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Potsdam Declaration

C. Peter Chen — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 09:00:00

We-the President of the United States, the President of the National Government of the Republic of China, and the Prime Minister of Great Britain, representing the hundreds of millions of our countrymen, have conferred and agree that Japan shall be given an opportunity to end this war.

Vernon Sturdee

C. Peter Chen — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:00:00

Vernon Ashton Hobart Sturdee was the son of a medical practitioner, born in Frankston, Victoria, Australia at the beginning of the last decade of the nineteenth century. In 1911 Vernon Sturdee joined the Royal Australian Engineers, receiving the rank of lieutenant. He married Edith Robins in the ...

Voroshilov

C. Peter Chen — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:00:00

Light cruiser Voroshilov was assigned to the Black Sea Fleet in mid-1940. Between 14 and 20 Jun 1941, she participated in fleet maneuvers. On 23 Jun, after the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union began, she shelled Constanza, Romania with other ships, and that action resulted in the loss of Russi...

Kirov-class

C. Peter Chen — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:00:00

In 1933, the Soviet Union began the Second Five-Year Plan program which aimed to bolster the Soviet Navy. Among the program was a new class of cruisers, Project 26 originally requested to be 6,000 tons with two twin 180-millimeter turrets and top speed of 37 to 38 knots. Italian firm Ansaldo wa...

Kirov

C. Peter Chen — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:00:00

Kirov was the lead ship of her class of light cruiser initially requested in 1933. Envisioned to be a light cruiser equipped with heavy armament (180-millimeter guns) while possessing high speed (top speed of 37 to 38 knots), the joint-venture with Italian firm Ansaldo was launched in Nov 1936. ...

LCI(L)-class

C. Peter Chen — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:00:00

Early in the European War, the British drew up a requirement for a design tentatively named as "Giant Raiding Craft", or "GRC". It was envisioned that large craft around the size o 150-feet in length would be able to deliver 200 soldiers directly to beaches up to 230 miles away from the United K...

Landing Craft, Infantry and Fire Support

C. Peter Chen — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:00:00

In a naval war, the larger capital ships unfairly gathered the attention of the world. Ships such as Bismarck, Repulse, Enterprise, and Yamato, being single ships, overshadowed the numerous smaller ships or craft that collectively furthered the war effort for their respective nations than these ...

Leipzig

C. Peter Chen — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:00:00

Leipzig was the lead ship of her class of light cruisers of the German Navy. During the Spanish Civil War, she patrolled off the coast of Spain as part of the international naval blockade, under the command of Captain Otto Schenk. On 13 Dec 1939, she was torpedoed by British submarine Salmon an...

Message from Churchill to Matsuoka

C. Peter Chen — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:01:31

I venture to suggest a few questions which it seems to me deserve the attention of the Imperial Japanese Government and people.

Will Germany, without the command of the sea or the command of the British daylight air, be able to invade and conquer Great Britain in the spring, summer or autum...

Churchill's Speech 'The Few' to the House of Commons

C. Peter Chen — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:03:51

Almost a year has passed since the war began, and it is natural for us, I think, to pause on our journey at this milestone and survey the dark, wide field. It is also useful to compare the first year of this second war against German aggression with its forerunner a quarter of a century ago. Althoug...

H35

C. Peter Chen — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:00:00

The Char l�ger mod�le 1935 H light tanks, or H35 for short, were designed by the French firm Soci�t� Anonyme des Anciens Etablissements Hotchkiss et Cie in 1933 as light and relatively inexpensive tanks to reinforce the French Army. The design was approved on 30 Jun 1933. The spec...

Ryuzo Sejima

C. Peter Chen — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:00:00

Ryuzo Sejima was born in western Toyama Prefecture in the area now known as the city of Oyabe. His father was a farmer. He graduated from the Japanese Army Military Academy on 11 Jul 1932 and received a silver watch from Emperor Showa (Hirohito). He was promoted to the rank of second lieutenan...

Former SS Boere on Trial in Germany

C. Peter Chen — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:00:00

Heinrich Boere, age 88, was put on trial in Aachen, Germany on 28 Oct 2009 on charge of murder of three Dutch men in 1944. The killings were said to be reprisal killings for Dutch resistance activities. Boere was a member of the Waffen-SS, the military arm of the Nazi SS organization, which was...

76 mm Divisional Gun M1936 (F-22)

C. Peter Chen — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:00:00

The 76 mm Divisional Gun M1936 (F-22) semi-universal field guns; "semi" because while they were meant to also be used as anti-aircraft guns, they rarely served in this role due to the ineffectiveness in that capacity. These guns were developed by V. G. Grabin started in 1934. The first three proto...

Hyuga

C. Peter Chen — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:00:00

Hyuga was named for the Hyuga Province in Kyushu, Japan. She was initially built as a conventional battleship; among her long list of skippers were later high ranking naval officers such as Soemu Toyoda, Matome Ugaki, and Shoji Nishimura. In the mid-1930s, she was drydocked for modernization, r...