Historical Naval Battles

Vintage photographs depicting naval forces during historical wars, featuring battleships and aircraft carriers in action or at anchor.

Torpedo Boats - British Navy. August 24, 1939.
Torpedo Boats - British Navy. August 24, 1939.
254 assets in this story
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Naval Battle of Santiago, Spanish Civil War
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US Navy plane F9F Blue Angel landing on Bon Homme Richard Aircraft Carrier
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A starboard beam view of the nuclear-powered attack submarine ASHEVILLE (SSN-758) underway during pre-commissioning trails off the Virginia Capes. Country: Atlantic Ocean (AOC)
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Anefo photo collection. Navy Navy Anefo London series. HR. Ms. "Van Ghent", set fire own crew walked reef. February 15, 1942. Bamidjo, Indonesia, Dutch East Indies
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Black and white photograph of World War II (1939-1945); US navy personnel fighting the fire of the USS West Virginia during the surprise attack by the Empire of Japan on the American naval base at Pearl Harbour Hawaii on 7 December 1941. The attack resulted in the United States declaring war on Japan and entering World War II.
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The Second Indochina War, known in America as the Vietnam War, was a Cold War era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the U.S. and other anti-communist nations. The U.S. government viewed involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam and part of their wider strategy of containment. The North Vietnamese government viewed the war as a colonial war, fought initially against France, backed by the U.S., and later against South Vietnam, which it regarded as a U.S. puppet state. U.S. military advisors arrived beginning in 1950. U.S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with U.S. troop levels tripling in 1961 and tripling again in 1962. U.S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965. Operations spanned
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The U.S.S. Maine being blown up in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, 1898
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Fleet Assembles for King Naval Review at Spithead - An aerial view of the fleet assembled at Spithead this morning for the King's naval review this afternoon. May 20, 1937. (Photo by Barratts Photo Press Agency).
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"The Evacuation of Dunkirk" France, Dunkirk, 1940 painting by Charles Cundall (1890 - 1971)
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Pacific Ocean: August, 1942 U.S. Navy scout bomber crashes while landing on the aircraft carrrier flight deck and ends up in the catwalk as ground crews rush to assist.
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Anefo photo collection. Aerial recording. Torpedo boat hunter HR. Ms. "Isaac Sweers". 1940-1942}. Britain
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The Royal Navy during the Second World War Army assault troops landing from a landing craft assault (LCA 57) as naval beach parties and commandos train at HMS SAUNDERS, Kabrit, Bitter Lakes near the Mediterranean.
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In a naval engagement off Heligoland, the British battlecruiser 'Lion' sinks a German cruiser. 1914
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Theatre #19 - (Simpson Harbor, Rabaul, New Britain) Bombing.
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A remote control target boat is fired upon by .50-caliber machine guns manned by members of the battleship USS IOWA (BB-61) Marine detachment. Country: Unknown
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U.S. amphibious tanks, commonly known as "Alligators", practice landing tactics" somewhere in New Guines". These tanks along with other types of landing craft played a major role in the successful landing by U.S. troops at Arawe, New Britain last Wednesday. The "Alligator" is one of the latest types of landing equipment developed thus far by the U.S. Army. December 26, 1943. (Photo by USA Signal Crops Photo).
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Anefo photo collection. Work on the hydrograph. March 13, 1946
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Ministry of Information Second World War Press Agency Print Collection HM Submarine TRIAD at Stavanger, Norway.
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The saga of the Salmon, a British submarine, which let the Bremen go, but torpedoed a German submarine and two cruisers, the Leipzig and the Blucher. December 1939
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Artificial Breakwater Off French Beachhead -- This picture, taken from a B-26 Marauder of the Ninth U.S. Air Force, shows 13 Liberty ships formed into a protecting screen for vessels unloading supplies on a French beachhead. American Liberty Ships were deliberately scuttled off the beaches in the early days of the Allied landings in France to form makeshift breakwaters for supply ships unloading men and material. this picture has just been released by the censor. Ninth U.S. Air Force Photo. November 27, 1944. (Photo by U.S. Office of War Information Picture).
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The Royal Navy during the Second World War The German destroyer Z 19 HERMANN KUHNE beached at Hepjangs Fjord and burning furiously during the second British naval action off Narvik.
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The throw at Bemmel (object 1) was intended to close the Waal. The ships have just passed the arrowam. In the distance, Nijmegen can be seen and on the right in the photo De Ooijpolder. The IJssellinie during the Cold War.
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Ships of the Northern Fleet with paratroopers on the way to Petsamo, Finland. October 1944
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The Royal Navy during the Second World War Motor gun boats in line abreast at speed. Nearest is MGB 60 with MGB 62 and MGB 65 further back.
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The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 - 5 September 1905) was the first great war of the 20th century which grew out of the rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea. The major theatres of operations were Southern Manchuria, specifically the area around the Liaodong Peninsula and Mukden, the seas around Korea, Japan, and the Yellow Sea. The resulting campaigns, in which the Japanese military attained victory over the Russian forces arrayed against them, were unexpected by world observers. As time transpired, these victories would transform the balance of power in East Asia, resulting in a reassessment of Japan's recent entry onto the world stage. The embarrassing string of defeats inflamed the Russian people's dissatisfaction with their inefficient and corrupt Tsarist government, and proved a major cause of the Russian Revolution of 1905.
