INFOGRAPHICS #41: The United States Navy cruisers and destroyers in 2019

Written by D-Mitch

US Navy Arleigh Burke class destroyers and Ticonderoga class cruisers

In the following infographic, The United States Navy Cruisers & Destroyers in 2019, I depict all the cruisers and destroyers that will be in active service with the United States Navy by December 31, 2019. A similar graph (#1) titled The United States Navy Submarines in 2019, illustrates all the submarines that are in active service with the United States Navy in February 2, 2019. Currently, the United States Navy operates a massive amount of powerful guided missile large surface combatants,  92 in total (!), consisting of two 190-meter Zumwalt class destroyers (DDG) (which are actually 16,000ton cruisers) with one more vessel to join the fleet this year, 22 Ticonderoga class cruisers (CG) and 66 Arleigh Burke class destroyers with two more vessels to join the fleet this year. The Ticonderoga class cruisers are "double enders", and along with the Zumwalt class "destroyers", are the only surface combatants in the US fleet that can employ two large caliber guns simultaneously. Ticonderogas have received several upgrades including the removal of the AN/SPS-49 radar and the installation of the SPQ-9B radar on the first 11 vessels in the class. Currently, the US Navy has no frigates in the fleet. However, if the littoral combat ships of the Freedom and Independence classes will receive anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile weapons, they will be considered as light frigates. 

FLEETS #27: Royal Yugoslav Navy, Polish Navy, Royal Hellenic Navy and Finnish Navy in WWII

The following images illustrate the most important classes of warships that were in service with the navies of Yugoslavia, Greece, Poland and Finland during the World War II. All the images are created by www.naval-encyclopedia.com. In that page you can read some excellent naval history articles, to download other graphs or you can purchase the same graphs in high resolution in the online shop! More posts will follow for your collection of current naval fleets but also of fleets from the past.

Royal Yugoslav Navy (Jugoslavenska Ratna Mornarica, Југословенска Pатна Mорнарица) in WWII

Click to enlarge and save the image to view the details - Royal Yugoslav Navy in WWII

FLEETS #26: The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force today

Written by D-Mitch  

The Izumo-class "helicopter destroyers" of the JMSDF. Both will
be converted to aircraft carriers and will carry F-35B fighters

Following Japan's defeat in World War II, the Imperial Japanese Navy was dissolved by the Potsdam Declaration acceptance. Japan's 1947 Constitution was drawn up after the conclusion of the war, Article 9 specifying that "The Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes." The prevalent view in Japan is that this article allows for military forces to be kept for the purposes of self-defense. In 1954, the JMSDF was formally created as the naval branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF), following the passage of the 1954 Self-Defense Forces Law. The first ships in the JMSDF were former U.S. Navy destroyers, transferred to Japanese control in 1954. In 1956, the JMSDF received its first domestically produced destroyer since World War II, Harukaze. You can read more about The evolution of Japanese destroyers after WWII. This FLEETS post is devoted exclusively to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force today, one of the most powerful navies on the planet. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (海上自衛隊 Kaijō Jieitai), JMSDF, also referred to as the Japanese Navy, is tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF has a fleet of 154 ships and 346 aircraft and consists of approximately 45,800 personnel. The first graph (G #1) includes all the carriers, submarines, destroyers, frigates, missile boats and naval aviation (ASW/SAR/MPA/ELINT) that will be in active service by March 2019. The.. "offensive" force if I may say. Note that in December 2018, the Japanese Cabinet gave approval to convert both 248-meter Izumo-class helicopter destroyers into aircraft carriers capable of operating the F-35B STOVL fighter! A second graph (#2) will follow soon in this post, whith all the replenishment ships (5 ships), mine countermeasure vessels (25 vessels), landing craft (9 craft), training ships (8 ships) and other auxiliaries.

FLEETS #25: Algerian National Navy, Latvian Naval Forces and Estonian Navy today

Written by D-Mitch

This is the seventh article about various countries' navies today. In these articles, I briefly describe a country's naval fleet by reporting the ships in each type/category of warships and by providing a nice image where all the types of warships are illustrated and the units of its class are reported. I include the vessels that will enter in service this year and I have excluded those that are about to be decommissioned. I deliberately excluded many classes of auxiliary ships; those that they have "0" defence capacity and those that have secondary roles such as hydrographic survey ships, tugs, depollution vessels and training ships.

