🧵74 years ago tonight, in pitch-black water 490 miles off Newfoundland, a U.S. Navy destroyer turned the wrong way for 10 seconds.

176 men died.

It became the worst U.S. peacetime naval disaster since WW2, and birthed the most quoted editorial in Navy history 👇 1/ April 26, 1952. No moon. Calm sea.

Two task groups are racing toward the Mediterranean. The aircraft carrier USS Wasp (CV 18) is launching jets for a mock night strike.

The little destroyer-minesweeper USS Hobson (DMS 26) is her plane guard, there to fish out any pilot who ditches.

🧵In 1912, the U.S. Navy made a decision that changed warship design forever: Stop armoring most of the ship entirely.

It was called the "All or Nothing" armor scheme, and it was one of the most counterintuitive ideas in military history.

Here's why it worked 👇 1/ Before "All or Nothing," battleships spread armor everywhere. Thick plates amidships, thinner plates on the bow and stern, moderate armor on gun positions.

The idea? Protect as much of the ship as possible.
The problem? It was actually getting sailors killed.

🧵81 years ago today, on April 7th 1945, the largest battleship ever built was sent on a suicide mission she was never meant to survive.

This is the story of the Yamato's final voyage 👇 1/ By April 1945, Japan was collapsing. Cities were burning nightly under B-29 firebombs. Iwo Jima had fallen. And now 250,000 American troops were landing on Okinawa, the last island before Japan itself.

The Imperial Navy had almost nothing left. Except one ship.

🧵 You know those massive gun turrets on WW2 battleships? Ever wonder what it was like to actually be INSIDE one during a naval battle? A thread on one of the most intense jobs in military history 👇 1/ First, the scale. Each 16-inch turret on an Iowa-class battleship extended SIX levels deep into the hull — from the gunhouse above deck down to the powder magazines near the ship's bottom. Up to 94 men crammed inside a single turret. On the North Carolina, it was over 150.

🧵The United States has eight museum battleships. Japan has none but lost hers in defeat. Britain, the greatest naval power in history, ruler of the waves for three centuries, also has none. And that was a choice. Let's talk about it 👇 1/ After WWII, the Royal Navy still had a formidable fleet of battleships. HMS Vanguard, completed in 1946, was the last battleship ever built for any navy. King George V, Duke of York, Anson, and Howe all served with distinction. HMS Warspite had arguably the most storied career of any warship in the 20th century.

🧵The deadliest submarine hunter in history wasn't a ship. He was a man.

Captain Frederic "Johnnie" Walker sank 20 German U-Boats during WW2, more than any other Allied commander. He literally broke the back of the U-Boat wolf packs.

Here's his story 👇 1/ Walker was obsessed with anti-submarine warfare before it was fashionable. While other officers chased glamorous battleship commands, he volunteered for the Royal Navy's anti-submarine school in Portland — a career dead-end at the time.

That "dead-end" would save the war.

🧵 Why Did the Nelson-Class Look Like THAT? Let’s find out 👇 1/ The HMS Nelson and HMS Rodney are two of the weirdest-looking battleships ever built. All three main turrets crammed forward of the bridge, a blocky superstructure shoved to the back, and a silhouette that made sailors from other navies laugh. But there's a reason for every bit of it.

🧵 The Search for Yamato — the largest battleship ever built

For decades, the ocean kept her secret.

This is the story of how historians, veterans, and deep-sea explorers finally found Yamato nearly 1,000 meters beneath the waves 👇 1/ When Yamato was sunk on April 7, 1945, the battle was witnessed by hundreds of American aircraft—but no one knew exactly where she went down.

Survivors were few. Coordinates were approximate. The sea swallowed everything else.

🧵On this day in 1941, the pride of the Royal Navy—HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse—steamed into history. Known as Force Z, they sailed to challenge Japan’s offensive in Southeast Asia.

By sunset, both were gone. The age of the battleship died with them👇 1/ When Force Z left Singapore on 8 December, morale was high. Admiral Sir Tom Phillips believed speed and maneuver could shield his ships from air attack. It was a fatal assumption. No air cover accompanied them.

🧵Ever wondered why Britain, the world’s greatest naval power, didn’t save a single one of her mighty battleships?

No HMS Warspite, Rodney, King George V or Nelson remains.

Here’s why the Royal Navy let every last one go to the breakers 👇 1/ After 1945, Britain was broke.

Two world wars had drained the treasury and the empire was collapsing.

