Inventions of World War 2
World War 2 and its Military Inventions
As the WW1 came to an end, the Treaty of Versailles was signed which was a huge humiliation for Germany as they had to reduce their military and pay retribution for the damage it cost others in the war. Utilizing this humiliation for revenge and ultranationalism, Hitler came to power and started the militarization process of Rhineland and attacked Poland straight after in 1939 which saw the start of WW2. The war was later completed in 1945 resulting in the Allies vicotry. This war had the most casualties in modern warfare which has to be accounted to the mamoths of weapons that were invented and created for this war. Except for the eastern front in Soviet Union, the war left behind the conventional ground military action for naval and aviation war practices. This struggle for naval and aviation supremacy gave us the peak naval and aviation machines.
WW2 saw the rise of great battleships like the German Battleship Bismarck, which defeated the pride of the Royal Navy, HMS Hood, the largest battleship to be ever created, the Japanese Yamato, the indestructable light cruiser, HMS Belfast, the aircraft carrier, USS Essex, the greatest threat to the Allies, the German U-boats submarine which sank upto 4 ships in one single mission. Other great ships of this war include USS Iowa, INJ Mikasa, heavy cruiser HMS Dorsetshire, aircraft carrier USS Midway, Japanese aircraft carrier AKagi and many more which are still considered to be the greatest ships to be ever created.
Now, we talk about the 4 major naval inventions in the WW2.
HMS Belfast
HMS Belfast is a Town-class light cruiser that was built for the Royal Navy. She is now permanently moored as a museum ship on the River Thames in London and is operated by the Imperial War Museum.
Construction of Belfast, the first ship in the Royal Navy to be named after the capital city of Northern Ireland and one of ten Town-class cruisers, began in December 1936. She was launched on St Patrick's Day 1938. Commissioned in early August 1939 shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, Belfast was initially part of the British naval blockade against Germany. In November 1939, Belfast struck a German mine and, in spite of fears that she would be scrapped, spent more than two years undergoing extensive repairs. Belfast returned to action in November 1942 with improved firepower, radar equipment, and armour. Belfast saw action escorting Arctic convoys to the Soviet Union during 1943 and in December 1943 played an important role in the Battle of North Cape, assisting in the destruction of the German warship Scharnhorst. In June 1944, Belfast took part in Operation Overlord supporting the Normandy landings. In June 1945, she was redeployed to the Far East to join the British Pacific Fleet, arriving shortly before the end of the Second World War.
Over the course of the modernization, Belfast was equipped with modern radar systems, an upgraded gun fire control system, and became almost a meter wider to increase her stability.
The specifications of cruiser Belfast after the modernization of 1942. Length: 613 ft 6 in Beam: 66 ft 3 in Draft: 23 ft 4 in Total displacement: 14,900 tons The power plant included 4 turbo gear Parsons turbines and 4 Admiralty boilers, and produced 80,000 horsepower. The cruiser's maximum speed reached 31 knots after the modernization. Armor Main belt: 4.5 in Decks: from 2 to 3 in Athwartship bulkheads: 2.5 in Primary armament turrets were protected by armor from 2 to 4 inches thick Armament Primary armament: 12 x 6-inch Mark 23 guns in four turrets Long-range anti-aircraft artillery: 12 x Mark 16 cannons in coaxial mounts. Caliber: 4 inches Small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery: 2 x Vickers Mark 6A 8-barrel "pom-pom" guns, caliber: 1.6 inches 4 single-barrel and 5 coaxial Oerlikon mounts. The cruiser carried two triple TR-4 torpedo launchers with a caliber of 21 inches. Three Supermarine Walrus aircraft were on board to carry out reconnaissance and fire adjustment. Cruising range: 12,200 miles (22,600 km) at 12 knots.
USS Iowa
Lead ship of her class, USS Iowa (BB-61), was commissioned at New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York, on February 22, 1943. Following the transport of President Franklin D. Roosevelt to and from the Casablanca Conference at French Morocco, in January 1943, she spent the rest of World War II in the Pacific, participating in the Marshall and Mariana Islands Campaigns; Okinawa Campaign; and the Japanese Surrender at Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. Iowa was decommissioned in March 1949 and was recommissioned two years later for the Korean War, serving as the Seventh Fleet flagship during April-October 1952. Following this duty, she transited to the Atlantic Fleet and made several European cruises until being decommissioned in February 1958. Moderinized for the 1980s defense build-up, Iowa was recomissioned in April 1984 and made several cruises to European waters. On April 19, 1989, a fire in her second sixteen-inch gun turret killed 47 crewmen. Iowa was decommissioned in October 1990 and currently serves as a museum battleship at the Port of Los Angeles, California.
