Tanks in World War II
Warships of World War II
HMS Hood
The HMS Hood was a vessel owned by the Royal Navy, and was considered the pride of the Royal Navy. The HMS Hood was a massive battle cruiser armed with armaments and armor identical to battleships. In WWII, the Hood was considered to be one of the most powerful battle cruisers.
The HMS Hood weighed 41,200 tons, and had a crew of 1,419 of Royal Navy personnel. The HMS Hood had a maximum speed of 32 knots, this was caused by having minimal amount of armor. In 1918, the Hood was launched. Armed with 8 x 15 inch guns, 12 x 5.5 inch guns, 8 x 4 inch AA guns, 24 x 2 pound guns, and 4 x 21 inch torpedoes. On May 24, 1941, the Bismarck sunk the pride of the Royal Navy. First the Prinz Eugen hit the Hood, setting some of the anti-aircraft shells kept on the deck on fire. The fire was not dangerous for the Hood, it only produced a lot of smoke. It was then artillery fired from the Bismarck hit the HMS Hood. The Bismarck fired from over 17,000 meters. One of the shells from the Bismarck penetrated the Hood's deck, causing one of the Hood's magazines to explode. The explosion tore the Hood in half. A total of 1,416 crewmen died, leaving three survivors. |
USS South Dakota
The USS South Dakota was the second ship in the United States Navy to be named after the state of South Dakota, and had the nickname of Battleship X during WWII. The South Dakota was commissioned on March 20, 1942, and was decommissioned on January 31, 1947. Later on, the USS South Dakota was sold for scrap.
The USS South Dakota had a length of 680.8 feet, weighed 44,374 tons, and had 2,354 Navy personnel on board. The South Dakota had a maximum speed of 28 knots. The armament on the USS South Dakota was 9 x 16 inch 45 caliber guns, 16 x 5 inch 38 caliber guns, 68 x 40 millimeter guns, and 76 x 20 millimeter guns. |
INS Yamato
The Yamato was the largest battleship in WWII. The Yamato was owned by the Japanese Navy. The intentions on building such a massive battleship was to have the Japanese Navy control the Pacific Theater. The Yamato was commissioned in December 16, 1941. Four years later, the Yamato was sunk on April 7, 1945.
The Yamato had a length of 863 feet, weighed 72,809 tons, and had 2,750 Japanese Navy personnel. The Yamato had a maximum speed of 27 knots. The armament The Yamato had was 9 x 46 centimeter guns, 6 x 15.5 centimeter guns, 24 x 12.7 centimeter guns, 162 x 22 millimeter AA guns, 4 x 13 millimeter AA guns, 650 millimeter main battery turrets, 410 millimeter secondary battery turrets, and 200 millimeter deck turrets. On April 7, 1945, the Yamato was hoping to destroy the Allied fleet off the coast of Okinawa. The Yamato had insufficient air cover and struck by 19 American aerial torpedoes. The Yamato was sunk and drowned 2,498 Japanese Navy personnel. |
SS Bismarck
This Iconic German battleship made famous in May of 1941 by sinking the HMS Hood, within the first ten minutes of open sea battle. Built primarily as a German commerce raider rather then an open sea gunnery platform, this ship seen limited use in the opening stages of WWII.
The Bismarck displaced over 50,000 tons and 40% of this displacement was armor. Such armor gave the Bismarck many advantages in protection but it did not inhibit her speed – she was capable of 29 knots. Launched in 1939, the Bismarck carried a formidable array of weaponry – 8 x 15 inch guns, 12 x 5.9 inch guns, 16 x 4.1 inch AA guns, 16 x 20mm AA guns, and 2 x Arado 96 aircraft. The Bismarck had a crew of 2,200. |
Planes of WWII
American Planes
P-51 Mustang
B-29 Liberator
B-29 Liberator
British Planes
Avro Lancaster
Super Marine Spitfire
Super Marine Spitfire
Russian Planes
Yakovlev Yac-3
Ilyushin IL-2 Sturmovik
Ilyushin IL-2 Sturmovik
German Planes
Junkers JU-87 (Stuka)
Messerschmitt Bf-109
Messerschmitt Bf-109
Japanese Planes
Mitsubishi A6M Rei-sen (Zero)
Mitsubishi G4M (Betty)
Mitsubishi G4M (Betty)
French Planes
Bell P-39 Airacobra
Bell P-63 Kingcobra
Bell P-63 Kingcobra
Sited Pages
"HMS Hood". HistoryLearningSite.co.uk. 2014. Web. 11 May 2015.
History.com Staff. "The Bismarck Sinks the Hood." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 11 May 2015.
"USS South Dakota (BB 57)." USS South Dakota (BB 57). Navysite.de, Web. 12 May 2015.
Chen, C. Peter. "Battleship Yamato." WW2DB RSS. Lava Development, 2004. Web. 12 May 2015.
History.com Staff. "Japanese Battleship Yamato Is Sunk by Allied Forces." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 12 May 2015.
"The Bismarck." The Bismarck. HistoryLearningSite.co.uk, 2014. Web. 14 May 2015.
History.com Staff. "The Bismarck Sinks the Hood." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 11 May 2015.
"USS South Dakota (BB 57)." USS South Dakota (BB 57). Navysite.de, Web. 12 May 2015.
Chen, C. Peter. "Battleship Yamato." WW2DB RSS. Lava Development, 2004. Web. 12 May 2015.
History.com Staff. "Japanese Battleship Yamato Is Sunk by Allied Forces." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 12 May 2015.
"The Bismarck." The Bismarck. HistoryLearningSite.co.uk, 2014. Web. 14 May 2015.
Last Updated: May 13, 2015