Every ship was weighed against cost and purpose—and battleships were expensive relics of a bygone age.
Scrapping them brought in desperately needed steel and money.

🧵Was the battleship Bismarck overrated?

The Bismarck looms large in WWII naval history—famous for sinking HMS Hood and for the massive Royal Navy operation mounted to destroy her.

But fame isn’t the same as effectiveness. Let’s dig in👇 1/ Displacement: 50,000+ tons when fully loaded.
Main battery: eight 15-inch guns.
Armor: impressive, with a strong belt and good protection.

On paper, Bismarck looked like a super-battleship—fast, well-protected, and heavily armed.

🧵The last surviving WW2 Victoria Cross recipient has died: John Alexander Cruickshank, a 24-year-old RAF pilot during WWII, received the Victoria Cross for an act of sheer bravery and determination in July 1944.

His story is one of survival, leadership, and refusing to give up when death seemed certain 👇 1/ Cruickshank was captain of a Consolidated Catalina flying boat with No. 210 Squadron, Royal Air Force Coastal Command.

His unit’s mission: long patrols over the North Atlantic, guarding vital convoys against German U-boats.

🧵Meet Donald K. Ross: the first Medal of Honor recipient of World War 2, awarded for extraordinary heroism aboard the USS Nevada during the Attack on Pearl Harbor.

His story is one of courage, skill, and unwavering determination 👇 1/ Donald Kirby Ross was born on October 18, 1910, in Beverly, Kansas. Growing up in the heartland, he showed a quiet determination that would define his life.

🧵Admiral "Bull" Halsey: The U.S. Navy's Most Aggressive Commander of WWII

A sailor who roared through the Pacific like a typhoon. Beloved by his men. Feared by his enemies. Sometimes reckless—but always bold.

This is the story of Admiral William F. Halsey.👇 1/ Born in 1882, Halsey was a fighter long before he ever saw a battlefield. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1904 and became a destroyer commander during WWI. But his career didn’t skyrocket until he earned his wings—at age 52.

Yes. Halsey became an aviator.

🧵Who was the best British admiral of World War II?

Most have heard of Churchill or Montgomery. But few know the man who dominated the Mediterranean and crushed the Italian Navy.

Meet Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham — Britain’s unsung naval titan.👇 1/ Born in 1883, Cunningham joined the Royal Navy at just 14. By WWII, he was a hardened veteran of the Great War.

Quiet, fierce, and razor-sharp, he rose to command the Royal Navy’s Mediterranean Fleet — a theater vital to British control of North Africa and the Suez Canal.

🧵Could U-Boats Have Won the Battle of the Atlantic?

The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest continuous campaign of WWII. For six brutal years, German U-Boats hunted Allied shipping across the Atlantic, aiming to starve Britain into submission.

But could they have actually won?

Let’s dive in. 🌊🐺 1/ Germany came close—very close—to winning.

In early 1943, U-Boats were sinking ships faster than the Allies could replace them. Britain’s survival teetered on a knife’s edge. Churchill would later say, “The only thing that ever really frightened me during the war was the U-Boat peril.”

🧵Was the Battleship Yamato Overrated?
The most massive warship ever built, Yamato was the pride of the Imperial Japanese Navy. But did she live up to the hype — or was she a steel dinosaur doomed from the start?
Let’s break it down.👇 1/ Commissioned in 1941, Yamato displaced over 70,000 tons at full load and was armed with nine monstrous 18.1-inch guns — the largest naval artillery ever mounted on a warship. She was designed to sink any enemy ship before they got close.

🧵 The heroic last stand of HMS Glowworm : A David vs. Goliath story at sea.

April 8, 1940. The Norwegian Sea. A lone British destroyer stares down a German heavy cruiser ten times its size… and charges. 1/ HMS Glowworm was a G-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. Lightly armed with 4.7-inch guns, she wasn’t built to take on large warships. But war rarely respects balance sheets.

On this day in 1945, the Japanese battleship Yamato—the largest and most powerful battleship ever built—was sent on a one-way mission. It never came back. This is the story of her final hours 🧵 2/ Yamato was a behemoth: 72,000 tons fully loaded, bristling with 18.1-inch guns—the largest ever mounted on a warship. It was Japan’s symbol of naval might, designed to outgun anything afloat.

Why Was the Bismarck So Feared? A Deep Dive 🧵👇 1/ The Bismarck was the most powerful battleship Germany ever built and one of the most feared warships of World War II. She struck terror into the Royal Navy and was a top priority for destruction. But why? Let's break it down.