Warship profile: USS Caldwell (DD-69)

The USS Caldwell was one of six Caldwell class destroyers constructed during World War I

The Caldwell class destroyers were a transition upgrade from the Samson class destroyers, they had a length of 315 feet and could reach speeds of up to 30 knots. The crews consisted of 95 men and 5 officers. Caldwell class destroyers were also among the first class of ship to introduce flush decks.

Armed with four 4-nch guns in single mounts and two 1 pounder AA guns along with four triple mounted torpedo tubes, the USS Caldwell began her career on the 10th of July in 1917. Her namesake was Lt James R. Caldwell, a United States officer who served in the Quasi-War from 1798 to 1800. He died in 1804 at the age of 24.

She joined the Atlantic Fleet and would take part in patrols and convoy escort duties. Caldwell would survive the war and transported troops to Brest,France and assisted with escorting US President Woodrow Wilson who was onboard the SS George Washington.

In Popular Culture

The Caldwell (with a horrible skin) in Steel Ocean

The Caldwell class destroyers appears in the free-to-play online naval game "Steel Ocean", the ship is playable right at the very start in Tier 1. It has good damage and accuracy on the guns and good reload speed for the torpedoes.

It's my favourite of the Tier 1 ships

Warship Profile: USS Chester (CL-1)

On the 26th of June 1907, the USS Chester was launched by Bath Iron Works in Maine before being commissioned on the 25th of April in 1908. Her name was in honor of Chester, Pennsylvania.

The USS Chester actually a fairly interesting career prior to her involvement in the First World War.  In early December of 1911, she patrolled the Gulf of Mexico protecting American citizens and property during the Mexican Revolution.

In April of 1912, she was in charge of escorting the HMS Carpathia after the Carpathia had picked up survivors of the sunken cruise liner, the Titanic.

She also ended up playing a vital role in the Revolution of Mexico, patrolling the Gulf of Mexico guarding US Citizens and property.

World War I

The USS Chester mostly served on patrols and escorting allied convoys between Gibraltar and Plymouth, England. This was until she came into contact with an enemy submarine, she charged the submarine in an attempt to ram it but only caused light damage to herself. However the submarine was unable to sink the Chester and slipped away.

The Chester would play a role in duties being carried out after the war's end, including inspection of German ports and carried troops operating in Northern Russia. She returned to New York on the 7th of May in 1919 before undergoing a name change to "York"

She would be sold for scrap in 1930.

In popular culture

The Chester is a playable ship in World of Warships, she is unlocked at Tier II and in my opinion is a very fun ship to play.

Top 5 Warships in World of Warships

I love this game so much, so here are my 5 favourite ships from the game, this is just a personal opinion

Number 5: Hermelin from Germany

I have to include the ship I started with, this is the ship that I played for my first few hours of this game. So this ship deserves a spot, it was playing this ship that got me hooked. It only has two main batteries but it has good rotation, reloading speed and maneuverability. Damage is what you would expect from a Tier 1 ship.

Number 4: HMS Campbeltown

I don't main Destroyers but when I feel playing them, I always choose the Campbeltown...the drawbacks are the usual for destroyers...low armor and low damage guns but she has incredible speed and maneuverability. Those three torpedos have saved my butt numerous times in game!

Number 3: USS Arizona

The Arizona was the first battleship I ever built a Revell model kit of it, so the ship always carried a special place in my heart for me, so when I saw it was in the game..I got it without hesitation and what a purchase. Slow speed and maneuverability but it packs one hell of a punch and it's a very accurate battleship to, I found it a joy to play in the "Killer Whale" scenario.

Number 2: HMS Hood

Despite some adjustments in updates in regards to AA defenses the Hood has emerged as one of my favourites for passing difficult scenarios, I never suffer any problems playing Narai after using the Hood. The guns are nice and accurate, turning feels very slow but that's to be expected. The Hood was done justice in World of Warships.

Number 1: USS Indianapolis

Having been a fan of the movie "Mission of the Shark: The Saga of USS Indianapolis", I was incredibly excited to try it out and it didn't disappoint. The Indianapolis feels perfect to me, everything feels right. The reloading times aren't to fast but they aren't to slow, the turning feels right...the USS Indianapolis feels right. I don't know why, but this is my favourite ship in the game, whenever I feel like some Co-Op shooting I start my session with this one.

What about you? What are some of your favourite ships?

Warship Profile: USS Indianapolis

On the 15th of November 1932, the USS Indianapolis was commissioned. This Portland class heavy cruiser sported nine 8 inch 55 caliber guns, eight 5 inch 22 caliber AA defense turrets and two 3mm saluting guns. It had two aircraft catapults with four seaplanes on board.

The warship was originally intended as a light cruiser due to the light armor, but the heavy guns demanded the armor to be increased and the ship was deemed a heavy cruiser.

On the the 16th of July in 1945, the USS Indianapolis was assigned a top secret mission. It was to deliver an important piece of cargo, the crew joked it was toilet paper for Douglas MacArthur, but it was something that would completely change the tide of the war.....the atomic bomb.
The crew delivered the bomb to Tinian on July the 26th, the Indianapolis then made its journey back but tragedy was about to strike.

At 0:15 hours on July the 30th, the ship was struck by two torpedoes fired by the Japanese submarine I-58. The ship capsized within a few minutes.

The survivors of the sinking were stranded at sea for several days, many would perish due to starvation, dehydration and attacks by sharks. Several even committed suicide whilst lost at sea.

At 10:25 on August the 2nd, crew were discovered adrift by a patrolling Seaplane.

Despite the rescue, the United States Navy considered McVay to be at fault for not zig-zagging resulting in the ship being torpedoed and the death of countless sailors.

Captain McVay would unfortunately face hatred for the rest of his life, even receiving a phone call from the mother of one of the sailors lost at sea saying "Hope you had a good Christmas, mine would have been better if you didn't get my son killed" He would end up taking his own life years later.

Another controversy, was the US navy not reporting ships arriving and leaving ports. A distress signal was sent out but due to the top secret mission this information was not acted upon

In popular culture, the Indianapolis has had quite the coverage. As mentioned at the start of this video, the character of Quint in Steven Spielberg's 1975 thriller "Jaws" gives a terrifying monologue about the sailors of the ship being attacked by sharks.

The story was adapted into two films, the first being "Mission of the Shark" in 1991 starring Stacey Keach as Captain McVay. This TV movie is a very underrated war movie and presents the struggle for survival in a gripping and heart pounding way, the acting is top notch across the board. The movie was received fairly well by critics

The second being "USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage" released in 2016 starring Nicholas Cage as Captain McVay. This movie isn't quite as good, the dialogue is very cheesy and and the death scenes are ridiculous beyond belief, at times it feels more like a silly shark movie than a survival story of one of the deadliest moments in World War II

Discovery Channel did a special called "Ocean of Fear" about the sinking and the crew members struggle for survival at sea.

The USS Indianapolis is also a unlockable ship in the extremely popular World of Warships video game, I am actually very poor at playing the ship, but I'm hoping to improve my skills with it as its a very powerful ship in the game.

Welcome!

Welcome to a new blog I will be updating. This blog will explore the greatest Warships from history.

It will explore Warships from World War II, but occasionally from other points in history

If you're thinking "but I'm more interested in Tanks and Planes!"
Don't worry, I will introduce blogs for those, so there will be content for you!

If you like World of Warships, you will enjoy this series

Lots coming soon!