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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!

Naval heroism, politics and Jutland: the story of Jack Cornwell VC

One of the most poignant human stories to come out of the Battle of Jutland was that of sixteen year old John Travers Cornwell, J/42563. He was a Boy, 1st Class, aboard HMS Chester during that clash of fleets at the end of May 1916, and he became one of the youngest...

Who won the Battle of Jutland?

On the afternoon of 31 May 1916, and on into the early hours of 1 June, the British Grand Fleet and the German fleet came to blows off the Denmark coast in a battle known to the British as the Battle of Jutland, to the Germans as the Skagerrak.[1] It was the first –...

Admiral Sir John Fisher and the first fast battleships

At the end of 1904 Britain’s First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir John Fisher, set up a committee that met over a period of several months into early 1905 and produced two new types of vessel: an all big-gun battleship and its armoured cruiser homologue. The latter...

Skegs? What do they do? – Warship Tech

Skegs are an unusual feature of warship construction. Some warships had them, others did not. Some warships buried only a few of their shafts inside of skegs, others buried all of them. This seemingly random use of skegs has made them the subject of considerable...

The story behind the battlecruiser HMAS Australia

In March 1909 there was a good deal of around Australia’s major cities about responding to the latest Imperial naval crisis by giving Britain a battleship. At a time when social militarism was a major feature of society the call resonated. It also came on the eve of a...

Yamato Class Armor – Battleship Examination

Based on popular perception, the Yamato class battleships might be associated with a sledgehammer. A tool conveying power, weight, size, and simplicity. Today, the Yamato class are remembered for their large naval guns, tremendous size, and singular purpose of...

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...

Royal Canadian Navy have they missed an opportunity?

With new vessels on the horizon for the Royal Canadian navy is there something they have missed?

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]...

Aircraft Launching Devices of the Imperial Japanese Navy: Vol 1B – Flying-Off Platforms on Wakamiya and Yamashiro

By Joseph Ed. Low, and Sander Kingsepp. This is the second of a series of articles that explores the history of aircraft launching devices used by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) that will be featured on the NGB (Naval General Board) website. The series started with...

Britain’s Majestic class battleships, part 2 – the politics

Britain’s nine Majestic class battleships of the 1890s were the largest single class of battleships ever built. As we saw in the previous article, the class introduced a range of key technologies, and the Admiralty wanted them in order to maintain the ‘two power...

Triple Turrets vs. Three-Gun Turrets : Quick Read

Perhaps one of the most common simplifications when discussing warships occurs when discussing their turret styles. For instance, a battleship might be described as having twin turrets, triple turrets, or even quadruple turrets. This of course refers to the number of...

Room 40 : Cryptanalysis during World War I

The sailor in Room 53 has never, it's true, been to sea but though not in a boat he has served afloat — in a bath in the Admiralty' Dillwyn ‘Dilly’ Knox, Cryptographer Room 40 . BEGINNINGS In London there is a building that has stood on its site since 1726. A two...

How do Torpedoes Damage a Ship?

Nothing shook warship designers so much as the arrival of the torpedo. Striking the ship below the water line, torpedoes could deliver an incredible amount of explosive power to a part of the warship that is not easily protected. Designers would learn that there was...

The Armoured Conning Tower on Battleships

Even the mightiest warship, with its intimidating guns and thick armor, would be severely handicapped without a conning tower. The conning tower served as the control center for a warship, allowing officers to observe everything around the ship and direct it. What Is...

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...

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...

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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