stern arrangement and hatches fore and aft. Later this was replaced with an ‘all aft’ arrangement where accommodation, engines etc were at the after end of the ship with the hatches forward of this after structure. Generally the loading of such ships was through cranes or conveyors and unloading in a similar manner. This suited smaller ports which the ships could visit using their own derricks to load and unload. Containerisation has made these methods practically redundant.
Draw 20: Ships built for special purposes – 20th and 21st century
Edmund Gardner, 1953 (No 1, Model No 889) and Arnot Robinson, 1953 (No 2, Model No 890) were both Liverpool pilot boats used to take pilots out to ships entering the Mersey. Edmund Gardner is now a display at the Maritime Museum, Liverpool in the Albert Dock.
Manannan (ex HSV XI US Navy), 1993 (No 3, Model No 939), Manx Maid 1962 (No 12, Model No 1071) and Mona’s Queen, 1961 (No 13, Model No 1072) are ferries which ply or plied between Prince’s Landing stage Liverpool and Douglas on the Isle of Man. The Royal Iris (of the Mersey) 1995 (No 4, Model No 951) is in service between Seacombe Ferry and Liverpool.
Pieter Schelde, 1996 (No 5, Model No 960) is an oil rig decommissioning ship. The 8 jacks on the bow section can grip and lift up to 50,000 tons, the top section of the oil platform, fully computer controlled. The after section can lift the leg section off the sea bed.
Lenin, 1957 (No 7, Model No 965), the first nuclear powered surface ship, 50 Let Pobody, 2007 (No 8, Model No 975), are both purpose built icebreakers occupied in the maintenance of waterways into Arctic Ocean ports such as Murmansk. The Russian ships are nuclear powered as the transportation of fuel has created problems in the past.
Afon Dyfrdwy 2004 (No 13, Model No 1079) was specifically built for BA systems to transport the wings of the A638 Jumbos for assembly in Wales and the UK.
Wind, 2006 (No 10, Model No 984) and Friedrich Ernestine, 1996 (No 12, Model No 987) are jack-up rigs which are used in the maintenance of offshore facilities or in dockland areas. Such vessels can sail to the area where the work is to be carried out and then lower the four legs until they sit on the sea bed. The whole vessel can then be jacked up further, clear of the water and work can safely begin. They are normally equipped with heavy lifting gear and workshops and there is a large deck space for fabrication.
Tonsberg 2015 (No 6, Model No 962) is a purpose built car transporter. Such purpose designed ships are able to carry cars packed into the smallest possible space – just a few inches between each on the car decks. Specialist drivers park the cars and the decks can be jacked up and down to assist loading.
Zhen Hua 23, 1986 (No 15, Model No 1220) is one of a series of heavy lift vessels – all Zhen Hua and a number – which are specifically converted bulk carriers redesigned to carry the huge container cranes built by Zhenhua Heavy Industries to destinations world-wide.
Red 7 Tonjer, 1983 (No 16, Model No 1259) is one of many exploration ships designed to service oil installations off-shore. Their facilities include a helicopter deck and workshops
Ham 316, 1998 (No 20, Model No 2123) is a suction dredger commonly seen on the Mersey and responsible for the maintenance of the shipping channels in the Mersey entrance.
Docklift 1, 1972 (No 17, Model No 1461) is a heavy lift floating dock able to handle even large cruise ships. The ship can be ballasted down to allow a larger vessel to position itself above the work deck before the ballast (in water tanks) is pumped out and the vessel to be repaired or transported is settled on the deck.
Empire Victory, 1937 (No 18, Model No 1871) is a whale factory ship which was in service until the moratorium on whale hunting was instituted. The whale killed by the small whale hunters was hauled onto the deck of the vessel through access by slip through the stern. Rybak Morski, 1977 (No 19, Model No 2110) is a fish factory ship, smaller than a whale factory ship but with a similar slip.
Boris Sokolov, 2018 (No 21, Model No 2139) is a purpose built ice breaker tanker designed for use in the Arctic. Such ships can maintain a supply of oil in difficult arctic conditions.
Savannah, 1962 (No 22, Model No 891) was the first and only nuclear-powered cargo ship ever built. It was difficult to justify the huge expense and the need for security. The first nuclear powered surface vessel was the Lenin, 1957, icebreaker (see above). The Savannah is now a static display in the US.
If you have comments or queries please refer them to the Williamson Museum and Art Gallery