FLEETS #24: Republic of Singapore Navy, Royal New Zealand Navy and Lithuanian Naval Force today

Written by D-Mitch

This is the sixth article about various countries' navies today. In these articles, I briefly describe a country's naval fleet by reporting the ships in each type/category of warships and by providing a nice image where all the types of warships are illustrated and the units of its class are reported. I include the vessels that will enter in service this year and I have excluded those that are about to be decommissioned. I deliberately excluded many classes of auxiliary ships; those that they have "0" defence capacity and those that have secondary roles such as hydrographic survey ships, tugs, depollution vessels and training ships.

PHOTO GALLERY #25: Chios and Lesvos, tank landing ships of the Hellenic Navy

Chios and Lesvos, tank landing ships of the Hellenic Navy

On Saturday, October 27, I visited the HS Chios (L173), tank landing ship of the Hellenic Navy, which was anchored at the Port of Thessaloniki, alongside one of her sister vessels in the class, HS Lesvos (L176). I did not visit Lesvos, because it is identical to Chios except some very few differences, but I took plenty photos of her while I was aboard Chios. The Jason class Landing Ships Tank (LST) of the Hellenic Navy (Greek: Πολεμικό Ναυτικό) consists of five (5) ship in service. Lot of information about the class you can find in the article Jason class landing ships of the Hellenic Navy. The two  ships, together with the frigate HS Hydra (F-452), lead ship of the Hydra-class frigates (MEKO 200HN), were opened to the public at Thessaloniki harbor due to the forthcoming celebration of Ohi Day (anniversary of the "No") to commemorate the rejection by Greek Prime Minister Metaxas of the ultimatum made by Italian dictator Mussolini on October 28, 1940 during WWII. Enjoy my photos!

FLEETS #23: The Royal Canadian Navy of the future

Type 26 frigate for Canada

Harry DeWolf class OPV

The Royal Canadian Navy of the future graph illustrates the main surface fleet and submarines of the Navy by the early-2040s (tankers, auxiliary vessels, etc. are not included). There are currently two major projects underway that will see upgrades to Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) capabilities. There will be, as of November 2018, up to twenty-one RCN ships under construction: up to fifteen Type 26 frigates and six Harry De Wolf-class ocean-going patrol vessels (OPV). There is no announcement yet about a Victoria-class replacement project (Naval Group Shortfin Barracuda is illustrated in the graph).

The Royal Canadian Navy of the future. High resolution image here.

FLEETS #22: The Royal Navy of the future

Dreadnought class nuclear submarine

Type 26 frigate

The Royal Navy of the future graph illustrates the main surface fleet and submarines of the Navy by the early-2040s (landing ships, tankers, auxiliary vessels, etc. are not included). There are currently several major projects underway that will see upgrades to Royal Navy (RN) capabilities. There are, as of August 2018, thirteen RN ships and submarines under construction: four Astute-class nuclear-powered submarines (boats 4-7), one Dreadnought-class ballistic missile submarine (boat 1 of 4), one Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier (ship 2 of 2), one City class (Type 26) frigate (ships 3 of 8) and four River-class Batch II ocean-going patrol vessels (ships 2-5). Early design and preparation work has begun on a fleet of at least five general-purpose frigates known as the Type 31. 

The Royal Navy of the future. High resolution image here.

FLEETS #21: The Royal Australian Navy of the future

Shortfin Barracuda

Hunter class FFG

The Royal Australian Navy of the future graph illustrates the main surface fleet and submarines of the Navy by the mid-2040s. There are currently several major projects underway that will see upgrades to Royal Australian Navy (RAN)  capabilities. The major projects for the RAN are the following:

• Project SEA 1180 Phase 1 will replace the Armidale-class patrol boats with twelve (12) new Offshore Patrol Vessels to be constructed by Lürssen. Construction will commence in Q4 2018, with the first vessel to enter service in Q4 2021. The
• Project SEA 4000 Phase 3, under which the RAN will acquire three (3) Hobart-class air warfare destroyers, built around the United States Navy Aegis air and surface combat management system. The vessels are based on the Spanish Álvaro de Bazán-class frigate. As of November 2018, two are in active service and one is currently under construction. It is more likely that by the mid-2040s the first vessels in the class will have been already retired.
• Project SEA 5000 Phase 1, where nine (9) Hunter-class frigates to replace the Anzac-class frigates. The vessels will be built in Adelaide by BAE Systems and will be a variation of the Type 26 Global Combat Ship to be operated by the Royal Navy. The last ship in the class will have entered service by 2042.
• Project SEA 1000, where twelve (12) Future Submarines will replace the Collins-class submarines. The future class is to be based on the Shortfin Barracuda proposal by French shipbuilder Naval Group. The class will enter service in the early 2030s with construction extending into the late 2040s.

The Royal Australian Navy of the future. High resolution image here.