Author Archives: David Arkwright

On the morning of August 14, 1899, the English torpedo boat HMS Polyphemus arrived at the port of Barcelona on a courtesy visit. Apparently, she was a warship like any other, but the difference lay below the waterline. Instead of a bulbous bow, the 2,640-ton, 73-meter-long HMS Polyphemus was equipped with an armored ram that also featured a torpedo tube at the nose.

The Brazilian Navy has officially purchased the Albion-class amphibious assault ship HMS Bulwark from the United Kingdom. Bulwark will undergo a refit period before travelling to Brazil in 2026 for service entry.

USS Lardner (DD-487), a Gleaves-class destroyer of the United States Navy. Soon after he helped complete the construction of USS Lardner in 1942, shipyard worker Charles Klein joined the Navy and entered flight training school. Three years later, his Avenger crashed into the ocean, and he was rescued by a passing ship. It was the Lardner.

USS Sampson stopped at the former US Navy facility Fort Rodman, subsequent to transiting the Panama for operations off Venezuela. A good shot of her 5-inch/62 calibre Mark 45 lightweight gun, a standard armament on Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.