U Submarines/ U-995
The U995 is probably the best example of this class of submarine (there is one other in Chicago) and its location in the pretty seaside town of LaBoe close to the stunning edifice of the Marine-Ehrenmal, and the moving U-Boat memorial, make the visit a delight even if you are not particularly interested in submarines. Blorn and Voss launched the U995 on the 22 July 1943. A few days later she was badly damaged in a bombing raid and her future put into doubt. However the demands of a severely over stretched U. Boat arm demanded that all possible submarines were made ready and after a huge amount of effort, U995 was repaired and became operational on September 16th. She was assigned to the 5th Submarine Flotilla stationed at Kiel where she successfully completed her work-up.The U995 carried out nine patrols in her career, sinking four ships, one of them being the American cargo vessel Horace Bushnell. On February 8th. 1945 Kaptain Hans-George Hess earned the Knights Cross for a daring raid into Kirkenes Fjord were he torpedoed and sunk a freighter. On May 8th. 1945 the War was over and Kapitain Hess surrendered his boat at Trondheim and spent a year in a Norwegian prison camp. (He later became a lawyer in Hanover).
Length: more than 67 meters. Beam: more than 6 meters.
Mean draft: 4.7 m. Submerged displacement: 871 tons.
Adding only one frame allowed for a 20-ton increase.
It's a side-tank submarine. Her aft and bow ends, side bulges, and deck superstructure with the conning tower's railing were welded to the pressure hull.
Maximum diameter of the pressure hull: almost 5 meters.
Thickness of the pressure hull: 18.5 to 21.5 mm.
The submarine's pressure hull is divided into six compartments:
First—forward torpedo room.
Second—forward battery compartment with commanding officers' cabins on the deck.
Third—control room with conning tower on top of it.
Fourth—living quarters with the galley.
Fifth—diesel compartment.
Sixth—aft torpedo room.
The main ballast went into five tanks: two at the ends in the outer hull; two inside the bulges; and the last one in the pressure hull, under the third compartment's deck.
Three tanks could be used to store fuel.
Armament: five torpedo launchers, caliber 533 mm.
Ammunition: 14 torpedoes.
Artillery armament: The SK C/35 gun with a caliber of 88 mm.
U 995 had the following:
Flak M42U cannon, caliber 37 mm; two Flak 38 autocannons, caliber 20 mm
Power plant: two diesel engines with a total power of 3,200 hp; two electric engines, 750 hp each;
Maximum surface speed: 17 knots. Maximum submerged speed: 7.6 knots
Operating range. Surfaced: 8,500 miles at 10 knots.
IJN Yamato
The IJN Yamato (大和,
"Great Harmony") was a Yamato-class battleship, and the lead ship of
her class as well as the soul of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was laid down
in 1937 and commissioned in 1941, weeks after the Pearl Harbor attack.
Throughout 1942, she served as the flagship for the combined fleet and the
captain of the Yamato later commanded the Battle of Midway, which resulted in a
devastating defeat for the Japanese. The Musashi later took charge of the
combined fleet. She spent some time protecting major Japanese naval bases in
Truk and Kure. She was later in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, but did not
actually take part in the battle. She only fired her guns in one naval
engagement at surface ships that were present during 1944 when firing at
American troop transports. But she was then scared off by American aircraft
from Task Force 77 under command of Clifton Sprague. It should also be noted
that TF77 only retaliated after observing the bravery of Ernst E. Evans, which
was the captain of the USS Johnston (DD-557)
In 1945, the Japanese fleet were suffering from multiple defeats.
The IJN Yamato was sent on a one-way mission to Okinawa, to beach herself and
fight until she was destroyed completely. However, on her way there, she
encountered American submarines and carriers. She was pummeled by American
aircraft while the Yamato fought back desperately. After being struck by 11
aircraft torpedoes and 6 bombs, the ship rolled over at 120-degree angle when
two bow magazines exploded and rapidly sunk the Yamato. This American victory
put an end to the superiority of the Japanese battleships, and proving that
aircraft carriers were the future of naval combat.
Total displacement: 72,808
t
Length: 263 m
Beam: 38.9 m
Draft: 10.8 m
Armament Main battery
Three turrets each having
three 40-SK Mod. 94 guns
Caliber: 460 mm
Secondary battery
Two turrets each having
three Type 3 guns Caliber: 155 mm
Anti-aircraft artillery
Twelve coaxial Type 89 guns
Caliber: 127 mm
Fifty triple-barrel and two
single-barrel Type 96 automatic cannons. Caliber: 25 mm
Air group 7 seaplanes
(reconnaissance planes and spotting aircraft).
Armor Main belt: 270–410 mm
Main turrets: 190–650 mm
Conning tower: 300–500 mm
Power plant
4 Kampon turbines and 12
Kampon RO boilers
Power: 154,000 shp
Maximum speed: over 27
knots
Operational range: 7,200
nautical miles at 16 knots
Really good
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