Machinery & Gear | War History

Iowa Class Battlecruisers – We Ask If America’s Most Powerful Dreadnoughts May Actually Have Been Battlecruisers

War History Online presents this Guest Article from Chris Knupp The four vessels of the Iowa class were the last battleships put to sea by…

12 Key Moments in the History of Artillery

Greg Jackson

In creating gunpowder weapons, European engineers took a Chinese innovation and made a deadly weapon of war. From the start, this was as much about…

Things Nearly Went Nuclear When the Chinese Stole a Soviet Tank

In 1900, Russia signed the Treaty of Beijing which gave them Outer Manchuria and other Chinese lands. When both countries became communist, their nagging border…

Wacko: Making An Aircraft Carrier Out of Ice and Sawdust In WW2

In WWII the British were desperate. Metal was in short supply, and German U-boats were sinking Britain’s lifeline – ships. The Allies needed an unsinkable…

Hiding Ships In Plain Sight: How Dazzle Camouflage Is Used To Confuse The Enemy

Dazzle camouflage was the brainchild of British artist Norman Wilkinson. It was put forward as a solution to the problem that ships could not be…

10,000 Colt Model 1911A1 Handguns May Go on Sale in the US

As many as 10,000 of the 1911A1 pistols may be released for sale by the US government. The 2018 National Defense Authorization Act has a…

The Iowa Class: A Departure from Traditional US Battleship Design

War History Online presents this Guest Article from Chris Knupp The four vessels of the Iowa class were the last battleships put to sea by…

Two Jet Fighters Sent Up to Shoot Down a WWII Warbird in 1956 – They Blasted 208 Rockets at it, it Survived

In August 1956, a drone went rogue over Southern California, threatening cities, including Los Angeles. In its aftermath, over 1,000 acres had been destroyed, forests…

Fire In Warfare: Seven Devastating Incendiary Weapons From Military History

Fire has played a devastating part in the history of war. Even when not weaponized, it could be unleashed during pillaging of towns, leading to…

Lt. Gen Wainwright, Prisoner Of War, Who Was Awarded the Medal of Honor in WW2

Being captured by the Japanese during the early days of WWII meant facing years of grueling conditions, torture, and starvation.  Also, many were cut off…

He Was Awarded the Medal of Honor and then Demoted

It is perhaps a tale that Veterans of the United States Air Force are more familiar with, the story of “Airman Snuffy.” Given a choice…

A Brief History of Rifle Optics in the United States

War History online proudly presents this Guest Piece from Sam Bocetta Modern rifle sights represent the culmination of almost 300 years of development in optical…