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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!

The loss of Prince of Wales and Repulse Part 1: prelude to disaster

The loss of Prince of Wales and Repulse to Japanese air attack off the Malayan (Malaysian) coast, on 10 December 1941,[1] was a human tragedy, although the precise death toll has been variously given. The official figure is 840: however numbers given in various...

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...

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...

David and Goliath in the Solomons: the ‘pocket corvettes’ Kiwi and Moa vs I-1

By early 1943 the battle for Guadalcanal was in full swing. Japan was supplying its forces on the island by night, often by submarine. United States forces were supported by New Zealand and Australian ground, air and naval units, which included the three Bird-class...

The pursuit of the Goeben and the battle of the River Plate

The Battle of the River Plate is one of the best known encounters of the Second World War. It was the first major sea battle of that conflict, and it came on 13 December 1939, a time when the so-called ‘phony war’ was in full swing – the brief period when the Second...

Warships of Mare Island Shipyard during World War 2

Of the many shipyards used by the United States Navy during the Second World War, few were as busy as the Mare Island Shipyard in California. Famous as the first United States Naval Base on the Pacific Ocean, Mare Island was a hive of activity during World War 2....

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 hero of the Hood Battalion

When the First World War broke out in August 1914, the British Admiralty had plans to field ground forces, largely to seize coastal areas, if required, for naval bases. Historically there was nothing unusual about sailors fighting ashore. What was unusual was the...

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...

Japanese Attack on the United States Coast

Over the course of the Second World War, the continent of North America was largely spared the destruction seen elsewhere. Just as a moat protects a castle, the Atlantic and Pacific oceans protected the United States. American industry was able to support the war...

High resolution photos of HMS Hood in Wellington, 1924

In November 1923 a British squadron led by HMS Hood embarked on a world tour that took in key elements of Britain’s far-flung Empire and a range of Britain’s main trading partners. It was in many respects a repeat of the 1913 world tour by HMS New Zealand,[1]...

Battleship showdown: Vanguard vs. Tirpitz – what might have happened

In the previous article we looked at HMS Vanguard, Britain’s last battleship. She was completed too late for the Second World War.[1] But what if she had been able to join that conflict, as originally intended when she was first planned in 1939? Could we have had...

The USS Midway and her Greatest Carrier Landing

By the end of April 1975, North Vietnamese forces were closing in on Saigon. It was apparent that South Vietnam was going to fall. The US was already evacuating people from major airports. However, the NVA was on the outskirts of Saigon and several airports were...

Largest Cruisers of World War 2

After the success of our article on the largest battleships of all time, we received a lot of requests for a similar article on cruisers. So without further delay, Navy General Board presents the twelve largest cruisers of World War 2 ! 16. USS Wichita (13,015 Long...

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. 

Canada’s Next Generation Submarine

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

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...

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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