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After the fire. Battered by aerial torpedoes and bomb hits, the USS Arizona rests on the bottom of Pearl Harbor. December 7, 1941
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Pearl Harbor - Aerial photograph from 2500 feet altitude, looking southward, showing the U.S. Fleet moored in the harbor on 3 May 1940. This was soon after the conclusion of Fleet Problem XXI and four days before word was received that the Fleet was to be retained in Hawaiian waters. There are eight battleships and the carrier Yorktown (CV-5) tied up by Ford Island, in the center of the harbor. Two more battleships and many cruisers, destroyers and other Navy ships also present, most of them moored in groups in East Loch, in the foreground. A few of the destroyers are wearing experimental dark
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The Battle of the Somme, July - November 1916 Battle of Albert. The German trenches near La Boisselle under bombardment shortly before the British assault on 1 July.
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Fuel lines trail in the water as they are passed from the aircraft carrier USS FORRESTAL (CV-59) to the frigate USS ELMER MONTGOMERY (FF-1082) during the allied forces exercise Team Work '88. Subject Operation/Series: TEAM WORK '88 Country: North Atlantic Ocean
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Aerial recording of ships belonging to NATO StanavForchan (Standing Naval Force in The Channel), including Dutch mines / hunters in May 1989. v.L.n.R. Behind the British "ton" class mine hunter HMS Iveston (M 1151, 1955), for the German Lindau class Mine hunter FGS Koblenz (M 1071, 1958), the mine hunter Hr.Ms. Alkmaar (M 850, 1983-2000), Danish Lindorms Class MijnElegger KDM Unloading (N 44, 1978), the British "Hunt" Class Mine hunter / Veger HMS Dulverton (M 35, 1983), the Belgian tripartite Mine hunter BNS Fuchsia (M 919, 1988) And the Norwegian minesweeper KNM Alta (M 314, 1954).
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Information office radio broadcaster Dutch Guinea. Papua migrants Indonesia. April 1960. Guinea
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German gunners defending a coastal battery in the Ruhr against RAF bombers, 2-6 June, 1940 during World War Two. From The War in Pictures, First Year.
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The Second Battle of Sirte, March 2, 1942, by Norman Wilkinson (1878-1971). World War II, Libya, 20th century.
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Marines Advance On Okinawa: Behind an amphibious armored tank, U.S. marines advance at the edge of Yontan Airstrip on Okinawa in the Ryukyus shortly after landing April 1. An underground gas tank is burning in background. April 08, 1945. (Photo by AP Wirephoto).
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Pearl Harbor, T.H. - Thick smoke rolls out of a burning ship during the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. December 7, 1941. Photo by US Signal Corps
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Revenue Cutter Onondaga, Exploding mines to remove wreck from path of navigation. Photographs of Revenue Cutter Service Cadets, Ships and Activities. Department of the Treasury
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Photo collection Service for army contacts Indonesia. DLC The battle in Palestine. Photo production of a newspaper article about the battle in Palestine. October 29, 1948. Indonesia, Dutch East Indies
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Illustration by Oliver P. Bernard of the 'Lusitania' sinking, having been struck by a German U-boat torpedo. The last lifeboat leaves the starboard side of the liner, just missing a funnel. Bernard was a survivor of the disaster of May 7th 1915, which claimed 1200 lives. Date: May 15th 1915
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Submarine HMS choices at sea, 1935 submarine HMS elections at sea, 1935.
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Submarines and Submarine Officers. 4 February 1943, Malta. HMS TROOPER leaving harbour on patrol.
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HMAS Tactician. July 05, 1950.
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The Shark firing her last torpedo in the Battle of Jutland - 1916
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'Seine Crossings' by American School Date: I
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German warship bombing Danzig air-mailed to Melbourne. September 22, 1939.
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***** Planes, huge clouds of smoke, and more bombs falling, mark ***** of the Japanese airbase at Hollandia (Dutch New Guinea) by General MacArthur's bombers. At least 288 enemy planes were demolished in three days attacks. September 4, 1944. (Photo by USA Fifth Air Force).
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Dim formation over water is performed by aircraft T 2, 1945 Dim formation over water is performed by aircraft T 2
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Battle of Tsushima, May 1905. Russo-Japanese War, South Korea-Japan, 20th century.
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DD-685 Picking , Ships, Naval Vessels, Boats, Naval History, Navy
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DN-SN-85-01901. Country: Mediterranean Sea (MED)
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World War II: American soldiers landing in Normandy, France, 1944.
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Following the German defeat in WWI, 74 ships of the Kaiserliche Marines High Seas Fleet were interned in Gutter Sound at Scapa Flow pending a decision on their future in the peace Treaty of Versailles. On 21 June 1919, after nine months of waiting, Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, the German officer in command at Scapa Flow, made the decision to scuttle the fleet because the negotiation period for the treaty had lapsed with no word of a settlement 1919
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A neutral ship in flames in mid ocean, set afire by a German submarine during World War I, circa 1917
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U.S. Navy carrier aircraft attack the Japanese battleship Haruna at her moorings near Kure, Japan, 28 July 1945.
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Smoke and white water are all that is visible as the Panamanian ship "Sky One" sinks completely below the surface. The tank landing ship USS SUMTER (LST 1181) and the amphibious assault ship USS INCHON (LPH 12) were utilized in the rescue of crewmen. Country: Mediterranean Sea (MED)